Comments Thread For: Kovalev's Promoter Reacts To Andre Ward's Injury

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Andre Ward was scheduled to fight on the Miguel Cotto-Saul Alvarez HBO pay-per-view undercard on November 21st at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. But those plans were scrapped as it was announced that swelling in his right knee had forced him to withdraw from his bout against Alexander Brand.
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[Boxingwizard]

Ward's team told the LA times that Ward plans on fighting 3 times in 2016 with the third fight being against Kovalev.

So if Kovalev plans on fighting three times in 2016 than so will Ward. The injury is practically minor, it's just a swelling on the Knee.

[Larry the boss]

Ward's team told the LA times that Ward plans on fighting 3 times in 2016 with the third fight being against Kovalev.

So if Kovalev plans on fighting three times in 2016 than so will Ward. The injury is practically minor, it's just a swelling on the Knee.

I dont think he is injured at all,he just had no opponent worth a damn and needed a reason to back off from the date

[Eastcoast]

Perfect opportunity for an HBO double header in January - Kovalev/Pascal in Montreal and Ward/? in Oakland.

At the same time Ward can upgrade to a better opponent like Vasily Lepikhin or Maxim Vlasov or Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (evidently Slava was brought up for the November fight, but either Ward or Slava rejected it).

[Boxingwizard]

Perfect opportunity for an HBO double header in January - Kovalev/Pascal in Montreal and Ward/? in Oakland.

At the same time Ward can upgrade to a better opponent like Vasily Lepikhin or Maxim Vlasov or Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (evidently Slava was brought up for the November fight, but either Ward or Slava rejected it).

Vyacheslav Shabranskyy has a fight scheduled against Yunieski Gonzalez. Maxim Vlasov would be the better opponent out of those three.

[Cuban Linx]

I don't know the severity of the injury, but I don't think it'll be an issue with regards to the Kovalev fight. Let's say he takes a couple months off and fights again in January or Feburary against a tune like Brand. He can then fight on Kovalev's undercard in June-July, or on a separate card, and then they can square off in November. So it appears that they could still be on schedule. That is of course if Ward wants to fight 3 times.

[Boxingwizard]

I don't know the severity of the injury, but I don't think it'll be an issue with regards to the Kovalev fight. Let's say he takes a couple months off and fights again in January or Feburary against a tune like Brand. He can then fight on Kovalev's undercard in June-July, or on a separate card, and then they can square off in November. So it appears that they could still be on schedule. That is of course if Ward wants to fight 3 times.

Ward has been inactive for so long, three fights in a year should be nothing to him. And Brand is definitely not the type of opponent Ward is looking for, I don't even think that fight was official. So Ward will be looking for a better opponent come January or February.

Ward's team said that's what Ward plans on doing is fighting 3 opponents in 2016.

http://www.latimes.com/la-sp-sn-andre-ward-withdraws-cotto-canelo-20151105-story.html

Ward’s trainer, Virgil Hunter, told The Times in text messages Thursday that Ward has already begun rehabilitation and is considering a return date in early 2016.

Another individual close to Ward told The Times that Ward was seeking to fight at least once more in 2016 before pursuing an anticipated date against light-heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev by the end of the year. It’s unclear if the injury will alter those plans.

[Redd Foxx]

Reasonable response. Inflammation can come from a number of things so hopefully it's not the result of a hidden issue (micro-tear, etc) and is just over-training or a bad movement. Though it's temporary, knee inflammation is one of the most debilitating things you can get in boxing as it affects literally everything you do and you simply can't train without making it worse. The one thing that holds me back is occasional knee inflammation and it's a major bytch.

[uniquehump]

I honestly have no problem with Ward or anybody else fighting a cab driver in a higher weight class to see what they can do. If he's dominant and can take those punches, he moves up to B-Level opposition. If he dominates a B-Level opponent or maybe one of Kovalev's previous opponents, to see how he does, he'll know if he's ready for Kovalev. If he struggles against a B-Level fighter or anybody that Kovalev previously dominated, then he knows that he's only a B-Level fighter at LHW and may have to go back down to SMW, where he's an A-Level fighter. The only thing is, going back down to 168 before fighter Kovalev, it'll probably take him off the P4P list.

[i'm a fun haver]

Still not seeing anything about Kovalev and Ward signing to fight each other already.
More of this "first step" ****.