Im starting to think that Ward may beat DF out of Kov! I mean punish him!

[ironmike2012]

Kov carried BHop, notice how nice BHop was before and after.
Ward could win, but can he take the heat for 12 rounds.
I will lay down some of Kov, Ward has been to inactive and Kov has given me no reason to doubt him at 175, Stevenson avoided him.

[bojangles1987]

Welcome aboard, OP. Nice to see a boxing thread on here.

Enjoying Redd Foxx's posts as well. Kovalev is very deceptive so I'm not ready to count him out yet. Plus, I think Ward needs at least one more tune-up. What cannot be overlooked, however, is Dre's brain. I have no doubt he has the right gameplan and, if he's on, will outbox Sergey from the outside and rough him up in close quarters.

One relatively small thing that could make all the difference is the difference in balance between the two. Ward has those fundamentals where he's never off balance. Compare that to Kovalev, who despite having fast feet is often off balance. When he lunges in he can be pushed away fairly easily, and almost always squares up while doing so. I can definitely see Ward taking advantage of that for all 12 rounds. Stay at range, make Kovalev lunge, and make him pay when he retreats off balance.

And of course the biggest factor, as always in Kovalev fights, is how Ward takes Kovalev's power. He's going to land, he's simply too good not to. If Ward can take the shots and stay composed, he'll probably win. If that power throws him off his game, he's screwed.

Man, either way it's going to be a rough fight for both. They're too good for either to win easily.

[Buckfever]

I think that's really far fetched. He's not going to be less cautious with Kovalev. He's going to box and use angles and speed and timing, all the good tools. But he's not going to take anymore risk than he has to. Even if could he won't, he's too intelligent and he doesn't want to risk losing.

[Larry the boss]

No one gets punished in this fight,lol Ward is not going to punish Kovalev,if Ward win it will be by outboxing him and making it an ugly fight. He will have to stay close and smother Kovalev and try to frustrate him

[elgu]

Ward will get beaten if he dares to enter the ring against Kovalev. Don't know how the OP comes to this conclusion.

[Larry the boss]

Did you say he couldnt hurt Hopkins??? yea you must be trolling....lol

[fourtheboys96]

Because Kovalev KOes his opponents, people tend to notice his lower and the skill.

[-Antonio-]

Kovalev dropped Hopkins pretty clean. That's close enough to hurting him.

Look this guy is not just some mindless brawler. He has a lot of talent. He knows how to use his footwork. He mixes up his punches well. The way he stayed out of Hopkins range should be respected no matter how old Hop was.

I just don't see how Ward is going to beat Kovalev. Ward is not that fast. He wins a lot of fights with his craftiness inside. Kovalev is going to stay at his range and move in and out wen he needs to. I've said it before, Stevenson is going to be Kovalev's hardest fight, not Ward.

[brettWall]

I love underdogs and I believe Ward is the underdog here. But I doubt it will happen. Kovalev is just too strong and too cunning to get trapped into that typical Ward net. But I'm rooting for Ward, just like I rooted for Pascal twice.

[MurkaMan]

I'll put up 5 Quad that says you are wrong. Kovalev will mes Ward's entire game up with his jab, no opponent he has ever fought had a decent jab besides Kessler and he cheated his ass off to win that fight. Kovalev will jab him to the body and break him down. If he gets close Kovalev is going to rabbit punch the crap out of him until he is too scared to close the distance, forced to fight from afar. Then his jab to the head will punish Ward until his nose is a bloody mess, broken to bits. When he can no longer breath out of it, Ward will have no choice but to go out on his shield and go out he will. Enjoy Ward's evasion of the fight while it lasts, eventually HBO will be forced to force him to face the Killa.

I dont think a jab is from a GREAT fighter, with crazy power, is enough to stop a special fighter who is once in a lifetime! I never said Ward would win, no doubt! I said I THINK, that Ward is going to beat df out of him!

Not win, but punish him because of the styles and because of the "boogeyman" rep of Kov!

Ward, imo, seems very confident and almost as if he doesnt really look at Kov as a threat!

And I dont see Kov landing anything on Ward, especially not rabbit punches! Ward is more of a veteran than Kov! If anyone's going to be landing rabbit punches, its going to be Ward. And how will Kov deal with being on the end of a violent beat down, similar to the ones he dishes out to other foes?

As Ward said in the post presser, HBO isnt going to force any fighter to do anything! Ward doesnt, imo, look at Kov as a guy worth ducking or evading!

I know your a Kov fan, and you look at Kov as a guy thats so "dangerous" that Ward doesnt want any parts of him!

But what Im telling you, is this fight could be bad for Kov! Ward is a seriously DANGEROUS guy, for someone like Kov to face! Everything about this match up, spells potential PUNISHMENT, coming from Ward!

I dont know who will win, Im not ready to make a prediction yet! All I said is I THINK Ward will BEAT DF out of this man! If its a massacre like I think it MAY be, I can see Kov taking some major punishment! Just my opinion! Thanks for the post!