I wish people would really analyze boxing... I'm worried about Ward v Kovalev

[j0zef]

Opponent connect percentage aside, I know what you mean. I was watching the fight, and Ward did look pretty good. What I didn't expect was how he looked after the fight. He was marked up pretty badly, and all of that was from jabs. Barrera's right was so sloppy and slow I don't think he ever landed a decent shot.

If Kovalev lets his hands go, which I expect him to, he'll land a few flush power shots. Can Ward handle them?

[therealpugilist]

Opponent connect percentage aside, I know what you mean. I was watching the fight, and Ward did look pretty good. What I didn't expect was how he looked after the fight. He was marked up pretty badly, and all of that was from jabs. Barrera's right was so sloppy and slow I don't think he ever landed a decent shot.

If Kovalev lets his hands go, which I expect him to, he'll land a few flush power shots. Can Ward handle them?

they had some tough head butts and head contact...you can see the butt that opened the cut

Kovalev like everyone else will be a little more hesitant than usual facing a fighter, who is physically strong, wont be bullied yet can outmaneuver him and counter him

The way he applies his craft and the affect it has on opponents is like mental handcuffs and second guessing

a prime Hopkins could do this, Mayweather, Jones, Pernell Whitaker was always gonna get blitzed yet more times than not ended up being the bully even vs Chavez.

Cant wait for this fight but its gonna be tactical, high level chess match, and IMO that favors Ward who has all the advantages to win that type fight

[SplitSecond]

There's an odd skew with Ward fights. If he gets hit AT ALL, people think he's looking terrible. Kovalev not only gets hit more, by lower level competition, but his connect rate is not as high as Andre's.
This isn't some end boss in a video game where he touches you and you're dead. Let's get some perspective here. Not an easy fight for either guy but Ward taking less than 20% from Kovalev's mandatory isn't anything worrying. Kovalev took more shots (%) from a broken down Pasqual.

I only really remember Kovalev hit vs Pascal, and maybe a bit vs Agnew. Who hit him alot that was lower level than Barrera?

[Dr Rumack]

Connect percentages?

[Tom Cruise]

Its a great match up. Great match ups are not easy for either guy.

Ward is in deep, and im sure he knows it. The winner here is probably going to be considered the best p4p fighter in the world

[TheUptownKid]

Huh? Barrera landed 19% of his punches. Ward landed 44%. Ward was the light-skinned black guy not the dark-skin one speaking Spanish.

Like I said, analyze. Boxing isn't a compubox sheet. Yeah he landed more punches and won convincingly but he was hit CLEANLY multiple times by a lesser fighter than kovalev. He also swung wildly and ducked which was something barrera never capitalized on that kovalev certainly can. Watch the fight not the stats. That's not analysis.

[Vasyl’s dad]

That's a dead end argument there when you factor in the level of competition. Not even close.

Ward has fought nobody better than Hopkins.

[Butt stuff]

I think ward's tweaking his style, he looks a bit flat footed but he's working with his new weight/strength and conserving energy by reducing excess movement ala pretty boy floyd to money may.

Side note: I know it's hard to compare because he fought a bum, but the new chunkier David Haye seems to be adopting this approach too. Muscled up to walk people down, slip shots a little closer staying in range.

[TheUptownKid]

I don't know what fight you were watching but he didn't hit him clean n hard even ten times

15%

And actually watching it live n several times his defense was crisp

His timing on counters was a lil off...could tell he was trying certain punches, pivots etc

Andre outclassed Barrera that is simple to see, I'm not saying the fight was even close I'm saying if Barrera capitalized on his single punches he could have had Ward in more trouble. Ward is one of my favorite fighters and his defense from a set position was crisp as always. His offensive tactic of throwing haymakers to keep Barrera off not only won't work vs a higher level of fighter, but allowed him to get touched by Barrera. I don't care about compubox it's largely worthless because all it takes is 1 punch to knock you out. I just hated seeing him lunging because that is a bad habit in boxing, he could have been doing it as a trap but those were the only times he really was hit.

[Butt stuff]

Ward has fought nobody better than Hopkins.

Let's be real, old Hopkins would lose to Ward who uses all the same tricks but is younger, fresher and more athletic.

Prime froch/kesslers in their natural weight classes were beasts (froch more so)