I'm going to agree with you two. But it's going to come down to what the judges want to see. Are they going to count technique, or power?
Kov has power but I don't think he's going to hit Ward clean enough. Kov got frustrated against Hopkins when he couldn't hit him clean after the knockdown.
Ward won't be able to keep Krusher off him for 12 rounds. He'll have felt enough of Kovalev's power by round 4 to know that his only chance of winning will be to pot-shot, clinch and headbutt his way to an ugly decision win. Here's hoping Ward gets flattened.
Kovalev will win this fight....gotta handed to Ward for not pulling a Chickenson. ...I like the way Ward dismantled Chad Dawson. ...so Ward is always game.....gotta respect his attitude but Kovalev stills wins by decision. ...Chickenson should not be even mentioned in this article.
Ward should be too-smart and too-skilled for Kovalev.
But he will need a very tight game, and he will need to be right on point.
I expect Kovalev to have a good game plan
It's a 50/50 fight in my mind. Kov has power but it's useless if he can't land. Overall, Kov isn't a one punch KO artist so Ward might be able to make adjustments throughout the fight to nullify Kov's main attribute (power). I think the fight comes down to whoever executes their game plan the best.......
Kov has power but I don't think he's going to hit Ward clean enough. Kov got frustrated against Hopkins when he couldn't hit him clean after the knockdown.
I see an outcome just like the Froch fight.
^This. Kovalev hurts guys, no doubt. But, Ward is statistically among the very best in the game when it comes to not getting hit. And, Kov isn't a 1-punch KO guy either. Him getting enough cumulative damage in to shut down Ward's game is unlikely to happen. Especially when you consider that Ward is above average in terms of durability and even Froch never bothered him.
As I see it, Kovalev's path to success is to introduce some new elements that shut down Ward's strengths such a he shut down Hopkins smash and grab game. Certainly wouldn't be easy but Kovalev is skilled enough to do it. Unless he can neutralize Ward's go-to's; the body jab, his controlling left, shots on the way out of the clinch, and Ward's ability to fade out of danger after striking then it's going to be a gritty, cautious fight with Ward leading on points.
I'll tell you one thing, people who think Ward is going to stand at the end of Kovalev's range like previous fighters have are fooling themselves. This is all about Kovalev adapting to a type of fighter he's never faced. A guy who has some of the slickest boxing and grittiest inside game combined. There will be no standing and trading.
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