Comments Thread For: Sergey Kovalev Drops, Dominates Chilemba: Waits For Ward

[TSS]

Kovalev had an off night. His piston jab will be back in form in November for Ward.

[NEETzsche]

i knew chilemba would make it difficult but i was still disappointed by kovalev's lack of imagination and him gassing early. hopefully he just didn't prepare properly and he'll look better against ward. doesn't bode well though

[asgarth]

kovalev looked pretty bad. Didnt know how to adapt to Chilembas style, couldnt get off, was offbalanced and looked unusual sluggish and slow.

Dont know if he didnt take this fight seriously but chilemba still had much to do with how he looked.
He disrupted Kovalevs midrange offense at all time with stiff jabs and was sure to make him pay for his lazy jabs to the body. His head movement and well clinch tactics up close were also very frustrating for Kovalev.

After this fight, I favour Ward to win

[eco1]

He's even harder to hit than Chilemba and I've rarely seen him bothered by anyone's shots so I'm inclined to say "yes". But, everyone can get caught. Interesting thing is that some of the clean shots Chilemba landed would have hurt Kov had Ward landed them.
I hope Kovalev shows up better because the Kovalev of tonight would get handled by Ward.

I think it will be a good fight, let's hope for it!

[NEETzsche]

He's even harder to hit than Chilemba and I've rarely seen him bothered by anyone's shots so I'm inclined to say "yes". But, everyone can get caught. Interesting thing is that some of the clean shots Chilemba landed would have hurt Kov had Ward landed them.
I hope Kovalev shows up better because the Kovalev of tonight would get handled by Ward.

has chilemba gained some of your respect now?

[bojangles1987]

Better fighters than Kovalev have had ugly wins against worse fighters than Chilemba. It happens from time to time, and it's been a long time since it happened to Kovalev.

[mlac]

people being surprised chilemba was a tough SOB shocker.

lel.

[The Problem Child]

Rumor has it, and I know people inside boxing, that Kovalev looked like this on purpose to bait Ward and keep him interested in the fight. They tried to look as vulnerable and beatable as possible.

[j0zef]

In his post-fight interview Kovalev said that he expected this to be a tough fight, that everyone who expected a first RD KO was crazy. He commented on Chilemba being a good boxer multiple times. He also said that he criticizes himself inside and that the pressure of fighting in front of the home crowd really got to him. He also said he will start preparing for the 'more serious' next fight, assuming it will be Ward.

My take on the fight - if Ward can handle some of those flush shots, he has a great chance of winning. Chilemba showed that he does have a granite chin and good defense. Even that last salvo in round 12 would have floored someone like Pascal.

[The Akbar One]

Quite a bit of a robbery. Chilemba won that 8-4.