Comments Thread For: Andre Ward: My Skills Never Left, I'm Feeling Better Than Ever

[MDPopescu]

Ward needs to stay away from Kovalev without actually being away, be as slippery as possible, but don't give him room. Can't give him room to extend himself and throw hard power punches

... stay away... but don't give him room?

... in the process, Ward has to jump in front with his famous one-twos followed by a clinch... just watch what will happen when he does that!

[MDPopescu]

I believe him. Ward is a supremely talented fighter, I'm sure he is still as capable as he ever was. I still think Kovalev wins a UD with Ward going down once or twice. I think Kovalev has the goods to handle Ward but its close enough to me that Ward could win also. Im just going with my gut on this one. This is one of those fights as a fight fan you really look forward to because after all the talk we wont know how this goes until we are watching it.

It also will be one of the few i actually buy.

... Of course Ward is a extremely talented fighter (Compubox ranks him very high in terms of +/- ratio)... Ward's ring generalship is awesome... But, unfortunate for him, he never fought a top "Russian School" product...

[MDPopescu]

Ward needs to stay away from Kovalev without actually being away, be as slippery as possible, but don't give him room. Can't give him room to extend himself and throw hard power punches

Ward vs Barrera:
Ward connected on 166 of 463 punches for a connect percentage of 36%, according to CompuBox. Barrera landed 111 of 722 punches for a low connect percentage of 15%. What’s interesting is that Barrera threw 263 more punches than Ward in the fight. What this means is that Ward can be dramatically outworked by his opponents. (Note: Barrera is quite slow, anyway...)

[taste]

Ward tastes Kovo's power somewhat early, from any type of punch, and refuses to engage, tying up or doing anything he can to keep it a boxing match. Takes a split decision in an ugly fight.

However, if Kovo puts Ward on his ass he wins the fight! As Pop pointed out, Barrera outworked Ward and Kovo's accuracy is greater than Barrera.

[bojangles1987]

Definitely no doubting Ward's skills. They're clearly still intact.

[bojangles1987]

I'm dying to find out. Please let it be Smoger. If it's Bayless, they're going to constantly wait to be broken up because Bayless can't keep his nose out of every move. When guys fight in front of Smoger, they break on their own and work through clinches because they know he's not going to pamper them.

Smoger's retired, isn't he?

I know people think a ref like Bayless would benefit Ward because of the clinching reputation, but one of Ward's biggest strengths is his ability to work in the clinch, which Bayless doesn't usually allow. A ref like that actually helps Kovalev out, I think.

[NaijaD]

Ward vs Barrera:
Ward connected on 166 of 463 punches for a connect percentage of 36%, according to CompuBox. Barrera landed 111 of 722 punches for a low connect percentage of 15%. What’s interesting is that Barrera threw 263 more punches than Ward in the fight. What this means is that Ward can be dramatically outworked by his opponents. (Note: Barrera is quite slow, anyway...)

It's not outworking if you land significantly less, also Kovalev can't throw 700 punches against Ward. He honestly doesn't have the gas tank to do it, the reality is he is going to miss quite a bit in this fight so volume is not the answer.

I just hope Kovalev is still a top Russian product on November 20th.

[Kigali]

Ward tastes Kovo's power somewhat early, from any type of punch, and refuses to engage, tying up or doing anything he can to keep it a boxing match. Takes a split decision in an ugly fight.

However, if Kovo puts Ward on his ass he wins the fight! As Pop pointed out, Barrera outworked Ward and Kovo's accuracy is greater than Barrera.

Barrera out-missed Ward


Kovalev doesn't throw nearly as many punches as Barerra.

[Kigali]

It's not outworking if you land significantly less, also Kovalev can't throw 700 punches against Ward. He honestly doesn't have the gas tank to do it, the reality is he is going to miss quite a bit in this fight so volume is not the answer.

I just hope Kovalev is still a top Russian product on November 20th.

They can't see passed his power.

He has the gas tank of a mini bike.

[12TRIBEsRiSe]

funny how u clowns are actually trying to trick yourself into believing all ward does is headbutt and clinch lol wtf