Comments Thread For: Andre Ward: Kovalev Won't Bully Me - He Tires, He Gets Frustrated

[BlakBread904]

blasphemy....Non Stop Boxing has banned use of fight tactics, technique, and real assessments in their posts

you didnt get the memo?

Yea kovalev does retreat in straight lines, his head is often on the center line(jabs and hooks are gonna be coming quickly) and he will get caught pulling back and stepping away....ward has a good lead hoop and counters.He lacks head movement and tries to use his eyes to parry shots.....thats why pascal was landing those winging, arm punch counters

People dont notice those things, because they dont look at the details, fighters habits, they just see who they want to win and who they want to lose.

yessir! Andre has one of the best jabs in the game. When Kov steps back in that straight line to reset, Ward will follow with heat right down the center at him. Ward's jab will be hard for Kov to figure out as in is it to the head or body?

[bluemax]

I think the number one key factor in this fight is not Ward's boxing ability, there is no question he is the superior boxer. The game changer will be how he handles Kovalev's punch, Crusher will hit him, it may take a round or two but he will hit him. It Ward can deal with Kovalev's power he'll win the fight on points. If he can't cope with the power and begins to slow down and can't effectively hold he'll get stopped or lose the a close decision. The one scenerio I don't see is Ward stopping Kovalev, he wasn't a power puncher as a super middleweight and he certainly hasn't shown it as a light heavyweight. We'll see.

[12TRIBEsRiSe]

kov doesn't do well off the back foot, as long as dre can keep that jab out there and use angles he will be okay. pascal had success when he had kov on the back foot but lacked the defense to keep it up. this will be a key in this fight as dre has the defense and a nice jab.

the outcome will be what posters here call a boring decision and the excuses will fly. if andre ward clinches only one time that will be all the posters here focus on...

[12TRIBEsRiSe]

there is no way kov will be able to throw those 4 punch combos without something flying back his way immediately, how he reacts to that will also be a big part of the fight, kov is very good so it will be interesting

[SteveM]

I just re-watched Kov-Chilemba. I didn't see Kovalev noticeably tire. I didn't see frustration.

Sure he slowed down fractionally in the last 3 rounds but that was a tiring fight - he had to chase Chilemba the whole night and Chilemba seems to have an iron chin and did the same as Ward does - rush in and tie up and grapple - they even fell to the floor like that. So in some ways this was very good preparation for Ward. Kovalev never stopped coming forward and they both threw a lot in the 12th round. Not sure what Ward is seeing here.

[Tuavale]

Ummm "Dre" you ARE the bully. You have been bullying guys your whole career. Fighting at your natural weight of 178 in the olympics and then turning pro and fighting 160 and 168 pound smaller guys so you can bully them around. And if picking on smaller guys isn't enough for you, you don't even fight them fair in the ring. You resort to fouling, clinching, jab jab then dive in with a headbutt. Then after the headbutt you hit them with your patented sucker punch left hook. You get into personal beefs with all your opponents before your fights and they remain your enemies after your fights, many of whom have showed you nothing but respect. You have berated many of the media members, simply for doing their jobs and asking you questions. You admit you have to cut a good amount of weight to make 175 but then you've been verbally abusing and have been obsessed with fighting a small middleweight who walks around at 165 between fights? YOU are the bully! And so in your last fight you bring up some no name journeyman fighter from a smaller weight class that nobody has ever heard of as a punching bag (who you couldn't even get out of there) and you make 850k and you paid him...30k? That right there is the epitome of being a bully.

That's a pretty damn good post.

[Bjl12]

That's a pretty damn good post.

I disagree. JimmyD729 made a ****ty post. Ward is doing what every other fighter does (or tries to do). Cut lots of weight for size advantage, intimidate opponents for (hopefully) an easier night. There's no secret here. It's not Ward - it's boxing.

[sirron000]

I just re-watched Kov-Chilemba. I didn't see Kovalev noticeably tire. I didn't see frustration.

Sure he slowed down fractionally in the last 3 rounds but that was a tiring fight - he had to chase Chilemba the whole night and Chilemba seems to have an iron chin and did the same as Ward does - rush in and tie up and grapple - they even fell to the floor like that. So in some ways this was very good preparation for Ward. Kovalev never stopped coming forward and they both threw a lot in the 12th round. Not sure what Ward is seeing here.

Stop!! Just stop!!

[SugarRaRobinson]

Ward will attempt to do what has yet to be done: Work the body and have Kov working with less air that he's use to, and subsequently diminish Kov's power supply as a result.

[GMAN SUPREME]

andre ward sounding a little nervous.kovalev for the win!!!