Comments Thread For: Kovalev: I Was Ready For Ward Last Year, He Needed Two Fights

[NEETzsche]

This fight is interesting. I believe it all boils down to one thing. Can Andre Ward handle Kovalev's power?

to me it boils down to whether kovalev can find a home for his jab. if ward takes that away then kovalev is lost. against chilemba he had a torrid time landing cleanly due to his under-utilised/neutralised jab. whether the jab's lack of success in that fight can be better explained by an off-night or chilemba's style is arguable, but if it happens again vs. ward he's got very little chance of winning. ward will see the lead right coming from a mile off

[SugarRaRobinson]

Ward wins a close, maybe even controversial decision after possibly having to get up off the canvas and still get it. But it will go 12, and Ward will win. It won't be a Ward landslide schooling like many believe.

Hopefully everyone will post their predictions.

[Mate_Parlov]

Huh?

It's early here - maybe I am lacking a few coffees or something - but isn't it the G Haters who are thinking like that?

Well, if you are deranged as some of the posters, it certainly looks the other way around.

[MDPopescu]

to me it boils down to whether kovalev can find a home for his jab. if ward takes that away then kovalev is lost. against chilemba he had a torrid time landing cleanly due to his under-utilised/neutralised jab. whether the jab's lack of success in that fight can be better explained by an off-night or chilemba's style is arguable, but if it happens again vs. ward he's got very little chance of winning. ward will see the lead right coming from a mile off

Since Ward came back, but especially in the barrera fight, he was backed up against the ropes and stayed there most of the fight (the way that aging fighters tend to do when they’ve lost their legs or ability to move around the ring).

Needless to say that fighting with his back against the ropes won’t work for Ward against Kovalev, because he’ll be a sitting duck when he gets in there.

[SugarRaRobinson]

Since Ward came back, but especially in the barrera fight, he was backed up against the ropes and stayed there most of the fight (the way that aging fighters tend to do when they’ve lost their legs or ability to move around the ring).

Needless to say that fighting with his back against the ropes won’t work for Ward against Kovalev, because he’ll be a sitting duck when he gets in there.

Clearly u tailor ur strategy according to who your fighting, so if u think Ward would even consider that against Kov then clearly your delusional

[LetOutTheCage]

what I notice.....

A lot of Ward fans seem to admire and respect Kovalev

makes a nice change from the Golovkin fans, who think that every past/present/future opponent of Gennady's is nothing but a bum, coward, and all around general slime-ball LMAO

Nice generalization there, even in a thread that has nothing to do with GGG you feel the need to mention him...Odd

[LetOutTheCage]

On topic, i'm really looking forward to this one. If Ward is anything like he used to be before the long layoff then he wins and wins comfortably but there are already some question marks after his tune-up fights.

[VERSION1 (V1)]

Vitali Klitschko came back after four years and took on the WBC champion without and warm-ups when he was nearly 38.

And the same people who hang off Ward's nuts never gave Vitali any credit.

and the same people that gave Vitali will never give Ward credit no matter what he dose

[Mr. Luthor]

Kovalev had no choice but to wait for Ward because Duva maneuvered him out of the chance to fight Adonis Stevenson.

April 15, 2015:

Just when it looked like the path was relatively clear for the light heavyweight unification showdown between champion Adonis Stevenson and three-belt owner Sergey Kovalev, a big wrench was thrown in the plans on Tuesday.

The fight is by far the most anticipated in the 175-pound weight class, but the chances that it comes off this fall as many hoped were greatly diminished when Main Events CEO Kathy Duva, Kovalev's promoter, decided against participating in a WBC-mandated purse bid on Friday in Mexico City...

Stevenson (26-1, 21 KOs), 37, of Montreal, retained the title by one-sided decision against Sakio Bika on April 4, he and promoter Yvon Michel, whom Kovalev and Duva had accused of ducking the fight, professed their desire to make the match, be it to negotiate terms or let it go to a purse bid, where the promoter with the biggest offer would win the promotional rights.

Then Duva announced that she would not participate in the bidding process, which came as a surprise considering how much she dogged Stevenson for supposedly avoiding the fight...

Duva, the one who initially suggested that the WBC make Kovalev the mandatory at the organization's annual convention late last year, said that while she and Kovalev very much want to make the fight, Kovalev is under exclusive contract to HBO, which would not allow him to fight on another network. Stevenson is backed by Haymon, who could bankroll a big bid by Michel and put the fight on Showtime or one of the networks on which his Premier Boxing Champions series appears, such as NBC, CBS or ESPN, whose deal begins in July.

Most believe that if the fight did go a purse bid, Main Events would have no prayer of winning because even if HBO backed the bid it would not be enough to beat Haymon, whose PBC investor war chest is believed to be worth far more than $100 million.

On Tuesday, Duva sent a letter to the WBC and to Michel advising them that she was withdrawing from the purse bid. Had the fight gone to the bid, the fighters would have split the winning figure 50-50 and the winning promoter would control all aspects of the promotion, including all the revenue streams and determining when, where and on what television network the bout would take place.

"We want to make the fight very much and we'd love to make the fight with them on a 50-50 deal," Duva told ESPN.com. "But Sergey is contractually tied to HBO and we can't go to a purse bid. We can't fight the fight if we lose the bid, so there's no point in going to the bid and putting on charade."

http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/i...urse-bid-order

Which succeeded in screwing Kovalev out of 50% of a large payday. Now if the sides were reserved, a lot of the so-called boxing fans would be screaming "duck" at Stevenson. Hmmmm???

[Mr. Luthor]

Since Ward came back, but especially in the barrera fight, he was backed up against the ropes and stayed there most of the fight (the way that aging fighters tend to do when they’ve lost their legs or ability to move around the ring).

Needless to say that fighting with his back against the ropes won’t work for Ward against Kovalev, because he’ll be a sitting duck when he gets in there.

You don't actually believe that a boxer as skilled and as accomplished as Andre Ward would be a sitting duck to any opponent and/or fight Kovalev the same way he fought Barrera?