Kovalev seems desperate and angry.

[iamboxing]

I agree. He seems unhinged. I believe Ward will win more convincingly this time.

[HanzGruber]

sergio better know his role, and shut his damn mouth

[iamboxing]

He is frustrated because he lost a fight officially that he clearly deserved to win in the opinion of 80 percent of viewers polled. Ward is content because he got the win and the belts. I don't think it hurts Kovalev to be angry going into the rematch. He will probably train harder and fight harder to get the official win this time.

He's going to get an ulcer if he keeps dwelling on the decision. I think if he goes in angry he'll playing into Ward's hands and he'll only frustrate himself. He needs to stay composed, focussed and pace himself.

[The Big Dunn]

It's crazy how good Ward is to piss his opponents.

Yes, Ward does make those that do not like American boxers mad as hell. They whine and complain so much it is ridiculous.

As for this fight, I think the antics are because both guys realize they need to draw people into this fight.

Black v white or Russia v US are "cheap heat" ways of bringing people in but these guys need to sell the hell out of this to make a profit, especially after the loss of money in the 1st fight.

[Graz]

I think Kovalev is a little frustrated and inpatient because he thought he clearly won their first go around. He's not desperate but I think he's pretty angry about it. All those emotions won't help him a bit unless he focuses on fight night. If he doesn't Ward, apart from getting knocked out, will be a favorite to win again.

[Scary]

Yes, Ward does make those that do not like American boxers mad as hell. They whine and complain so much it is ridiculous.

As for this fight, I think the antics are because both guys realize they need to draw people into this fight.

Black v white or Russia v US are "cheap heat" ways of bringing people in but these guys need to sell the hell out of this to make a profit, especially after the loss of money in the 1st fight.

As for the first thing you said, I don't know if you are aware of the Kessler threatment in the super 6. Kesslers standpoint is that he was basically treated like trash, told to rewrap his hands 5 times. Had to change his lockerroom like right before the fight and generally a mistreat of the champion. I can understand that he complained about the whole situation, maybe he was just angry that he lost, but he is not a guy who strikes me as a liar, which is why I chose to believe him.

I agree with everything else that you said, but I generally feel like Kovalev is legit a bit unsharp in his demeanour towards Ward. I sense this annoyance, that you could also feel for the Froch vs. Groves I, where the mental edge was so clearly on Groves side, you could feel the zap of energy in Carl Froch. I feel like Kovalev is already somewhere in his mind, where he can accept a defeat or I might just look too much into stuff like head to head etc.

[SensFullViolenc]

You all have not been paying attention to Kova previously. Seriously folks, this is how Kova is. I think he was born angry.

I figure he has said some outright heinous stuff about 75% of his opponents. Called Stevenson a gorilla if I recall, and he wasn't even fighting him. I think he promised to seriously hurt one of his opponents.

I don't see any of this stuff w Ward as anything new.

[Graz]

You all have not been paying attention to Kova previously. Seriously folks, this is how Kova is. I think he was born angry.

I figure he has said some outright heinous stuff about 75% of his opponents. Called Stevenson a gorilla if I recall, and he wasn't even fighting him. I think he promised to seriously hurt one of his opponents.

I don't see any of this stuff w Ward as anything new.

This is true. After the Pascal fight I think Kovalev clucked like a chicken in the ring when referencing Stevenson who became enraged at the time. Kovalev is stone cold.

[Kigali]

This is true. After the Pascal fight I think Kovalev clucked like a chicken in the ring when referencing Stevenson who became enraged at the time. Kovalev is stone cold.

You better check your memory

Kovalev clucked like a chicken....then bolted like a cuck from his own interview the second he laid eyes on Stevenson.

To talk **** about somebody then run when they show up is stone cold...... stone cold cowardice

[Redd Foxx]

Dude earnt forty percent of what the challenger earned I'd be pis.sed if I was him, but he's the one with a shyt contract not Ward, dude should be upset with himself, likely is and that's what we're seeing unless he's cut into the ppv sales and isn't on a flat fee like the current pound for pound no.1 was in the first match against Krusher.

^I think that's definitely part of it, along with a culmination of things. If you're Kovalev, you think that you're underpaid, improperly trained, robbed by judges, disrespected by your opponent, etc. None of those may be true but what matters is, it's HIS reality.

Ego is a funny thing. It can propel you to greatness and can also blind you from seeing the faults that will prevent you from greatness.
I think both guys need to be humble and introspective before this rematch, Ward recognising how easily it could have slipped away from him and Kovalev admitting to himself that he did lose and he does need to correct some things in order to clearly best Ward. The anger and blame tell me he hasn't reached that point.