Comments Thread For: Ward: Kovalev Not Same Fighter, But He'll Be Hard To Deal With

[Boxing Scene]

Well he beat you in the first fight you lucky ****, and in the second fight you beat his balls to death.

[elfag]

Pro athletes have massive egos. Anytime a boxer goes into the commentary business, you just have to take some of their comments with a grain of salt.

Of course Ward is going to talk chit and say that Kovalev was better when he beat him than he is now. It makes Ward look better and a "retired" Ward is still going to be envious of the press and praise that Kovalev gets, the same things they used to say about Ward being the best at 175 they are saying now about Kovalev yet again.

[Ake-Dawg]

Again more nonsense. It's the hurt business but that business has rules. If they aren't abided by we would eventually end up with a version of the MMA without the ground game. The guy is a dirty fighter and his fouling is overlooked by the boxing establishment. Even the MMA bans strikes to the groin and it's strictly enforced.

You should evaluate what you call dirty or a cheap shot. The notion that all of boxing, including the fighters, overlook him as a dirty fighter is ludicrous and likely rooted in an emotional reaction to him beating a fighter you liked or him publicly deriding GGG.

Without referencing the Kovalev fight, name three dirty moments in Wards career.

[Boxing Scene]

Getting outlanded by 23 punches before the controversial 8th round is outboxing someone? lol

Well yeah technically it is. You just said the very definition of outboxing someone.

[Boxing Scene]

Ward is the TOMATO KAN Krusher's daddy. During the post fight interview, KANvolev called out everyone except for the man he should have called out - Andre Ward. That was no accident...

Ward is retired dude. What's the point of calling out someone who is retired. He won the first fight anyway. They are even in most people's books.

[Boxing_1013]

Well yeah technically it is. You just said the very definition of outboxing someone.

Try reading that one again lol. Kov outlanded Ward by 23 punches in the second fight, prior to the 8th round.

[Boxing_1013]

You should evaluate what you call dirty or a cheap shot. The notion that all of boxing, including the fighters, overlook him as a dirty fighter is ludicrous and likely rooted in an emotional reaction to him beating a fighter you liked or him publicly deriding GGG.

Without referencing the Kovalev fight, name three dirty moments in Wards career.

Kessler headbutts
Barrera lowblows
Rodriguez fight - deducted 2 points in round 4

The whole Dawson situation was dirty - he refused to negotiate with Dawson on weight at all even when getting to 168 was killing him - 'Dawson was fighting at 168 pounds for the first time in over six years and seemed to be badly weight drained. The day of the weigh in Dawson had to shed 9lbs.'

From the Bika fight - 'Both Fighters used rough tactics and both fought evenly through out the 12 rounds, Bika had a significantly higher work rate'

I like some dirty fighting but the issue with Ward is he really does nothing else exceptional besides fight dirty. If the rules were fairly applied to him he would have a worse resume, and he certainly shouldn't win 95% of close rounds, as he has been able to do in his career.

His only legit top tier win with no controversy is over Froch. Sad but true.

[Boxing_1013]

If ur gonna pretend that the Kovalev who fought Alvarez a few nights ago is “Better than ever” then u should donate your eyes to Stevie Wonder, cause clearly u have no use for them.

Continually attempting to marginalize Ward is making u look buffoonish. So my question to u is, is it worth losing what little credibility u may have left just to try to drive home what’s obviously a false narrative ?

But he did look better than ever, or as good as ever really. He looked better than he did against Chilemba, similar to how he did against Hopkins Ward and Pascal. Alvarez might be the toughest guy he has faced and he handled him exceptionally well in the 2nd fight. I think physically Kov looked as good as ever, and mentally he is stronger now after what he went through, so yes, that means he is better than ever. Not really hard to understand and he certainly looks as good as he ever has. There is no real argument against that really.

I have no personal issue with Ward - it's just when you look at his career and his fights, as I have, he is not at all what some people make him out to be. I think he was a tough smart fighter, but as a boxer he was really nothing special and benefited from always being the home fighter, getting any round that was close, and getting away with his dirty tactics. I analyze what I see but other people on here refuse to re-consider their opinion of a fighter even when presented with new information.

Name one great, non-controversial win by Ward, except over Froch? I'll wait.

[Boxing_1013]

I’m sure there are multiple factors y Kov isn’t the fighter he once was, and Ward is DEFINITELY one of those factors, but not the only factor. Age, partying/drinking, stubbornness and self doubt r some other factors.

Actually, I’m going to redact self-doubt from being its own independent factor, because that’s the same as the Ward-factor who obviously initiated it.

But how can you say he isn't what he was - he just proved against Alvarez he looks as good as ever?

[Lomadeaux]

I agree. Kova isn't the same fighter he was when he DROPPED Ward and got robbed by the judges against Ward in the first fight, but he's still a threat in the division.

It’s unfortunate when you see those bad scores. The haters get REAL excited when you say stuff like this but a governing body is what is needed to get this ship on the right track.