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

[Deleted]

Intteresting!

Yes, Ward is correct when he said something stays behind after their 2nd fight. Ward shouldn't assume that it's one of the good parts that stayed behind.

The Kovalev I saw against Alvarez this past weekend is the best iteration of the Krusher that I've see to date. Stance, footwork, timing, energy management and strategy seemed on point.

I don't think Beterbiev will beat this version of Kovalev. I still need to see more of the guy that beat Stevenson so I won't comment on his chances. IMHO, Bivol is the worst match-up for Kovalev style wise and I don't think Kovalev can eek out decision. I can see Bivol peppering him and moving out of range for the first half of the fight and get a few late rounds to win the fight.

To bad we'll never see a trilogy with these 2, I have no beef with anyone giving the first one to the Krusher, but the 2nd one goes to Ward. It's an opinion and therefore subjective, but it just looked like Kovalev wanted the ref to bail him out and avoid getting knocked out cold. Not sure who would win between this Krusher and Ward.

[BirdSong]

I think it really funny the same stuff from ward and his fans, we ruined kovalev and he will never be the same again, they just really love the thoughts of that for their own reasons. Its a recurring theme over and over again.

We just hear, oh ward, yeah hes an undefeated ATG, he just has all the skills and finds a way LOL, u got to be joking me, he was useless first fight with kovalev and decided to target the beltline and below next fight to make sure he fought his fight and he ALWAYS has the judges, refs to back him up, all he has to do is make the fight ugly if he is in trouble and hey presto, he gets the nod, no matter what it seems, thats not atg, thats cheating and as for ruining people, hes way off the type of fighter who could ruin someone, except in his and his fans minds ofc

[Boxing-1013]

The truth is that Kov looked as good as ever on Saturday night (Sunday morning...such a BS start time) and in doing so he pretty much eliminated the notion that the Ward fights took a lot, or anything, out of him, at least physically. I think the robbery in the first Ward fight affected him mentally and caused him to go into head hunting mode instead of just focusing on boxing, which he is great at, and which sets up his power usually anyway.

Not a surprising comment from Ward though, he has always talked out of both sides of his mouth and has always been a halfway crook. Just how he is. Deep down he can't stand that he isn't more relevant than he is.

[Boxing-1013]

I think it really funny the same stuff from ward and his fans, we ruined kovalev and he will never be the same again, they just really love the thoughts of that for their own reasons. Its a recurring theme over and over again.

We just hear, oh ward, yeah hes an undefeated ATG, he just has all the skills and finds a way LOL, u got to be joking me, he was useless first fight with kovalev and decided to target the beltline and below next fight to make sure he fought his fight and he ALWAYS has the judges, refs to back him up, all he has to do is make the fight ugly if he is in trouble and hey presto, he gets the nod, no matter what it seems, thats not atg, thats cheating and as for ruining people, hes way off the type of fighter who could ruin someone, except in his and his fans minds ofc

Very good post. You get it, as do many others. People talk about talking chances and risks in boxing and try and get on someone like GGG - GGG has fought almost all of his fights as the 'away' fighter, Ward has never done that. Had he, he would have a few losses and a few DQs on his resume.

[Boxing-1013]

I like listening to Ward talk boxing so long as what he is talking about has nothing to do with Ward himself. Ward thinks he ruined Kovalev but Kovalev put doubt in Ward’s mind so maybe the opposite is true. Kovalev outboxed Ward the first meeting and was being himself outboxed by Ward the second meeting when idiot Weeks prematurely called a hault to the contest.

Ward implies with his comments that he would best everyone in the lhw division right now but I doubt it, good as he is. I don’t think Kovalev beats everyone either but Kovalev at least will try to prove it instead of just say it.

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

[GreenNinja111]

Kovalev is damaged goods. He won bc Alvarez didn't even try.

[Boxing-1013]

I don't get it. We've seen countless fighters not fight the same after suffering a KO loss. This isn't new. Pacman doesn't fight the same, Cotto didn't fight the same and had to totally reinvent himself after his fight with Pacman, the list goes on. Other talking heads said what Ward said after the KO loss to Alvarez. Guess what, he's right! Kovalev will box more to keep folks off his body. He won't be the same. He knows he's not the invincible Krusher who can rely on forcing his opponents to wilt under the pressure of his jab and power punches.

If Ward said this having not been asked what he thought about the fight and what he thought as different from when he fought Kovalev (he called the fight), I'd say yeah, this is totally a brag situation. However he did call the fight and he was asked the questions.

That's not really what he said though - he said Kov left a part of himself in the ring those nights and will never be the same fighter, meaning he isn't what he once was. He didn't say he had re-invented himself and could potentially learn and be better than he was. Which happens to a lot of guys when they get KOd. Badou Jack comes to mind.

The Kov vs Alvarez looked about as good as ever so any discussion that he lost anything from the Ward fights is basically null and void.

[Boxing-1013]

Kovalev is damaged goods. He won bc Alvarez didn't even try.

Lololololololol is that the new tagline now. 'Alvarez didn't try' lol

[Beercules]

I’d be more worried of a Kov who is heavy handed but fights smart, not looking for the KO. He completely dominated on Saturday.

Yes. Exactly this

[Marvlus Marv]

I really wish Andre would stop reading my thoughts on Kovalev and repeating them as his own. Geesh. I said it too: A focused Kovalev is a handful for anyone out there. He has the skills to box his way to Ws.