Kovalev Strategy to win on June 17th?

[Mukuro]

What would you suggest Kovalev to do to win against Ward?

Is Carl Froch true when he says Andre ward would never be defeated because he plays dirty?

There is some truth to that. Ward plays in the grey area and also makes it ugly. Hard to blame him though if he gets away with it.

[taes]

KKK now knows that Ward is over rated. This will be easier than the first fight for the Krusher. If he can just get a break from the corrupt judging this should see a comfortable win.

[Dean_Razorback]

he did pretty well in the first fight, he just needs to not abandon the jab. he did great when he used it

[Deletrious]

He just has to not gas out, he dominated first half of the fight. He has said that he over trained the first time. Even in the second half I thought he obviously won round 10 and it was robbery that the judges didn't give it to him but whatever.

[koolkc107]

Wrote this shortly after the fight. I think it still applies...

What each man must do in a rematch

For Ward, it has to be more of the same. Much more. With 12 rounds under his belt and the knowledge he can get up from a good shot from Kovalev, it should be easier for him the second time around, but he has to know a second close fight might very well go to Sergei the next time. He must go to the body even more relentlessly and start it from the opening bell. He must not just seek to block Kovalev's jab- which still leaves open the possibility of Sergei splitting his guard with a crushing right- he must time it well enough to slip and counter. If he is able to do these things, he will likely turn in a dominating performance with even a stoppage not out of the question.

Kovalev's job can be summed up in one word: Busy. He must throw punches in bunches. He must cut off the ring and keep things at a distance that favors him. He must be ready for Ward's tactic of darting in, ready with well timed counters, particularly straight right leads and uppercuts. And, perhaps most importantly, he has got to figure out what to do about Ward's inside game if and when Andre gets inside. And, whatever that strategy turns out to be, it has to be more than using a reverse headlock (personally, I think holding in that way was something that worked very negatively against Sergei with the judges. If I see a guy using a reverse headlock almost every time his opponent gets close, sooner or later I might start to wonder what it is he is so desperate to avoid so often). He has got to learn to work inside, even if it is a little, because he cannot leave the impression that he is gun-shy in that area. If he keeps things outside for the most part, and keeps the inside exchanges honest, he can do enough damage to win a clear UD or even stop Ward in the late middle to last rounds.

[otrocubiche]

the jab was his best weapon, throw hundreds of them, keep ward at jab distance and throw enough right crosses to try to keep him there, when ward does get in, tie him up, step back, right uppercut and left hook followed by more jabs.

[Mammoth]

He needs a good camp, work on his conditioning and keep that jab out there.

[Mammoth]

Why not get a new trainer?

[Luilun]

Knock him out out the Judges already have their cards filled out 115 to 113 to have Ward as the winner

[Graz]

In the first fight he relied too much on the KD and thought he could breeze through the later rounds. Kovalev needs to be unrelenting and keep pressuring Ward. A red handkerchief to prepare for the billy goat rush would be nice too.