Kovalev game plan for Ward?

[BoxingFan85]

DDT him like he did to Pascal in the rematch.

Or suplex ward like he did to Chilemba..

[BoxingFan85]

Kovalev & Ward have the same height & 1 inch reach adv to Kovalev so jabbing all night isnt an option.. Ward wont be available for straights all night, Kovalev has to punch from angles while Ward comes in but Ward would adjust to that too in later rounds.. Kovalev needs to be patient and expect to catch Ward & avoid getting clinched or at least land hard & body shots during clinches..

[Prince Madison]

punch ward in the face as hard as he can

[Mike Haynes]

it ain't gonna happen bro...

Kovalev never punked anyone, he is a clean, textbook fighter. He won't become a bully overnight. Especially not against one f the best bullies i the sport right now who would easily pick him apart in his own game. Kovalev's only way to win this is to do what he does the best and hope for Ward is also not enough to stop him doing it.

But Ward is a whole different case than that version of Hop or Chilemba or Pascal...
Ward UD probably wide because as I said if Ward once figure him out and takes away his weapons I can't see Kovalev can change up so the fight will probably go in the same pace from then.

I'd say Kovalev's last 5 opponents were punked BEFORE the fight started. And Ward resorts to the holding/headbutting technique BECAUSE of his fear of fading late and his suspect chin. He's basically resting when he does that. I'd take it a step further and say Kovalev needs to go Mayorga vs Forrest I on Ward - don't let him grab you for S H I T just wild out when he does so. IDC what anyone says....Ward is SHOOK right now at the thought of Kovalev connecting cleanly at anytime during the fight. JDJ needs to instill that in Kov's brain and put him in pitbull mode. These judges aren't keen on giving dull, stand still rounds to ANY of Ward's opponents.

[Mike Haynes]

What got into you? You actually sound reasonable. Normally you wouldn't give any white fighter a snowball's chance in hell of beating any black fighter. Keep on being reasonable and fair minded. It becomes you. Your battle plan for Kovalev is a good one in my opinion. However Kovalev is not restricted to knocking out Ward in the first half of the fight. Kovalev can KO Ward in any round of the fight including the 12th round. The betting odds on this fight are dead even. Either man can win on points or by KO. Ward has a wicked left hook that seems to come out of nowhere. Kovalev has a telephone poll of a left jab that can give any boxer trouble.

I KNOOOOW you didn't direct this to ME.

[dranoel]

Jab to the body for the entire fight.
Learn to throw some sick sweeping hooks from the outside like Floyd-- I saw Kovalev a little more confident with his stance and defense.(But I doubt he does the hooks, as I've heard his trainer pretty much yell at him to throw a hook against pascal, and he won't because he's too grown into what he is).

But the jab to body should be there, as it kept Hopkins on the outside, and just capitalize on mistakes.

Extreme patience is necessary. Seriously, learn to throw a nice hook, or even uppercuts. Straight punches aren't going to give Andre Ward much to think about.

[Stuntman Mike]

Kovalev will win this fight 7 rounds to wards 5 if he doesnt get that ko

[HEND]

I'd say Kovalev's last 5 opponents were punked BEFORE the fight started. And Ward resorts to the holding/headbutting technique BECAUSE of his fear of fading late and his suspect chin. He's basically resting when he does that. I'd take it a step further and say Kovalev needs to go Mayorga vs Forrest I on Ward - don't let him grab you for S H I T just wild out when he does so. IDC what anyone says....Ward is SHOOK right now at the thought of Kovalev connecting cleanly at anytime during the fight. JDJ needs to instill that in Kov's brain and put him in pitbull mode. These judges aren't keen on giving dull, stand still rounds to ANY of Ward's opponents.

He's so shook that he went up a division and actually okay with fighting Kovalev. Also signed the deal etc...

It's okay if you root for Kovalev but c'mon now... Ward is not some jobber who's being afraid just because of Kovalev's "big bad man from the East" media persona

There were a few Kovalev opponents already who were not scared of him to death, don't worry Ward also won't be. He has a huge portion of self confidence.

I actually never saw Ward scared of anyone and he faced top level opposition a few times already. Also don't think that he like to fight on the inside and rough up his opponents because "he is scared", HE doesn't take out time with that, he is active in the clinch and bullies his opponents in it. Just look what he did to Froch who was supposed to "not let this to him" and "go through his punches" so the same what you expect from Kovalev here.
It turned out that he bullied him and made him think twice before throwing a punch. And Froch has a very good chin, I doN't think the same can be said about Kovalev, so if Ward punches demanded enough respect to stop him from going through him (also against Kessler, also against Abrham, etc...) he should be able to do the same to Kovalev whose chin and defense doesn't look better at all than those men's and when the question is wether he can walk through someone those are the number one factors not his punching power.

Being a bully and bullying someone in a clinch is also a skill, a part of the game. Part of the pro game more precisely, this is why it's more from the instincts and pro experiences than any other part of the fighting. That's why you see that sometimes textbook, clean, "amateur" prodigies suffer when they have to fight on the inside. They don't really learn that in the amateurs, they either have it naturally or they have to learn it mostly as a pro. Kovalev also didn't show anything in inside game so far which would suggest to me that he would take one of the if not the best inside fighter in the game right now.
It's not like it would be enough to "go wild", lol, inside fighting is a skill just as any other type of fighting, and getting mad won't help for him...

[Motofan]

It's a big ask for Kovalev. He fights at a measured pace which is great for a technician like Ward. He won't have to worry about stamina at all. He isn't going to out fight Ward on the inside. Really about all he can do inside is throw Ward around and risk getting a point taken away. Both have GREAT, educated jabs. Outside is a push in my eyes. Kovalev obviously has a massive power advantage, but Ward is a very sharp puncher and Kovalev can be caught if he gets careless. I really want Kovalev to get the KO here, but other than size and power, everything favors Ward IMO. My hope is that Ward fighting easy for so many years now will leave him unprepared for a real test in Kovalev.