Kovalev vs Ward

[Balboa]

Any boxing fans here?

Two outstanding boxers. looking foward to tomorrow night for this fight. Any predictions ?

I Have a feeling this might end up being one of those multiple boxing  rematches no matter who wins...Kovalev vs Ward 1,2,3

 

 

 

[OsbourneCox]

Love Andre ward so I'm rooting for him.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Balboa]

I really like both boxers so whoever wins I'm okay with it.

Kovalev has the power. Ward is a strong puncher, but defensively the best boxer Kovalev has ever fought. This will be interesting

[David88]

I think Ward will be too good defensively for Kovalev and will take it on points. He hasn't been in the ring much in recent years though so who knows! It will definitely be an interesting fight. I'm mostly just glad to see two top fighters willing to face each other! 

[Danimalia]

More of a casual boxing fan, but I do support Ward, as he's from 15 minutes up the road in Oakland. Ward is incredibly skilled. Kovalev, I am less familiar with, but I understand he will be the best Ward has faced, maybe ever. 

2 hours ago, David88 said:

I think Ward will be too good defensively for Kovalev and will take it on points. He hasn't been in the ring much in recent years though so who knows! It will definitely be an interesting fight. I'm mostly just glad to see two top fighters willing to face each other! 

Hear, hear. I have never been much of an MMA fan, but one thing they get right is they make the fights people want to watch.

[vladdraq]

Ward is very skilled, but nor sure he ever encountered a guy with Kovalevs striking force. He did win over Froch, but in my opinion it wasn't a clear win.

I think he will lose tonight. Knocked out.

 

[clutch5150]

Kovalev 4 or 5th round TKO...For the win!

[David88]

7 hours ago, vladdraq said:

Ward is very skilled, but nor sure he ever encountered a guy with Kovalevs striking force. He did win over Froch, but in my opinion it wasn't a clear win.

I think he will lose tonight. Knocked out.

 

I thought he absolutely dominated froch and looked a class above. It was telling that froch never looked for a rematch following his loss, that result would have come 9 times out of 10. 

I can't see ward getting knocked out, particularly not in the middle rounds. It should be good to watch though!

[Danimalia]

Didn't get a chance to watch tonight, but I see Ward won on UD. Anyone catch it? How was it?

[David88]

Really good fight. I personally thought Kovalev won it but I can see why the judges went for Ward. Ward did well to get back into the fight after an early knock down, the first of his career I believe. Definitely worth watching

[Danimalia]

2 minutes ago, David88 said:

Really good fight. I personally thought Kovalev won it but I can see why the judges went for Ward. Ward did well to get back into the fight after an early knock down, the first of his career I believe. Definitely worth watching

Wow. I guess it's set up well for a rematch, eh?

[David88]

1 minute ago, Danimalia said:

Wow. I guess it's set up well for a rematch, eh?

Kovalev did not seem happy with the result. A rematch would make sense but I don't think Ward will want it. He hasn't been a particularly active fighter in recent years so he may just look for a big cash fight to bow out with a perfect record  

[vladdraq]

4 hours ago, David88 said:

Kovalev did not seem happy with the result. A rematch would make sense but I don't think Ward will want it. He hasn't been a particularly active fighter in recent years so he may just look for a big cash fight to bow out with a perfect record  

and the most important part: he lost the fight. He is not a judge thats why he knows. It wasn't a rip off, blatant wrong decision, but it was a bad one. It reminded me Bradley vs Pacquaio.

How the heck can a fighter who lands more punches, even more power punches, a knock dow!!! lose the game?

Anyways, I always liked Ward, but Kovalev is bigger and stronger and better (IMHO).

[clutch5150]

American judges, American fighter and American city vs, a Russian and NO WAY Ward wins, let alone a 114-113 scorecard. This fight was at least 115-112 for Kovalev. Ward got knocked down which I predicted, but came earlier than I thought. Ward did mount a tiny comeback but near enough to win this fight. He is not strong enough fighter to fend off Kovalev and if there is a rematch, Ward will get knocked out. 

Pretty terrible call but not as bad as the pre-fight Hooker vs. Perez...Judges smoking something on that one.

[wabashcr]

I'm a Kovalev fan, and generally could do without Ward, and while I thought Kovalev won the fight, I don't have a huge problem with the decision.  Ward struggled with Kovalev's power early, but the second half of the fight was typical Ward.  He neutralized Kovalev, while "scoring" with a lot of shots that did very little damage.  That's what Andre Ward does, at least against good fighters.  It's been so long since the Super Six, and other than an outclassed Chad Dawson, Ward hasn't fought anyone of note since.  A lot of people seem to have forgotten who he is.  In any event, the last six rounds were close, but I don't think it's a stretch to say they were all close rounds for Ward.  I had a feeling Kovalev missed his chance early, and it turned out to be true.  Ended up being a pretty good fight that mostly lived up to expectations.  

Kovalev's promoter Kathy Duva has said she's already filed the paperwork to trigger the immediate rematch clause, and I don't see any reason Ward would avoid it.  Unless he's going to fight Golovkin at 168 (spoiler: he won't), there's no bigger payday available to Ward than a Kovalev rematch.  And I expect a rematch to look a lot like the second half of the first fight.  Maybe he goes and takes Adonis Stevenson's belt first, to unify the light heavyweight division.  That's of course assuming Stevenson doesn't duck Ward like he ducked Kovalev the last couple years.  In any event, if Ward wants another real PPV payday, he'll have to fight Kovalev again.  

Glad to see some boxing talk on FOH.  Obviously the sport has seen better days, but it's enjoying quite a renaissance in the UK.  And there are some pretty good fights on the horizon in the US as well.  I've tried to get into UFC, but it's just not for me.  I still watch all the HBO/Showtime shows, and most of the PBC and other televised shows.  A lot of the bigger UK cards will get picked up here for the main event, and I'll find a stream for some of the others.  

[vladdraq]

Maybe Ward was smarter and i think he is a smarter fighter. But this is not an IQ test. He got knocked down, outpunched, he was on the run mst of the fight, i just can't see how the heck somebody coud see this as a "win".

Hooker vs Perez was laughable...

[clutch5150]

9 hours ago, wabashcr said:

I'm a Kovalev fan, and generally could do without Ward, and while I thought Kovalev won the fight, I don't have a huge problem with the decision.  Ward struggled with Kovalev's power early, but the second half of the fight was typical Ward.  He neutralized Kovalev, while "scoring" with a lot of shots that did very little damage.  That's what Andre Ward does, at least against good fighters.  It's been so long since the Super Six, and other than an outclassed Chad Dawson, Ward hasn't fought anyone of note since.  A lot of people seem to have forgotten who he is.  In any event, the last six rounds were close, but I don't think it's a stretch to say they were all close rounds for Ward.  I had a feeling Kovalev missed his chance early, and it turned out to be true.  Ended up being a pretty good fight that mostly lived up to expectations.  

Kovalev's promoter Kathy Duva has said she's already filed the paperwork to trigger the immediate rematch clause, and I don't see any reason Ward would avoid it.  Unless he's going to fight Golovkin at 168 (spoiler: he won't), there's no bigger payday available to Ward than a Kovalev rematch.  And I expect a rematch to look a lot like the second half of the first fight.  Maybe he goes and takes Adonis Stevenson's belt first, to unify the light heavyweight division.  That's of course assuming Stevenson doesn't duck Ward like he ducked Kovalev the last couple years.  In any event, if Ward wants another real PPV payday, he'll have to fight Kovalev again.  

Glad to see some boxing talk on FOH.  Obviously the sport has seen better days, but it's enjoying quite a renaissance in the UK.  And there are some pretty good fights on the horizon in the US as well.  I've tried to get into UFC, but it's just not for me.  I still watch all the HBO/Showtime shows, and most of the PBC and other televised shows.  A lot of the bigger UK cards will get picked up here for the main event, and I'll find a stream for some of the others.  

Good post, and this rematch has to happen. Ward cannot duck folks any longer.  I also think these kinda judges calls is what plagues boxing for such a long time. My hope is some of these so-called vintage judges get too old and bow out of boxing for good. I cannot remember that female judge from about 5 years ago who basically got bounced for her continuous and rancid score cards caught up with her! She was the worst!!

UFC while cool, still not for me as well.

[wabashcr]

14 hours ago, clutch5150 said:

Good post, and this rematch has to happen. Ward cannot duck folks any longer.  I also think these kinda judges calls is what plagues boxing for such a long time. My hope is some of these so-called vintage judges get too old and bow out of boxing for good. I cannot remember that female judge from about 5 years ago who basically got bounced for her continuous and rancid score cards caught up with her! She was the worst!!

UFC while cool, still not for me as well.

CJ Ross is the judge that basically got run out of the sport.  She had Bradley over Pacquiao in their first fight, and scored Mayweather/Canelo a draw.  Complete incompetence.  I wouldn't put the judging of Ward/Kovalev in that category at all.  I think it's a bit odd that all three judges came up with 114-113 Ward, especially since they didn't agree on which rounds each guy won.  But even though I thought Kovalev won, I think 114-113 Ward is a perfectly acceptable score.  Two of the judges (Burt Clements and Glenn Trowbridge) have had some high-profile gaffes and bad cards, but they're generally considered good, fair judges, who have been around a long time.  I don't know as much about the third judge.  When you consider the judges have a completely unique perspective from their ringside seats, and are all looking at the fight from their own perspective, I think it's easy to disagree with them without saying they got it wrong.  

As for Ward, it's hard to say he's been guilty of ducking anyone.  He won the Super Six and pretty much cleaned out 168.  He had the long layoff over his dispute with Dan Goossen, and then a bunch of injuries.  The fact that he's not the most entertaining fighter, but he's incredibly skilled, means it's a high risk/low reward proposal for any possible opponents.  Why face a guy who is likely to beat you, and won't get you paid?  Kovalev was by far the biggest threat to Ward's undefeated record, and Ward took the fight.  I guess you could make the argument Ward ducked GGG, but everything I've heard of those negotiations seems to indicate Golovkin's camp was every bit as responsible for not making that fight.  In the end I don't think either fighter made a serious offer that should have been accepted.  Ward has already said he's never going back down to 168, and it would be ridiculous for GGG to move up to 175.  Of course, if he beats Kovalev again, and can actually get Stevenson in the ring (he would destroy Stevenson IMO), he'll be out of options at 175, and may not have a choice but to fight GGG if he wants to get paid.  Nobody is paying to watch Ward fight an overmatched opponent.