The rematch is not a certainty. Ward has yet to agree to fight again. Should we be surprised? An exert from today:
"There is only one fight left that interests me. A rematch with Kovalev. If it happens the second fight will be more difficult for him than the first. If not, well, I really love broadcasting. I am still in the thick of it all. Mixing with boxers and the fans from the best seat in the house. Without getting punched myself." - See more at:
http://www.boxingscene.com/andre-wa...n-retire-rematch--113267#sthash.n3lLsKai.dpuf
Why is a defensive fighter yapping about getting hit? Doesn't he fancy himself having more slip than a squirming wet fish? Obviously he is not eager to fight Kovalev again, for if he were he wouldn't be talking about retiring. Kovalev is recently quoted that he is coming back to United States, from Russia, to continue his training and is eager to fight Ward again as soon as possible.
The last sentence quoted above "Without getting punched myself" is a tacit acknowledgement that he was pounded hard and pounded often in their last fight. We don't need his acknowledgment though, we know siege was laid upon him from which he is still shell-shocked. If he believed he actually won that fight, and won it handily, wouldn't he be looking and advancing for his next easy while bragging about it? That fight has taken him months to recover from. He likely had painful headaches for weeks afterwards. The damage was deep and psychological.
Kovalev takes no prisoners, he fights like he is determined to defend mother Russia. Everyone that has fought him has had their career ruined. Ward is no exception. Doubts are that Ward can withstand another 12 rounds of Kovalev's attacks. If Ward retires at 32, his retirement is the result of Kovalev beating the fight out of him and making him raise the
White flag. The French word for retirement is "retraite", literally translated into English as "retreat". Not a judges' "win" but a
victory for the superior Russian fighter.