Did not think this fight would happen. But with few lucrative options, if the tales are true, seems Ward has 5 million reasons to fight Kovalev. So now that they are about to go at it, within days, I’ll post what I observed, and what I think will be.
Ward aka “SOB”
Ward was made the “Super Six” Super Middle Weight Champion by fighting all Kessler, Bika, Green, Abraham, and Froch at home at the Oracle Area in Oakland, California. His bout with Kessler was particularly crooked in that he speared Kessler many times with his head causing a deep cut to Kessler’s face. Home referee saw none of it. Every other competitor in the tournament had to travel, and most abroad, save Ward. Most acknowledge that close fights are awarded to home fighter by judges. Wonder why Ward “won” the tournament?
Since three judges scored Ward the winner by a round when he fought Froch five years ago, Ward has fought five times. None of the bouts are much to brag about, though the ever-boastful Ward yet today is published saying “…I’m everything I’ve shown…”. We’ve seen some of what he’s shown; let’s see more.
Since Froch, Ward bested a shrunken Chad Dawson at super middle weight. Same Dawson who had already lost to tough Jean Pascal at light heavy weight. Dawson, finding defeat to his liking, went on to lose to both Adonis Stevenson and Tommy Karpency at light heavy weight.
When Ward, a natural light heavyweight, couldn’t get a fight with middleweight Golovokin, he declared to the world he would take the bold move up in weight to fight at light heavyweight. No sooner said, he went back to weight manipulation. He fought cruiserweight/light heavyweight Edwin Rodriguez at 170, middleweight Paul Smith at 172. He fought a legitimate light heavyweight at light heavy with Sullivan Barrera. Not in favor of a fair contest, he then took two steps backwards again and fought middleweight Alexander Brand at 176.
Ward V Sullivan Barrera
As Barrera is Kovalev’s size, and Ward fought Barrera at the light heavyweight limit, the fight is worthy of a few words. Ward did not put on a “master class” as many gab on about. If you want to see what a “master class” is, go watch Lomachenko. You won’t believe your eyes. Though Ward won at least 8-9 rounds and in 1 round knocked Barrera down with a counter shot. Barrera is slow afoot, doesn’t use feints, traps himself, among other poor tactics. In spite of his faults, Barrera won the last 2 rounds by simply firing straight shots down the middle which a tired Ward caught with his head and face. The fight seemed like Ward slipped in an extra 2-3 taps per round to get the win. Compubox, for whatever it is worth, records 166-111 in favor of Ward.
Ward’s Style
To quote a poster on boxingscene.com:
“Ward is not really that skillful to begin with. He's not the fastest, not the biggest puncher, dosent have much of a right hand, not the best punch selection and a shaky chin. His best punch is either the jab or a short left hook coming off the break almost like a sucker punch. He dosent have a deep tool box to choose from, he just has his few weapons and he makes it work for himself. His strengths are his mental toughness, physical strength, endurance, timing, and probably his best asset is his ability to make adjustments on the fly”
Jimmyd79 Mon, Oct. 24, 2016 @ 8:08,
Kovalev aka “Krusher”
Has demolished every fighter he has faced. Moves like a cat and hits like a tank. Keeps his opponents on the defensive with his laser guided armor piercing jab which reaches his opponents everywhere from beyond visual range. Zips out of range left-right-backwards and snap-shifts at angles. He throws a combination of about 8 different punches almost all with power.
His only showing of criticism is his last fight against his stablemate Isaac Chilemba. Very difficult to get a good opponent to go to Russia. Chilemba went. On condition? Who knows. Kovalev wore big, padded gloves; not his usual Grants; Chilemba wore small Reyes; touched gloves after many rounds. Kovalev got a knock down and won every round. They hugged afterwards. Kovalev doesn’t hug his opponents. Chilemba is a funny guy: he had a woman as his corner man in the fight. Not a serious bout. I like Chilemba.
Kovalev V Ward
Kovalev hits everything much like Marciano used to do. Heavy punchers need to make hits. The only true miss is one that goes through the air. Shots landed on arms, gloves, sides, back, belt line, are all connects whether the judges accept them as connects or not. Recipients of these shots know they count at that is what really matters. In a long professional fight these indefensible shots add up and make room for the bullseyes on the head, liver, and kidney. Ward tosses many throw-away punches trying to get his opponents to make false defenses so he can tap them a slap or two and snicker away. My oh my is he special.
Ward’s body jab is all trickery; when he throws it he never intends nor can produce harm with it; it’s just a distraction to get head shots open. Kovalev’s body jab is a killer. He knocked Agnew and Caparello out with it. He knocked the very tough Pascal down with it.
Jackson Sees Four Flaws
John David Jackson, Kovalev’s trainer, has famously said he studied Ward and saw 3-4 significant flaws in his style. Said he has gotten away with it up until now. Maybe not anymore. Here is what Jackson may be seeing.
1) Paws and measures with jab. Old timers used to say this is a mistake. “Leaving a jab out there” takes the jab out of play, removing its surprise, removing its power, and remove the shot completely. Makes it easier to defend against and easier to counter into. Can you see Kovalev’s right blasting over Ward’s pawing jab?
2) Bending at the waist. Old timers used to say bend at the knees not the waist. Ward typically bends at the waist instead of the knees. When a fighter bends at the waist he becomes a one arm fighter with no counter power. Fighters take their whole arsenal out of play by bending at the waist. Wonder who that might be?
3) Doesn’t move his head. Surprisingly, for a defensive fighter, Ward doesn’t move his head left-right to slip punches. Maybe he hasn’t needed to? He is, however, excellent at parrying and deflecting punches and staying out of range by putting his head lower than his opponent’s waist. Barrera found Ward’s head late in their fight. Will Kovalev find it?
4) Takes his eyes off his opponent! Surprised? I don’t know any who have scouted this? This is the most surprising fault I found watching Ward videos: he has the habit of looking down and away while bending at the waist and stepping to his right. See for yourself. Never, ever, ever, take your eyes off your opponent. Ward looks at the floor while bending at the waist while under heavy fire! I see two big fat punches just waiting for him when he does this: the straight right body shot to the kidney or the left to the body hitting his ear. Will Kovalev jump on these if offered?
Possible Outcome
Robert Byrd will be the referee and he is known for not letting fighters get away with excessive holding, and he is quick to take points away for rule breakers. This favors Kovalev.
Burt Clements, John McKaie, and Glen Trowbridge are the judges. All have worked Los Vegas fights for years and all were pals of Mayweather Weasel. Obviously, this favors Ward.
With less reach, few weapons, shorter range, little power, low output and there is something of his chin he’s been hiding, how is Ward to overcome straight power shots down the middle? Ward says “I’m everything I’ve shown”, agreed, usually what we see is what we’ll get. Kovalev will feint and throw murderous shots down the middle and try to move in and out of range. Ward, feeling his power and accuracy, will try the bend at the waist defense only to get kidney shots, and leaned on. Ward will switch to trying to smother Kovalev’s range and power by incessantly trying to clinch and score worthless taps that the parrot judges will scribble as punches landed. But Ward’s attempt to clinch, foul, smother, and spoil the fight may not be enough for he may find Kovalev too big, too strong, and too responsive for him. Kovalev cannot win a decision against Ward by passively boxing like he did most of the fight with Hopkins. To win Kovalev must rely on his ability to box and punch with such ferociousness and viciousness to cause Ward to quit, run, or lose. I expect Kovalev will do just that. If Barrera can land 111, Kovalev can land 200 -and 150 with power. Kovalev UD 12
Of course, anything can happen. Kovalev can get injured, he can get cut, and he can make himself lose by falling fool for Ward’s fakery.
Ward aka “SOB”
Ward was made the “Super Six” Super Middle Weight Champion by fighting all Kessler, Bika, Green, Abraham, and Froch at home at the Oracle Area in Oakland, California. His bout with Kessler was particularly crooked in that he speared Kessler many times with his head causing a deep cut to Kessler’s face. Home referee saw none of it. Every other competitor in the tournament had to travel, and most abroad, save Ward. Most acknowledge that close fights are awarded to home fighter by judges. Wonder why Ward “won” the tournament?
Since three judges scored Ward the winner by a round when he fought Froch five years ago, Ward has fought five times. None of the bouts are much to brag about, though the ever-boastful Ward yet today is published saying “…I’m everything I’ve shown…”. We’ve seen some of what he’s shown; let’s see more.
Since Froch, Ward bested a shrunken Chad Dawson at super middle weight. Same Dawson who had already lost to tough Jean Pascal at light heavy weight. Dawson, finding defeat to his liking, went on to lose to both Adonis Stevenson and Tommy Karpency at light heavy weight.
When Ward, a natural light heavyweight, couldn’t get a fight with middleweight Golovokin, he declared to the world he would take the bold move up in weight to fight at light heavyweight. No sooner said, he went back to weight manipulation. He fought cruiserweight/light heavyweight Edwin Rodriguez at 170, middleweight Paul Smith at 172. He fought a legitimate light heavyweight at light heavy with Sullivan Barrera. Not in favor of a fair contest, he then took two steps backwards again and fought middleweight Alexander Brand at 176.
Ward V Sullivan Barrera
As Barrera is Kovalev’s size, and Ward fought Barrera at the light heavyweight limit, the fight is worthy of a few words. Ward did not put on a “master class” as many gab on about. If you want to see what a “master class” is, go watch Lomachenko. You won’t believe your eyes. Though Ward won at least 8-9 rounds and in 1 round knocked Barrera down with a counter shot. Barrera is slow afoot, doesn’t use feints, traps himself, among other poor tactics. In spite of his faults, Barrera won the last 2 rounds by simply firing straight shots down the middle which a tired Ward caught with his head and face. The fight seemed like Ward slipped in an extra 2-3 taps per round to get the win. Compubox, for whatever it is worth, records 166-111 in favor of Ward.
Ward’s Style
To quote a poster on boxingscene.com:
“Ward is not really that skillful to begin with. He's not the fastest, not the biggest puncher, dosent have much of a right hand, not the best punch selection and a shaky chin. His best punch is either the jab or a short left hook coming off the break almost like a sucker punch. He dosent have a deep tool box to choose from, he just has his few weapons and he makes it work for himself. His strengths are his mental toughness, physical strength, endurance, timing, and probably his best asset is his ability to make adjustments on the fly”
Jimmyd79 Mon, Oct. 24, 2016 @ 8:08,
Kovalev aka “Krusher”
Has demolished every fighter he has faced. Moves like a cat and hits like a tank. Keeps his opponents on the defensive with his laser guided armor piercing jab which reaches his opponents everywhere from beyond visual range. Zips out of range left-right-backwards and snap-shifts at angles. He throws a combination of about 8 different punches almost all with power.
His only showing of criticism is his last fight against his stablemate Isaac Chilemba. Very difficult to get a good opponent to go to Russia. Chilemba went. On condition? Who knows. Kovalev wore big, padded gloves; not his usual Grants; Chilemba wore small Reyes; touched gloves after many rounds. Kovalev got a knock down and won every round. They hugged afterwards. Kovalev doesn’t hug his opponents. Chilemba is a funny guy: he had a woman as his corner man in the fight. Not a serious bout. I like Chilemba.
Kovalev V Ward
Kovalev hits everything much like Marciano used to do. Heavy punchers need to make hits. The only true miss is one that goes through the air. Shots landed on arms, gloves, sides, back, belt line, are all connects whether the judges accept them as connects or not. Recipients of these shots know they count at that is what really matters. In a long professional fight these indefensible shots add up and make room for the bullseyes on the head, liver, and kidney. Ward tosses many throw-away punches trying to get his opponents to make false defenses so he can tap them a slap or two and snicker away. My oh my is he special.
Ward’s body jab is all trickery; when he throws it he never intends nor can produce harm with it; it’s just a distraction to get head shots open. Kovalev’s body jab is a killer. He knocked Agnew and Caparello out with it. He knocked the very tough Pascal down with it.
Jackson Sees Four Flaws
John David Jackson, Kovalev’s trainer, has famously said he studied Ward and saw 3-4 significant flaws in his style. Said he has gotten away with it up until now. Maybe not anymore. Here is what Jackson may be seeing.
1) Paws and measures with jab. Old timers used to say this is a mistake. “Leaving a jab out there” takes the jab out of play, removing its surprise, removing its power, and remove the shot completely. Makes it easier to defend against and easier to counter into. Can you see Kovalev’s right blasting over Ward’s pawing jab?
2) Bending at the waist. Old timers used to say bend at the knees not the waist. Ward typically bends at the waist instead of the knees. When a fighter bends at the waist he becomes a one arm fighter with no counter power. Fighters take their whole arsenal out of play by bending at the waist. Wonder who that might be?
3) Doesn’t move his head. Surprisingly, for a defensive fighter, Ward doesn’t move his head left-right to slip punches. Maybe he hasn’t needed to? He is, however, excellent at parrying and deflecting punches and staying out of range by putting his head lower than his opponent’s waist. Barrera found Ward’s head late in their fight. Will Kovalev find it?
4) Takes his eyes off his opponent! Surprised? I don’t know any who have scouted this? This is the most surprising fault I found watching Ward videos: he has the habit of looking down and away while bending at the waist and stepping to his right. See for yourself. Never, ever, ever, take your eyes off your opponent. Ward looks at the floor while bending at the waist while under heavy fire! I see two big fat punches just waiting for him when he does this: the straight right body shot to the kidney or the left to the body hitting his ear. Will Kovalev jump on these if offered?
Possible Outcome
Robert Byrd will be the referee and he is known for not letting fighters get away with excessive holding, and he is quick to take points away for rule breakers. This favors Kovalev.
Burt Clements, John McKaie, and Glen Trowbridge are the judges. All have worked Los Vegas fights for years and all were pals of Mayweather Weasel. Obviously, this favors Ward.
With less reach, few weapons, shorter range, little power, low output and there is something of his chin he’s been hiding, how is Ward to overcome straight power shots down the middle? Ward says “I’m everything I’ve shown”, agreed, usually what we see is what we’ll get. Kovalev will feint and throw murderous shots down the middle and try to move in and out of range. Ward, feeling his power and accuracy, will try the bend at the waist defense only to get kidney shots, and leaned on. Ward will switch to trying to smother Kovalev’s range and power by incessantly trying to clinch and score worthless taps that the parrot judges will scribble as punches landed. But Ward’s attempt to clinch, foul, smother, and spoil the fight may not be enough for he may find Kovalev too big, too strong, and too responsive for him. Kovalev cannot win a decision against Ward by passively boxing like he did most of the fight with Hopkins. To win Kovalev must rely on his ability to box and punch with such ferociousness and viciousness to cause Ward to quit, run, or lose. I expect Kovalev will do just that. If Barrera can land 111, Kovalev can land 200 -and 150 with power. Kovalev UD 12
Of course, anything can happen. Kovalev can get injured, he can get cut, and he can make himself lose by falling fool for Ward’s fakery.
