Ward's opposition leading up to this fight has been woeful and it will be his undoing. I know Hopkins was ancient when kovalev fought him, but he was practically out on his feet in round 12. I think wards tactics will only carry him to the final bell but they won't be raising his glove after this one. Kovalev UD with a few KDs on the way.
bnovelist wrote:Ward is too much of a mongoose, a honey badger Kovalev may rock Andre a couple of times with jabs & that's it! Andre is a hybrid a cross
between Hopkin, Jones, and James Toney. The sheer craftiness of Hopkins and Toney with the speed of Roy. I hate to upset you guys this fight will
be a shutout 117-113 in favor of Ward. Bad style matchup but the public is pushing for it so what can you do?
bnovelist wrote:Ward is too much of a mongoose, a honey badger Kovalev may rock Andre a couple of times with jabs & that's it! Andre is a hybrid a cross
between Hopkin, Jones, and James Toney. The sheer craftiness of Hopkins and Toney with the speed of Roy. I hate to upset you guys this fight will
be a shutout 117-113 in favor of Ward. Bad style matchup but the public is pushing for it so what can you do?
Kovalev has a better jab, better boxing skills, and more power... Ward couldn't get a 2nd rate guy with 17 fights out in his last fight... He has one KO in 6 Title Defenses... He's getting outboxed and beaten.
bnovelist wrote:Ward is too much of a mongoose, a honey badger Kovalev may rock Andre a couple of times with jabs & that's it! Andre is a hybrid a cross
between Hopkin, Jones, and James Toney. The sheer craftiness of Hopkins and Toney with the speed of Roy. I hate to upset you guys this fight will
be a shutout 117-113 in favor of Ward. Bad style matchup but the public is pushing for it so what can you do?
Kovalev has a better jab, better boxing skills, and more power... Ward couldn't get a 2nd rate guy with 17 fights out in his last fight... He has one KO in 6 Title Defenses... He's getting outboxed and beaten.
I agree,everyone thinks this is a case of Kovalev KO vs Ward UD having outboxed him, but Kovalev is going to be outboxing Ward throughout simply by throwing more, moving forward and outlanding and hurting Ward before it's stopped.
If Kovalev gets a 20% hit average he will take Ward by Ko. Krusher is precise and offensively cautious in the early rounds and then open up full load. No way Ward can cruise to a victory.
I'm still inclined to go with Ward, but I think it will be a rough ride even if he does prevail. I think he's now being underrated. That's not new here, but it's a bit more exaggerated than it had been before. Barrera was probably the top contender around aside from Beterbiev and now he suddenly became a nobody right after Ward beat him. Not to mention people making some silly association between ko ratio and boxing ability and all that.
Bobbyptsd wrote:I'm still inclined to go with Ward, but I think it will be a rough ride even if he does prevail. I think he's now being underrated. That's not new here, but it's a bit more exaggerated than it had been before. Barrera was probably the top contender around aside from Beterbiev and now he suddenly became a nobody right after Ward beat him. Not to mention people making some silly association between ko ratio and boxing ability and all that.
What exactly made Barrera the top contender aside from Beterbiev?
He's beaten Karo Murat and a bunch of nobodies. He even fought totally past it Jeff Lacy just a year ago. Apart from resumes he doesn't really stand out to me based on the eye test, though he's clearly a solid fighter.
As an American, I should feel entitled to root for Ward but I am too manly for that and shall root for the guy with more gusto and that's Kovalev. Kovalev is a badass and I liked how he basically trolled Pascal in the ring by giving Pascal a glimmer of hope here and there by letting it go on longer but all along Kovalev just wanted to deliver more punishment rather then end it fast because Pascal acted classless leading up to the fight. Justice served.
I think Kovalev has enough boxing ability to force Ward into some uncomfortable spots and make him work hard for Victory - I also think that Ward is tough enough to prevail in a hard fought one.
Andre is a hybrid a cross
