BoxRec

Mark my words! He will get the Dawson treatment! Sergei respects Ward way way way too much!

We'll see.

Ward will need to have a referee on his side (Lawrence Cole or Jack Reiss) to protect him and permit him to foul, or he'll get knocked out.

But I can see him cutting Kovalev with an illegal head butt and a crooked ref (paid off by his manager) calling it a TKO. But then again, Ward was cut himself in his last fight, so he needs to be careful with his head butts.

At this point I don't see Ward stopping Kovalev unless something bizarre were to happen.
The Russian is well hard don't underestimate this mans toughness for a second, he really is made of the tough stuff this guy.
Personally I think Bernard Hopkins was very lucky to escape being knocked out by Sergey, if I remember correctly BHOP mocked Kovalev in the 12th and pissed him off enough to take more than just a couple of slaps for his disrespect, had Hopkins mocked him earlier I doubt Bernard would have made it to the cards.
Ward isn't that stupid and knows he will have to box and keep it neat and tidy and break him down as the fight progresses unless of course a big opening presents itself.
This fight is way too big where by Ward won't come in with a very detailed plan or 2, Kovalev is an extremely dangerous physically strong opponent who could be controlled via the boxing skills, but if he walks through it all we will see Andre Ward hit with probably the hardest punches he has ever taken during his entire career.
Underestimate Kovalev at your own risk I certainly won't.

Ward's china will shatter as soon as Kov connects. Round 4 KO.

Ward can do it with a head butt, but hopefully will get DQ'ed for that.

How stupid do you gotta be to call Ward China chin, brain dead. Literally too stupid to talk.

I doubt Ward finishes Kovalev don't think anyone will ever stop him, but Andre is going to out box him.

Unlikely. If Ward will win it must be by desicion.

I'd bet on Ward (51% to 49%), but my heart will be with Krusher.

I think this fight is very likely to go the distance whoever wins it. Ward is tough, and very wily, Kovalev has a good chin, and Ward isn't a vaunted puncher.

I'll side with Ward, just for this, but it's a razor close one I think, due to Kovalev's strength. However, Ward surprised me with how physically strong he was against Froch.

bnovelist wrote:Mark my words! He will get the Dawson treatment! Sergei respects Ward way way way too much!

Dawson was dehydrated, weak, and can't punch anyway... He was on his last legs and Jean Pascal beat him first and at LHW... Ward doesn't get anybody out. There's no way in Hell he's going to stop Kovalev... Kovalev wins a UD if the judging is accurate.