Great fight from Ward and Kovalev!

[apollo creed]

I'd have liked to see Kovalev stopping Ward but man Ward is a very physically strong fighter, very conditioned who can figure out how to beat you. Pretty much Ward soften up Kovalev in the second part of the fight making him look weak.

Kovalev could rematch Ward or go after Stevenson.

[jezzamundo]

Best post about the fight yet, although Kovalev definitely could have been given the decision. I would love to see GGG vs either fighter.

[apollo creed]

Best post about the fight yet, although Kovalev definitely could have been given the decision. I would love to see GGG vs either fighter.

Kovalev showed his limitations against a better fighter in Ward but I still think Kovalev can beat Stevenson atm. GGG would do a big mistake fighting Ward when he can 'cherrypick' Jacobs and Canelo.

What 'minus' I saw at Ward is his footwork which although is an efficient one it doesn't look so sharp and quick as it looked in S6.

[BAD INTENTIONS]

The first 2 rounds were scary for Ward. Kovalev was fast.
I think Ward recovered faster than people think,
but the memory of the knockdown affected the mood of the fight.

Therefore, some people missed a great fight.
One of the best fights I've seen in years.

This is an immediate rematch type fight.
No milking any tune-up fights.

[ldlamb]

I agree. I think this was a top notch fight with two A+ level fighters that was completely even and demands an immediate rematch.

[davie]

The first 2 rounds were scary for Ward. Kovalev was fast.
I think Ward recovered faster than people think,
but the memory of the knockdown affected the mood of the fight.

Therefore, some people missed a great fight.
One of the best fights I've seen in years.

This is an immediate rematch type fight.
No milking any tune-up fights.

http://www.BS.com/kovalev-exer ... se--110929

[davie]

The first 2 rounds were scary for Ward. Kovalev was fast.
I think Ward recovered faster than people think,
but the memory of the knockdown affected the mood of the fight.

Therefore, some people missed a great fight.
One of the best fights I've seen in years.

This is an immediate rematch type fight.
No milking any tune-up fights.

http://www.BS.com/kovalev-exer ... se--110929

Done

[jezzamundo]

The first 2 rounds were scary for Ward. Kovalev was fast.
I think Ward recovered faster than people think,
but the memory of the knockdown affected the mood of the fight.

Therefore, some people missed a great fight.
One of the best fights I've seen in years.

This is an immediate rematch type fight.
No milking any tune-up fights.

http://www.BS.com/kovalev-exer ... se--110929

Done

Let's hope GGG beats Canelo in the meantime and will then step up to fight the winner of the Ward-Kovalev rematch. I know it's a big ask and I probably wouldn't go for it if I were managing GGG, but as a boxing fan, and a GGG fan, it's what I want to see.

[davie]

I'll be shocked if GGG ever goes to 175.
He has at least a year at 160.
Then he would go to 168 and chase the likes of Degale and co.
By the time he would be ready for 175, him Ward and Kovalev will be pushing 40 and probably near retirement and Kovalev will probably be Cruiserweight

[apollo creed]

The first 2 rounds were scary for Ward. Kovalev was fast.
I think Ward recovered faster than people think,
but the memory of the knockdown affected the mood of the fight.

Therefore, some people missed a great fight.
One of the best fights I've seen in years.

This is an immediate rematch type fight.
No milking any tune-up fights.

A rematch would be great but what I'd like to see first is Kovalev fighting Steveson and KTFO him then rematch Ward.

[apollo creed]

I'll be shocked if GGG ever goes to 175.
He has at least a year at 160.
Then he would go to 168 and chase the likes of Degale and co.
By the time he would be ready for 175, him Ward and Kovalev will be pushing 40 and probably near retirement and Kovalev will probably be Cruiserweight

IMO GGG should build his legacy at 160 lbs. GGG would not be gratefully remembered by boxing history if he would go up at 175 lbs and get his ass whooped by Ward and everybody would talk that he got 'exposed as a fraud' by Ward.... bla, bla, bla.

[Unbiased Expert]

yes

[rab]

my perspective is that of a fan . i thought like every ward fight where he is in with someone where he can't get his own way every minute of the fight it was a poor fight to watch. just watched it on you tube, never paid for a ward fight, never will, there is a reason he has to fight for a fixed purse at this stage of his career and that is for the uneducated in boxing terms fans like me he is crap to watch.

i can appreciate the technical trickery of the likes of mayweather and duran even though they were two very different types of fighter, but ward just bores me to death. i can't have a valid opinion on the result of this fight as i think only people that really know what they just saw could score it fairly. i would rather have walked out the ring as kovalev than ward though. everything ward hit kovalev with just bounced off him apart from one left hook that bloodied kovalevs nose in the 11th . the crap the commentary team were spouting regarding wards body shots told me they were as uneducated about boxing as me and have never seen the training the eastern europeans put into body conditioning and strength as soon as they get into a gym as kids. you won't see many high level eastern europeans ever stopped with a body shot.

i have heard several people talk about ward in the same bracket as mayweather. that imo is insulting to mayweather. in sheer technical ability the gap is big and i can't remember mayweather being really dirty in a fight regarding elbows (kovalev did a good job of reducing wards opportunities to use them)or low blows that at times seem standard fair for ward. i also think ward got hit more in that fight than mayweather did in his last 6.

kovalev looked fresh at the end (could he have put a bit more into the fight ?) and ward had that pale look of a man that just gave everything he had so i suppose he has to be commended for that, i just wish he would open up a bit more and use the undoubted skills he has to make himself a more exciting fighter to watch.

the amateur mentality of get the win regardless of the performance doesn't work for me in what is professional prize fighting and supposedly the entertainment business. i can appreciate the guys that really know their boxing will have got a lot more from that fight than i ever could so don't mind any criticism i get for this post and i am not going to argue the result with anyone either as there is no way i could judge that fight correctly. not fussed about a rematch , it would just be more of the same .

sorry for such a negative post, but like i say i just don't understand the nuances and forms of trickery ward uses, the more subtle aspects of the fight game the untrained eye doesn't see.

[davie]

I'll be shocked if GGG ever goes to 175.
He has at least a year at 160.
Then he would go to 168 and chase the likes of Degale and co.
By the time he would be ready for 175, him Ward and Kovalev will be pushing 40 and probably near retirement and Kovalev will probably be Cruiserweight

IMO GGG should build his legacy at 160 lbs. GGG would not be gratefully remembered by boxing history if he would go up at 175 lbs and get his ass whooped by Ward and everybody would talk that he got 'exposed as a fraud' by Ward.... bla, bla, bla.

If he get's BJS and Canelo (perhaps twice) in the ring, he'll be remembered well.
Add the likes of Jacobs and Eubank and maybe picking up a 168lb title before he retires and he'll go down as a really top fighter.


I see why everyone wants the Ward or Kovalev fight. Stepping up to fight a bigger p4p ranked fighter means a lot but I don't see it's a mandatory step. He can get his Kudos if he gets the best around him into the ring.

There are plenty of questions over whether that'll happen

[jezzamundo]

my perspective is that of a fan . i thought like every ward fight where he is in with someone where he can't get his own way every minute of the fight it was a poor fight to watch. just watched it on you tube, never paid for a ward fight, never will, there is a reason he has to fight for a fixed purse at this stage of his career and that is for the uneducated in boxing terms fans like me he is crap to watch.

i can appreciate the technical trickery of the likes of mayweather and duran even though they were two very different types of fighter, but ward just bores me to death. i can't have a valid opinion on the result of this fight as i think only people that really know what they just saw could score it fairly. i would rather have walked out the ring as kovalev than ward though. everything ward hit kovalev with just bounced off him apart from one left hook that bloodied kovalevs nose in the 11th . the crap the commentary team were spouting regarding wards body shots told me they were as uneducated about boxing as me and have never seen the training the eastern europeans put into body conditioning and strength as soon as they get into a gym as kids. you won't see many high level eastern europeans ever stopped with a body shot.

i have heard several people talk about ward in the same bracket as mayweather. that imo is insulting to mayweather. in sheer technical ability the gap is big and i can't remember mayweather being really dirty in a fight regarding elbows (kovalev did a good job of reducing wards opportunities to use them)or low blows that at times seem standard fair for ward. i also think ward got hit more in that fight than mayweather did in his last 6.

kovalev looked fresh at the end (could he have put a bit more into the fight ?) and ward had that pale look of a man that just gave everything he had so i suppose he has to be commended for that, i just wish he would open up a bit more and use the undoubted skills he has to make himself a more exciting fighter to watch.

the amateur mentality of get the win regardless of the performance doesn't work for me in what is professional prize fighting and supposedly the entertainment business. i can appreciate the guys that really know their boxing will have got a lot more from that fight than i ever could so don't mind any criticism i get for this post and i am not going to argue the result with anyone either as there is no way i could judge that fight correctly. not fussed about a rematch , it would just be more of the same .

sorry for such a negative post, but like i say i just don't understand the nuances and forms of trickery ward uses, the more subtle aspects of the fight game the untrained eye doesn't see.

Interesting post, but I'd like to comment on the words in bold.

No matter how much training you put into body conditioning and strength, you can't put muscles on your ribs. I heard one of the HBO team saying that GGG couldn't be hurt with a body shot because of the number of situps he does. Utter bullshit - soft punching Martin Murray was noticeably making GGG uncomfortable with the body shots he landed. A well-placed body shot, especially from a big puncher, is going to do damage, no matter how well-conditioned you are. Kovalev was noticeably weakened and slowing down late in the fight and Ward's body punching was partly responsible for that.

[davie]

my perspective is that of a fan . i thought like every ward fight where he is in with someone where he can't get his own way every minute of the fight it was a poor fight to watch. just watched it on you tube, never paid for a ward fight, never will, there is a reason he has to fight for a fixed purse at this stage of his career and that is for the uneducated in boxing terms fans like me he is crap to watch.

i can appreciate the technical trickery of the likes of mayweather and duran even though they were two very different types of fighter, but ward just bores me to death. i can't have a valid opinion on the result of this fight as i think only people that really know what they just saw could score it fairly. i would rather have walked out the ring as kovalev than ward though. everything ward hit kovalev with just bounced off him apart from one left hook that bloodied kovalevs nose in the 11th . the crap the commentary team were spouting regarding wards body shots told me they were as uneducated about boxing as me and have never seen the training the eastern europeans put into body conditioning and strength as soon as they get into a gym as kids. you won't see many high level eastern europeans ever stopped with a body shot.

i have heard several people talk about ward in the same bracket as mayweather. that imo is insulting to mayweather. in sheer technical ability the gap is big and i can't remember mayweather being really dirty in a fight regarding elbows (kovalev did a good job of reducing wards opportunities to use them)or low blows that at times seem standard fair for ward. i also think ward got hit more in that fight than mayweather did in his last 6.

kovalev looked fresh at the end (could he have put a bit more into the fight ?) and ward had that pale look of a man that just gave everything he had so i suppose he has to be commended for that, i just wish he would open up a bit more and use the undoubted skills he has to make himself a more exciting fighter to watch.

the amateur mentality of get the win regardless of the performance doesn't work for me in what is professional prize fighting and supposedly the entertainment business. i can appreciate the guys that really know their boxing will have got a lot more from that fight than i ever could so don't mind any criticism i get for this post and i am not going to argue the result with anyone either as there is no way i could judge that fight correctly. not fussed about a rematch , it would just be more of the same .

sorry for such a negative post, but like i say i just don't understand the nuances and forms of trickery ward uses, the more subtle aspects of the fight game the untrained eye doesn't see.

Don't see anything wrong with this post.
Different people take different things from the sport, some want to be entertained, some want to analyse every misplace foot, every party or feint. But if you can appreciate the other side of the sport, fair doos

It's the folk that want to see 2 guys stand and beat shit out each other with no regard for good defence and can't see the merit of guys like Mayweather or the purists who can't give credit to a good old fashioned slug fest that annoy me.

I enjoy a Ward vs Kovalev and a Ward vs Gatti in equal measure

[rab]

thanks for the informative replies lads . the info regarding the body shots is definitely something i would miss. i never got hit hard in the ribs the few times i sparred, so don't know the effect of that.
i definitely don't like those fights where no cares about defence. i actually wince watching them as you both guys are taking years off their careers and probably suffering long term damage.
i think what i was trying to say is ward never seems to win a fight with the better guys he fights, he just doesn't lose . that maybe sounds a bit daft as well .

[davie]

thanks for the informative replies lads . the info regarding the body shots is definitely something i would miss. i never got hit hard in the ribs the few times i sparred, so don't know the effect of that.
i definitely don't like those fights where no cares about defence. i actually wince watching them as you both guys are taking years off their careers and probably suffering long term damage.
i think what i was trying to say is ward never seems to win a fight with the better guys he fights, he just doesn't lose . that maybe sounds a bit daft as well .

I think a bit of credit for that has to go to Kovalev though.

I'd spoil like hell if that big scary bastard was trying to decapitate me.

Ward is a safety first fighter and can be hard to watch.

But I'd say it's unfair to say he simply "doesn't lose" his highest profile fights were Froch, Kessler, Abraham and Dawson and they were won comfortably.

My biggest dissapointment is bouts like Brand and Barerra recently where you want him to step it up a gear and go for the finish but he choses to stick rigidly to the gameplan even though he's in cruise control

[Batley18]

It is hard to compare a fighter like Ward with Mayweather because of the weight differential. Where there is a strong comparison is the speed of the jab and ability to not take too many hits. Ward did take a strong shot in the 2nd, but very few after that really connected.

My dislike for Ward doesn't really stem from his style of fighting, but more how dirty he can be. Additionally, Kovalev seemed to want to tap gloves when he or the both of them committed fouls, such as low blows, but Ward had no interest. Perhaps he wanted to stay focused and project an imagine of being a stone cold killer.....who knows.

I am glad I watched the fight, very happy it happened, and would like to see a rematch. In the 2nd fight I would like to see Kovalev be a bit more aggressive and take a few more risks, but that could actually work into the hands of Ward. Certainly worth a second watch.

[Syntax Error]

It is the fight that has rescued 2016, which has been an abysmal year for boxing.

Ward might gain a few more fans now.

My only worry is that by the time he fights again (probably 2022 ), he'll have been stripped of all his titles & will no longer be relevant!

[amwsnw]

Rematch is what the sport needs. Ward was excellent after being hurt early. I think he could have won easier if he was prepared to be a little more risky and get off quicker - but i suppose being dropped by Kovalev makes you a little hesitant. Great fight. Glad i forked out the money to see this one.

[fanman]

Great fight from both fighters. As someone said it was scary times early going for Ward, and he showed true greatness to impose his will on the second half of the fight. That said, Kovalev was still landing hard punches throughout the fight. I didn't score it round by round, but felt perhaps Kovalev should have won, but Ward gutted it out and made it a close fight, where I would say a decision could have gone either way.
You can't really ask anything more of the boxers. A re-match would be great and hopefully they both get better paid for it.

[apollo creed]

Ward's best attribute is his mental strength, he's very gritty and he keeps his composure and comes to beat you even if he got hurt. That's a true fighter. He also showed this thing in the Boone fight.

[jezzamundo]

thanks for the informative replies lads . the info regarding the body shots is definitely something i would miss. i never got hit hard in the ribs the few times i sparred, so don't know the effect of that.
i definitely don't like those fights where no cares about defence. i actually wince watching them as you both guys are taking years off their careers and probably suffering long term damage.
i think what i was trying to say is ward never seems to win a fight with the better guys he fights, he just doesn't lose . that maybe sounds a bit daft as well .

I have been hit hard in the ribs sparring - definitely more painful than any kind of heat shot in my experience. I once took a fairly soft liver shot from a mate when we were mucking around with no gloves on. I had to take a knee, I was truly shocked at how debilitating it was.

[Ezzard]

Average fight. Spinks and Qawi beat them both.