BoxRec

Assuming Kovalev exercises the rematch clause, who do we think would win? Personally I think Ward has him figured out and would win much more comfortably.

Kind of go along with you. But I thought Ward would win last night...so I have no track record.

Who would win?

Or who will get the decision?

Kovalev. I think he'd force the issue a bit more next time. I thought Ward really struggled with Kovalev until the Russian seemed to run out of gas in the last couple of rounds.

If he goes all out for the KO then I think Kovalev would get him out of there this time.

I wasn't impressed with Ward in any way other than the fact that he managed to survive the early knock down and make the fight competitive. He is a very good fighter but his style is just appalling to watch. He wins fights by spoiling and holding rather than by great boxing in my view and he was basically in survival mode for most of the fight. How on earth he was given the last 6 rounds by 2 judges and 5 of the 6 by one I just don't know.

Ian1973 wrote:Kovalev. I think he'd force the issue a bit more next time. I thought Ward really struggled with Kovalev until the Russian seemed to run out of gas in the last couple of rounds.

This.

Kovalev will be more aggressive in the rematch, i think he will stop Ward. Will be interesting to see if Ward's team try to get out of it, not sure they will fancy it as much as they are trying to show they do.

I don't think much would be different in the rematch. Maaaaaybe Ward doesn't get knocked down, but he's still going to be in big trouble at some point in the fight. This 'figuring out' some folks are talking about...well we didn't see much of that in the incredibly tight rounds that Ward has been credited with winning.

davie wrote:Who would win?

Or who will get the decision?

SteveDow wrote: How on earth he was given the last 6 rounds by 2 judges and 5 of the 6 by one I just don't know.

especially round 10 wtf ?

I think ward will have it sussed now for a slightly wider points victory.

ALI wrote:

Ian1973 wrote:Kovalev. I think he'd force the issue a bit more next time. I thought Ward really struggled with Kovalev until the Russian seemed to run out of gas in the last couple of rounds.

This.

Kovalev will be more aggressive in the rematch, i think he will stop Ward. Will be interesting to see if Ward's team try to get out of it, not sure they will fancy it as much as they are trying to show they do.

Ward seemed uninterested when questioned in his post-fight interview.

Being honest, any title fight involving Andre Ward doesn't interest me in the slightest, not because of his defensive style but from all his grappling. Disgusting to watch.

ALI wrote:

Ian1973 wrote:Kovalev. I think he'd force the issue a bit more next time. I thought Ward really struggled with Kovalev until the Russian seemed to run out of gas in the last couple of rounds.

This.

Kovalev will be more aggressive in the rematch, i think he will stop Ward. Will be interesting to see if Ward's team try to get out of it, not sure they will fancy it as much as they are trying to show they do.

Yep spot on. I think Kovalev was a little too comfortable in the fight. Felt he had Ward's number and decided to see out a points win. Next time he'll go into it thinking he needs the KO to win.

Like you say, I don't think Ward will be keen on the rematch.

Ward wins again IMO.

I don't see all the fuss over the decision, really. Ward didn't do much throughout the fight, but he appeared to do more than Kovalev to me.

I think it goes pretty much the same, without the KD.

Dixonian wrote:

ALI wrote:

Ian1973 wrote:Kovalev. I think he'd force the issue a bit more next time. I thought Ward really struggled with Kovalev until the Russian seemed to run out of gas in the last couple of rounds.

This.

Kovalev will be more aggressive in the rematch, i think he will stop Ward. Will be interesting to see if Ward's team try to get out of it, not sure they will fancy it as much as they are trying to show they do.

Yep spot on. I think Kovalev was a little too comfortable in the fight. Felt he had Ward's number and decided to see out a points win. Next time he'll go into it thinking he needs the KO to win.

Like you say, I don't think Ward will be keen on the rematch.

Sounds like a very convenient excuse for Kovalev not being able to dominate ward to me. How about he struggled to land much on Ward and impose his style?

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Dixonian wrote:

ALI wrote:
This.

Kovalev will be more aggressive in the rematch, i think he will stop Ward. Will be interesting to see if Ward's team try to get out of it, not sure they will fancy it as much as they are trying to show they do.

Yep spot on. I think Kovalev was a little too comfortable in the fight. Felt he had Ward's number and decided to see out a points win. Next time he'll go into it thinking he needs the KO to win.

Like you say, I don't think Ward will be keen on the rematch.

Sounds like a very convenient excuse for Kovalev not being able to dominate ward to me. How about he struggled to land much on Ward and impose his style?

I thought Kovalev looked and felt comfortable all fight. From half way he looked to be going through the motions to me he certainly didn't force the issue. I think he felt in control right the way through. He looked a bit tired late on but I never thought he felt he was in trouble. Contrast that with Wards corner who seemed desperate "we need these three rounds" after round nine. Kovalev then definitely won round 10 and I gave him round 12 as well.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Dixonian wrote:

ALI wrote:
This.

Kovalev will be more aggressive in the rematch, i think he will stop Ward. Will be interesting to see if Ward's team try to get out of it, not sure they will fancy it as much as they are trying to show they do.

Yep spot on. I think Kovalev was a little too comfortable in the fight. Felt he had Ward's number and decided to see out a points win. Next time he'll go into it thinking he needs the KO to win.

Like you say, I don't think Ward will be keen on the rematch.

Sounds like a very convenient excuse for Kovalev not being able to dominate ward to me. How about he struggled to land much on Ward and impose his style?

How about Ward struggled to land on Kovalev and impose HIS style?

Dixonian wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Dixonian wrote:
Yep spot on. I think Kovalev was a little too comfortable in the fight. Felt he had Ward's number and decided to see out a points win. Next time he'll go into it thinking he needs the KO to win.

Like you say, I don't think Ward will be keen on the rematch.

Sounds like a very convenient excuse for Kovalev not being able to dominate ward to me. How about he struggled to land much on Ward and impose his style?

How about Ward struggled to land on Kovalev and impose HIS style?

I don't really see how anyone could claim that. A lot of people have complained the fight was boring and had too much holding/wrestling - sounds exactly like Ward's style being imposed to me.

Boxerbeetle wrote:

Dixonian wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:
Sounds like a very convenient excuse for Kovalev not being able to dominate ward to me. How about he struggled to land much on Ward and impose his style?

How about Ward struggled to land on Kovalev and impose HIS style?

I don't really see how anyone could claim that. A lot of people have complained the fight was boring and had too much holding/wrestling - sounds exactly like Ward's style being imposed to me.

There was plenty of holding (particularly in the second half) but he wasn't always getting the better of it. Plus early on he was holding on mainly to survive. Kovalev was mostly just walking him back to the ropes and dealing with it pretty easily because he was the bigger and stronger man. He also landed some pretty useful shots on the inside himself.

Ward to win more comfortably.

Kovalev struggled to land anything significant on Ward for pretty much the whole second half of the fight. Whether that was due to Ward working him out or due to Kovalev tiring from all the grappling I don't know.

I thought Ward was surprised by Kovalev's speed early on but as that speed lessened Ward looked better and better. In a 2nd fight Kovalev won't have the element of surprise and at his age I don't see his stamina improving to better help him deal with the tiredness that all the clinching causes.

It's not a fight I'd be looking forward to with anything like as much anticipation as the first. I'd love to see Ward v Stevenson first with Kovalev maybe having a rematch against Clev and then the 2 winners meeting each other with all the titles on the line.

Personally I think people are over-rating Ward or underrating Kovalev or mix of the two but this whole Ward's a genius who has Kovalev worked out is getting dull. Kovalev has already shown he has the equaliser and anyone would think Ward won by 5+ points on all cards the way it is being supposed that he comfortably handled Kovalev and so will do so even more next time. Biggest problem Ward has is that Kovalev now knows or will believe he has to win by stoppage. So does Ward go into his shell to get through the first rounds and weather that, but what happens if he's behind and Kovalev isn't going for the stoppage - there's a lot of what ifs around what Kovalev does, meaning Ward needs to come in with very flexible plans. It will be an interesting build up on that front, question is whether or not the fight involves enough action to match the possibilities.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Dixonian wrote:

ALI wrote:
This.

Kovalev will be more aggressive in the rematch, i think he will stop Ward. Will be interesting to see if Ward's team try to get out of it, not sure they will fancy it as much as they are trying to show they do.

Yep spot on. I think Kovalev was a little too comfortable in the fight. Felt he had Ward's number and decided to see out a points win. Next time he'll go into it thinking he needs the KO to win.

Like you say, I don't think Ward will be keen on the rematch.

Sounds like a very convenient excuse for Kovalev not being able to dominate ward to me. How about he struggled to land much on Ward and impose his style?

Not sure how thinking Kov grew complacent after such a strong start equates to a convenient excuse. Fighters often ease up after gaining big leads, and Kov losing despite being up 5 going into the second half could be an important lesson for him. By the way, Ward wasn't exactly landing much either...

Would you rather hear 'You're not giving Ward enough credit. He totally figured him out in the end and would win a rematch easy. Any mention of areas in which Kov can improve equals an excuse'?

Kovalev.

I think they're so evenly matched that a lot comes down to how well the fight is judged. If Ward again gets every benefit of the doubt and then some (see round 10) it's hard for me to see him losing.

I think it was just as much a matter of Kov becoming complacent and tiring a bit (stamina isn't a strong point) as it was Ward solving him. I would expect things to be very competitive again.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Dixonian wrote:

ALI wrote:
This.

Kovalev will be more aggressive in the rematch, i think he will stop Ward. Will be interesting to see if Ward's team try to get out of it, not sure they will fancy it as much as they are trying to show they do.

Yep spot on. I think Kovalev was a little too comfortable in the fight. Felt he had Ward's number and decided to see out a points win. Next time he'll go into it thinking he needs the KO to win.

Like you say, I don't think Ward will be keen on the rematch.

Sounds like a very convenient excuse for Kovalev not being able to dominate ward to me. How about he struggled to land much on Ward and impose his style?

Does not sound like an excuse to me, rather a sound evaluation of what most likely went on in the fight. I'm also of the opinion Kovalev thought he was out in front and did not press the action as much as he could have because of this mind set. In a rematch he will go for broke, my money will be on a stoppage win, probably get decent odds i think.

Something tells me Ward wont get back in the ring with him though.

ALI wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Dixonian wrote:
Yep spot on. I think Kovalev was a little too comfortable in the fight. Felt he had Ward's number and decided to see out a points win. Next time he'll go into it thinking he needs the KO to win.

Like you say, I don't think Ward will be keen on the rematch.

Sounds like a very convenient excuse for Kovalev not being able to dominate ward to me. How about he struggled to land much on Ward and impose his style?

Does not sound like an excuse to me, rather a sound evaluation of what most likely went on in the fight. I'm also of the opinion Kovalev thought he was out in front and did not press the action as much as he could have because of this mind set. In a rematch he will go for broke, my money will be on a stoppage win, probably get decent odds i think.

Something tells me Ward wont get back in the ring with him though.

I wonder if you were one of many, who were claiming Ward would never face him in the first place, there were lots of those, who swore blind Ward would back out, as he was terrified of Kovalev. I reckon they will rematch, it's probably the biggest fight out there for Ward right now, and he isn't afraid of Kovalev, despite a terrible start, he still won the fight. Kovalev couldn't close the show when he had Ward hurt, and was kept of balance by Ward's jab tp the head and body and movement.