BoxRec

He beats him in decisive fashion, his punch workrate is through the roof and he will never be number one as long as he ducks Ward

Possibly.

I highly doubt he beats Ward unless he get Ward to come down in weight where Ward is no longer comfortable.

Yes, he can. With Ward retiring, it will be another Froch situation where Ward will keep saying that he is too big and too skillful for Golovkin.

At 168lb I'd make GGG a slight favourite, at 175lb I'd make Ward a slight favourite.

GGG has a good workrate, but good defensive fighters are good at slowing down the pace of a fight. Pretty much everyone's punch output dropped when they fought Floyd, for instance.

Kovalev beat Ward in the mind of anybody with a good brain and 2 good eyes... Golovkin has a better jab, defense, power, and chin than Kovalev... He will destroy Ward when they meet, which is a fight that's almost certain to happen in the next 5 years.

I would question that Golovkin has a better jab, defense and power than Kovalev. Definitely better chin, footwork, balance, punch variety, killer instinct.

Kalan wrote:Kovalev beat Ward in the mind of anybody with a good brain and 2 good eyes... Golovkin has a better jab, defense, power, and chin than Kovalev... He will destroy Ward when they meet, which is a fight that's almost certain to happen in the next 5 years.

Having rewatched the fight, I believe Kovalev was the more deserving of the win, but it was close and could have fairly gone either way. The only round where the scoring was clearly wrong was the 10th and unfortunately it cost Kovalev the fight. Insulting people with a difference of opinion to you just makes you look petty.

All that said - GGG is by far my favourite fighter in boxing today and I'm not a fan of Andre Ward. I agree GGG has a better chin than Kovalev, not sure about the jab (it looked outstanding against Lemieux, but he was a very available target), defense or power. I know Abel Sanchez and Darnell Boone have both stated that GGG hits harder - I want to believe this but it's not unknown for trainers and sparring partners to exaggerate. As for the fight happening within the next 5 years - I hope you're right, but I hope it's within the next 2 years. I wouldn't be surprised in both guys were retired in 5 years.

boxing_rocks wrote:I would question that Golovkin has a better jab, defense and power than Kovalev. Definitely better chin, footwork, balance, punch variety, killer instinct.

x 2

One factor in GGG's favour on the jab side of things is that according to CompuBox he has a higher % of jabs landed than any other active fighter. Kovalev gave Ward problems with his jab, so I think it's likely that GGG could as well, although his reach is a little shorter, which could change the dynamic somewhat.

Kalan wrote:Kovalev beat Ward in the mind of anybody with a good brain and 2 good eyes... Golovkin has a better jab, defense, power, and chin than Kovalev... He will destroy Ward when they meet, which is a fight that's almost certain to happen in the next 5 years.

LOL @ destroy. He didn't destroy Brook he wouldn't destroy Ward

Golovkin's big advantage against Ward compared to Kovalev is his ability to cut off the ring. Not saying it wins him the fight but he'd be able to force the action more effectively than Kovalev. However, Kovalev is a bit lighter on his feet so can move away and keep distance when Ward tries to get inside, whereas Golovkin is more flat footed so would probably have some problems there.

danconnollyeire wrote:

Kalan wrote:Kovalev beat Ward in the mind of anybody with a good brain and 2 good eyes... Golovkin has a better jab, defense, power, and chin than Kovalev... He will destroy Ward when they meet, which is a fight that's almost certain to happen in the next 5 years.

LOL @ destroy. He didn't destroy Brook he wouldn't destroy Ward

He destroyed his eye socket and the only thing that stopped him from inflicting further damage was Brook's corner. I would love it if GGG destroyed Ward, but that wouldn't be my prediction for the fight.