WARD-KOVALEV (FIGHT PREVIEW)
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 19 Nov 2016
The United States Presidential Election to determine who will be the 45th President has been decided. Unless the Electoral College breaks from tradition, as it has on rare instances, and cast their vote for the runner up, Hillary Clinton, we can expect no major political drama anytime soon. So what the hell is Floyd ?Money? Mayweather waiting for to announce that he will grant Senator Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao a rematch for the first guaranteed and unprecedented $100,000,000 purse in June 2017? Is he afraid President Elect Trump will somehow steal his thunder while organizing his new administration for January 2017?
President Elect Trump can only steal Mayweather?s thunder if Hillary Clinton is elected by the Electoral College or Trump somehow gets into a ?twitter war? with Mayweather, which is not out of the realm of possibility if Mayweather were to criticize him. While the world waits (maybe another 5 years) for Mayweather and Pacquiao to fight again like last time, let?s turn our attention to this Saturday?s ?superfight? between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev. Sadly, unless you?re a boxing fan you may not know who they are because at this point they unlike Pacquiao and Mayweather are not ?mainstream? fighters.
Andre Ward (30-0, 15KOs) is the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist for the United States. He entered the ?Super Six Tournament?, a contest to determine who the best 168lb boxer in the world, back in 2009. In 2011 he won the tournament and also owned two world titles, WBA and WBC. Ward?s stock was on the rise and continued to rise when he accepted former light heayweight champion, Chad Dawson?s challenge. He impressively defeated Dawson within ten rounds. Ward was even ranked third on this writer?s P4P (Pound for Pound list) behind Pacquiao and Mayweather. That is around the time Ward?s momentum was affected by promotional problems and an undisclosed shoulder problem which required surgery both of which sidelined him. Promotional issues and health issues resolved, Ward is now represented by Rapper/Businessman Jay Z?s (promotional firm) ?Roc Nation?. Ward has vacated his 168lbs titles and moved up to the 175lbs division. Ward now stands at the threshold of greatness if he should defeat Sergey Kovalev.
Unified light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev (L) of Russia and Andre Ward of the United States pose during Wednesday's final press conference in Las Vegas.
Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1,26KOs) is a unified light heavyweight champion (WBA, WBO, IBF) of the world. Kovalev has quietly made a name for himself to arrive at this point. He destroyed a notable former champion, Jean Pascal (twice), and defeated a future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins, who at 50 years old is surprisingly still world class. Kovalev has ?Main Events? support, headed by Kathy Duva. Both promotional outfits have a lot financially riding on this fight. That being mentioned, what can we expect when these two fighters finally meet?
This is the typical Puncher versus the boxer. Kovalev may be the stronger fighter, but Ward is the faster fighter. The difference here is Ward can also punch and does not rely solely on his boxing skills and speed to defeat his opponents. Expect Kovalev to come out and make a statement that he is different than Wards other 30 victims. He will come out and try to impose his will on Ward to try and wear him down. Those who have seen how he wore down Jean Pascal twice and eventually stopped him is what he will try to do to Ward. Ward will have to fight the most disciplined fighter he has ever fought. He will have to earn Kovalev?s respect with punches so Kovalev respects his power. If Ward can do that, it?s just a matter of using good combinations and using good footwork to defeat Kovalev. Look for both fighters to have some success against one another in seesaw type fight for the first half of the fight, but look for Ward to pull ahead late in the fight and defeat Kovalev. This writer picks Ward by split Decision.
Contact Writer Ralph Rimpell: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
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