Ward vs Kovalev - Who've you got?

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I can’t let a fight as big as this weekend pass without a thread asking for folks thoughts. For me this is one of those odd fights that I am looking forward to enormously but suspect might well fail to ignite. I suspect intriguing rather than exciting may accurately describe it. Got to say since this has been announced I have been picking Ward. I rate both of them highly but just think Ward is a special talent, a lot more rounded and like Mayweather one with an exceptional ability to shut opponents down and neutralise them.
 
That being said Kovalev is no underdog or no hoper, this is a genuinely close fight, and one in which you can make an argument either way. Whilst people rightly wax lyrical about Kovalev’s power his boxing ability should not be underplayed, few since Jones have solved the numerous riddles Hopkins poses so effectively. Also he is a natural big hitting light heavy, something Ward has never faced, whilst his defence has always looked solid at super middle he is not completely unhittable. Froch had his moments where he was able to land, so one would assume Sergey will be able to do likewise. How Ward stands up to that is one of the big questions in this one.
 
Also whilst Ward is hardly an old man his career post Super six has had more stops and starts than me attempting to run a marathon. Being in the ring with Kovalev would not be a place I would want to be blowing off a dose of ring rust. Despite that, I still think Ward will be victorious, he is smart at tying up/holding on the inside and fast enough that he will score with plenty when the fight is at range. If the ref is pretty easy going when it comes to his holding inside, and thus far he has tended to get away with it, I think he will secure the win on points.
 
All of this almost certainly guarantees you can put your house on Kovalev, but irrespective of the outcome I cannot wait for this fight. A genuine talent moving up to take on the best the division above him has to offer, this is the sort of fight the sport needs more of.

1st Round Kovalev for me...such thudding puncher..Ward looking to duck under and hold inside and try to work

thats a look of a man who knows he bitten off more than he can chew...wow!

This will be over within next two rounds in all likelihood...if it's not then Ward's doing well!

But then, wtf do I know?

Wow Ward down from a counter right hand

Kovalrv landing good leather before wand after the knockdown

Kovalrv 20-17 already and Ward looks flustered

Nice recovery round from Ward, showing little bit better countering. Think he's going to have to box at range...he's not winning this fight by going to the inside I don't think. Fair play to him for coming back there.

39-36 Kovalev after 4 Rounds

Agreed

God I hate SKY; Kovalev not landing as clean...erm he definitely landed the cleaner shots in that round...they love to pump up some of the Americans...

WARD AHEAD MR SMITH?! WHAT?! Erm ok...I must be drunk off tea!

Got it 58-55 Kovalrv

Feel his shots are just better tan those of Ward and Kovalev seems to be happier with the pace of the fight

Got kolarev 3 up, Frak knows what sky are watching

oooo that was a close round...Ward looked to be finding his distance and rhythm for first 2 minutes..then that piercing solid jab lands again for Kovalev...stiffining the legs of Ward...the american shaded that one for me.

I have Ward winning the last two rounds...got it by one for Kovalev...that's the best I could have it for Ward though...

Ward sussing him out I feel.

Yea 76-75 Kovalev

Think wards body shots are slowing Kovalrv down he's struggling for rhythm now

sky starting to do that thing now where they just completely ignore the work of one fighter when the other has a bit of momentum...

That being said..Ward seems to be timing him better now...Kovalev dropping short alot and starting to wing that right hand..the Russian actually looking the more tired of the two.

Kovalev not as sharp anymore

Even after 9 for me

scored that one a draw...Ward looked like he landed more but think the sky team missed a lot of the jabs which the russian landed when Ward dropped down to stick a jab in the body..

I'm watching HBO they are query unbiased tbhlf

Gave it to Kovalev

95-94

The big thing to remember...Kovalev is the champion...so Ward needs to go and take the title from him...be a strong argument that he hasn't done that.

Ward two ahead for me after eleven.

I have Kovalev up 2 going into this but about 3 rounds I gave to kovalev could've gone to ward

116-113 Kovalev for me...if you have Ward winning then it can't be by anymore than 1 in my opinion...SKY have him by as much as 4 Rounds...they must be drinking on the job!

Close but knock down swings it to Kovalev

Wards getting the decision no doubt about that...

Junkies. Even Malignaggi has been ignoring Kovalev work today.

Messy fight, unsurprisingly. I think Ward will get it 116-113, given where the fight's held.

I haven't scored it round by round (never do) - but think Ward has done enough. Second half of the fight has been how I expected it to be.

114-113 to Kovalev for me

Can see the same card flipped though

Just wasn't that impressed with Wards infighting, when Kovalrv landed his jab you could feel it and he seemed unmoved with the inside fight

Thieves.

Don't like that decision

Wrong winner for me....didn't go and take the decision from the Champion...was a good close chess fight but I am left feeling slightly dissapointed to be honest. Underwhelmed is the end feeling of the night.

That beig said...credit to the pair of them for getting in the ring with one another in a time when plenty are doing their very best to avoid one another. Next up...Lomachenko vs Walters...can't wait for that one.

Didn't think it was a robbery

A lot of people split on who own on twitter

Ranging from 116-111 to both fighters

Think Kovalev deserves a rematch in neutral ground

3 American judges on a Duva card

What fight were the judges watching to have it that close?

I had it 115 - 112 Kovalev and I was being very generous to Ward giving him the 4th.

Fair result, I'd say, from a messy fight. Ward grew into it and Kov struggled to land from the fourth onwards.

I actually agree with the judges, thought ward was the better fighter in the later rounds. From fourth onwards he did the cleaner work, One round to ward is what I had, which is very rare that I agree with judges

That's fair for me. Ugly fight but I scored more for Ward. Enjoyed Paulie's commentary.

Ward never hurt him at all

Bunch of cheating b****** Ward never won that fight!

Agree about Paulie. Makes Sky's coverage so much better.

It was close and scrappy at times definitely...it wasn't a wide decision for any fighter whichever way you went...however; I do think their is merit that a challenger has to go and take the belts from the Champion.

Ward certainly grew into the fight and around the middle rounds probably took control a little more, however he wasn't winning the inside exchanges and he wasn't really controlling the ring in any shape or form...his success came from just landing the cleaner shots when Kov started falling short.

I didn't give Ward a single one of the last 3 rounds as I was watching...scored the 10th an even one but could be swayed into giving it to Ward.

I had Rounds 1,2,4,6,11,12 with Round 2 being a 10-8
I had Rounds 3,5,7,8,9 for Ward

Then had 10 an even Round..

115-113 Kovalev

Stevenson v Ward can get made now

As much chance of Stevenson fighting a challenge as Bellew has ever making enough money to never have to step into ring to feed his kids!

Still not happy with that decision

Tough fight to score, when I saw the success kovalev had with the jab in the first it looked like it was going to his fight, then with knockdown in the second  you have to give ward real credit for adjusting and finding a way back. The biggest shock was 3 identical cards, be interesting to see which rounds they agreed on.

Its not a robbery, there were a lot of close rounds that could go either way, but when one guy is trying to make the fight and the other is trying to make it ugly it's hard not to feel sorry for kovalev... whilst at the same time admiring ward's doggedness.

https://twitter.com/garethadaviesdt/status/800218805158850560

Scorecards here. Ward taking over midway. Pretty much how I saw it.

Ward looked surprised to get that

Guest82 wrote:https://twitter.com/garethadaviesdt/status/800218805158850560

Scorecards here. Ward taking over midway. Pretty much how I saw it.

Yeh, really unusual to see 2 identical cards and the other only disagreeing on two rounds. Clearly they didn't think it was a difficult fight to score. Thought Ward nicked 3 and 5 myself, but thought rounds 7-12 were generally pretty close. Ward shaded them for me butTough on Krusher to score all of them for Ward. I can see a close Ward win, but I can see an argument for a fairly wide one for kovalev too.

Think it is about time people realised what a special fighter Ward is...

Superb recovery by Ward. However I do believe that it was a hometown decision against that big nasty Russian as I had Kovalev by 2 points with the knockdown being the telling difference.
Be interesting to see if there's a rematch. It was close enough to warrant one.
Well done to both fighters both during the fight and for having the balls to take it inthe first place. And at least it wasn't the stinker we were worried about.