Ward vs Kovalev - Who've you got?

First topic message reminder :

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.

Mr Mature back from the boxing ivy league to grace us all with his wit and wisdom again.

catchweight wrote:A lot of insane people around then.

most of them on here

BoxingFan88 wrote:No one ducked anyone

It's bad timing

I'm telling you ggg didn't duck ward

And I have repeatedly said on this, and the thread from last year i linked to, that I don't think golovkin ducked ward either.. it made financial sense on a risk reward basis to chase the canelo fight and stay at middle. What leaves him open to fair criticism is his trainer mouthing off about other weight divisions, stipulating catchweights for ward that don't apply to froch or chavez, lying about what he said and trying to put 'the blame' on a fight not happening on the other party.

Herman and Dylan have been creaming themselves at the idea of ward ducking golovkin... and you have decided that ward's offer to golovkin was disingenuous and not serious, based on a presumption that he couldn't make 168 anyway and that he deliberately waited 20 minutes after the lemiuex fight was signed... the relevance of which is pretty well summed up in the  article from fight city I posted. So by lapping up the pro golovkin arguments and ignoring the pro ward ones, I don't think you've been mr objective on this. No offence just calling it as I see it.

catchweight wrote:Brook was like their third choice replacement after Alvarez surrendered and Eubank backpeddled. Matchroom offered up Brook as a lucrative alternative.

I think if it was a case of Golovkin and his team getting their preffered fights then his record would read Martinez, Cotto, Chavez, Froch, Alvarez etc and they would all be a lot wealthier for it.

Sanchez might talk his fighter up, but its the actions of other fighters and their respective teams that are more telling. He has suffered from bad timing by really arriving as a top name at time when a whole host of other big name fighters were in their twilights and not really keen to tangle with the rising star of boxing. It has been a major struggle for him to land the big fights.

I couldn't agree more

sadly though, his trainer talking up fights his team had no intention of following through on, takes away some of his moral high ground about people avoiding him.

His camp  saying 154 is ok for Floyd but not canelo... and 168 is ok for Froch and Chavez but Ward needs to be 164... is no different to What Floyd gets accused of and what canelo has just done (I'm a 155 fighter... but I'll go to supermiddle for Chavez). They rightly get lambasted for it.

Clearly Alvarez is being steered clear of ggg and it's indefensible that he won the middleweight belt but won't put it on the line against ggg, but golovkin's team have played similar games with others.

Hey GGG is fighting a live opponent shortly, hopefully now he's got a decent profile we'll see him in the fights his talent deserves.

Regardless of whose trainer said what - we should be celebrating the likes of Golovkin, Ward, Lomachenko, Kovalev, Rigondeaux, Crawford and Gonzalez. They're the guys looking to prove they're the top dogs, lineal champs, true champs - call it what you will.

Without that lot, you'd be left with Adonis Stevenson, Canelo and others following the "Mayweather legacy of smart match-making".

milkyboy wrote:sadly though, his trainer talking up fights his team had no intention of following through on, takes away some of his moral high ground about people avoiding him.

His camp  saying 154 is ok for Floyd but not canelo... and 168 is ok for Froch and Chavez but Ward needs to be 164... is no different to What Floyd gets accused of and what canelo has just done (I'm a 155 fighter... but I'll go to supermiddle for Chavez). They rightly get lambasted for it.

Clearly Alvarez is being steered clear of ggg and it's indefensible that he won the middleweight belt but won't put it on the line against ggg, but golovkin's team have played similar games with others.

Hey GGG is fighting a live opponent shortly, hopefully now he's got a decent profile we'll see him in the fights his talent deserves.

Don't even try and defend Canelo

Floyd isn't a 154 pounder so they will go down for him, because its the biggest fight in boxing

But Canelo pretending to be a 154 pounder is embarrassing, he is a middleweight

They won't play his games and as boxing fans, we shouldn't either

So at what point does the word indefensible sound like I'm defending him?

' his handlers say no to canelo at 154 not floyd'

it has got defens in the word though Milky ;-)

BoxingFan88 wrote:' his handlers say no to canelo at 154 not floyd'

And that's defending canelo how exactly? It's pointing out that if you're prepared to go down in weight or up in weight for some fighters but not others, then you leave yourself open to criticism of cherry picking. If he's a middleweight and only wants to fight at middleweight that's fine... just tell your management team to button it.

Fair enough sorry I jumped the gun

Roach and sanchez always go off on one and put manny and ggg in certain positions

No probs fella

Rematch confirmed in Las Vegas on 17 June. Can’t wait for this, would love a Kov win to set up trilogy. Personally I had Kov comfortably winning the first so rematch was needed.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/andre-ward-vs-sergey-kovalev-rematch-confirmed/

Kovalev needs to do what he did for six rounds over twelve. He won the first fight but he needs to put this one beyond doubt. Boxing needs a conclusive winner - either way.

Looks like Gonzalez is fighting an immediate rematch with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, in a double header with Cuadras vs Estrada (with the winners to meet).

Boxing is looking good in 2017.

hazharrison wrote:Kovalev needs to do what he did for six rounds over twelve. He won the first fight but he needs to put this one beyond doubt. Boxing needs a conclusive winner - either way.

Looks like Gonzalez is fighting an immediate rematch with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, in a double header with Cuadras vs Estrada (with the winners to meet).

Boxing is looking good in 2017.

It has really stepped up, we have had some good fights already and many more in the pipeline

I thought Ward was ducking Kov 100 percent, I mean after all he did get schooled in the first fight ;-)

This is turning into a good year for the sport, lets hope it can carry on.

Ward has balls and ducks no one. Kovalev is going to go in there and try and get him out of there early. Will he succeed? I don't think so, but who knows? It's a big fight and I'm looking forward to it.

I think Ward points, only with little controversy.

Ward not looking forward to this one can he fart ass his way to a messy and narrow points victory or are we about to see the return of the real Krusher that's been absent his last two fights? Cant be certain how it will play out. Great to see it signed and very much looking forward to it. The best against the best this is what the fans always love

C'mon Herm's give him some credit, you lot thought he'd duck him completely and you know it :-)

If it's a cracking fight i don't mind a bit of controversy and it'll hopefully bring us a 3rd fight. Although I just think ward will be too good for him again.

Herman you're a king troll!!

I'm also backing Kovalev to disprove the theory that rematches always favour the technician

Never doubted him for a second Derby..

Wouldn't surprise me if Kovalev unleashes a vicious beat down this time round

I think it'll be the other way round Hermy, Wards too clever for Kov and could be a walkover this time. (although I really hope not)

Wouldn't mind seeing another razor close fight with Kov getting the nod this time and then a rubber 3rd match with one of them winning comprehensively and the winner going on to smash Stevenson

Yeah you'd have to be a fool to rule out Andre Ward he's a very good boxer you're not alone in thinking he won the first fight just not a good watch and I don't like his illegal wrestling moves and use of the head. Hope they get a ref who'll clamp down on it this time he gets away with too much imo

The less said about Stevenson though the better for me

Derbymanc wrote:I think it'll be the other way round Hermy, Wards too clever for Kov and could be a walkover this time. (although I really hope not)

Wouldn't mind seeing another razor close fight with Kov getting the nod this time and then a rubber 3rd match with one of them winning comprehensively and the winner going on to smash Stevenson

Walk over ??????......It's pickem..

I don't want Kovo to win............He's a cheap racist..

Don't want people like that to do well.

What makes you think Kovalev is a racist, he employs JDJ as his coach doesn't he?

Like to see Kovalev win - he won the last fight fair and square in my opinion. Gonna be another tight one and Kovalev needs a knockout to win if the scoring of the last fight is anything to go by.

Cheers

That's why I said Could be Truss, although it could go either way. Gonna be a good un either way

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Derbymanc wrote:I think it'll be the other way round Hermy, Wards too clever for Kov and could be a walkover this time. (although I really hope not)

Wouldn't mind seeing another razor close fight with Kov getting the nod this time and then a rubber 3rd match with one of them winning comprehensively and the winner going on to smash Stevenson

Walk over ??????......It's pickem..

I don't want Kovo to win............He's a cheap racist..

Don't want people like that to do well.

No problem cheering that cheap racist Mayweather, though!!

hazharrison wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Derbymanc wrote:I think it'll be the other way round Hermy, Wards too clever for Kov and could be a walkover this time. (although I really hope not)

Wouldn't mind seeing another razor close fight with Kov getting the nod this time and then a rubber 3rd match with one of them winning comprehensively and the winner going on to smash Stevenson

Walk over ??????......It's pickem..

I don't want Kovo to win............He's a cheap racist..

Don't want people like that to do well.

No problem cheering that cheap racist Mayweather, though!!

Obvious comeback and very predictable.........

But I don't always believe in the US justice system....Personally don't believe Tyson is a r*pist either...but there you go.

I do know Kovo is a racist though...

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Derbymanc wrote:I think it'll be the other way round Hermy, Wards too clever for Kov and could be a walkover this time. (although I really hope not)

Wouldn't mind seeing another razor close fight with Kov getting the nod this time and then a rubber 3rd match with one of them winning comprehensively and the winner going on to smash Stevenson

Walk over ??????......It's pickem..

I don't want Kovo to win............He's a cheap racist..

Don't want people like that to do well.

No problem cheering that cheap racist Mayweather, though!!

Obvious comeback and very predictable.........

But I don't always believe in the US justice system....Personally don't believe Tyson is a r*pist either...but there you go.

I do know Kovo is a racist though...

US justice system? Mayweather - like Kovalev - is on record making racist slurs. Sorry to break it to you.

hazharrison wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Derbymanc wrote:I think it'll be the other way round Hermy, Wards too clever for Kov and could be a walkover this time. (although I really hope not)

Wouldn't mind seeing another razor close fight with Kov getting the nod this time and then a rubber 3rd match with one of them winning comprehensively and the winner going on to smash Stevenson

Walk over ??????......It's pickem..

I don't want Kovo to win............He's a cheap racist..

Don't want people like that to do well.

No problem cheering that cheap racist Mayweather, though!!

Obvious comeback and very predictable.........

But I don't always believe in the US justice system....Personally don't believe Tyson is a r*pist either...but there you go.

I do know Kovo is a racist though...

US justice system? Mayweather - like Kovalev - is on record making racist slurs. Sorry to break it to you.

really...

Yes. They're having a TBE cap amnesty if you'd like to hand it in?

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Derbymanc wrote:I think it'll be the other way round Hermy, Wards too clever for Kov and could be a walkover this time. (although I really hope not)

Wouldn't mind seeing another razor close fight with Kov getting the nod this time and then a rubber 3rd match with one of them winning comprehensively and the winner going on to smash Stevenson

Walk over ??????......It's pickem..

I don't want Kovo to win............He's a cheap racist..

Don't want people like that to do well.

No problem cheering that cheap racist Mayweather, though!!

Obvious comeback and very predictable.........

But I don't always believe in the US justice system....Personally don't believe Tyson is a r*pist either...but there you go.

I do know Kovo is a racist though...

If he was a racist he wouldn't employ a gentleman of coloured persuasion as his coach, surely?

Herman Jaeger wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Derbymanc wrote:I think it'll be the other way round Hermy, Wards too clever for Kov and could be a walkover this time. (although I really hope not)

Wouldn't mind seeing another razor close fight with Kov getting the nod this time and then a rubber 3rd match with one of them winning comprehensively and the winner going on to smash Stevenson

Walk over ??????......It's pickem..

I don't want Kovo to win............He's a cheap racist..

Don't want people like that to do well.

No problem cheering that cheap racist Mayweather, though!!

Obvious comeback and very predictable.........

But I don't always believe in the US justice system....Personally don't believe Tyson is a r*pist either...but there you go.

I do know Kovo is a racist though...

If he was a racist he wouldn't employ a gentleman of coloured persuasion as his coach, surely?

Give it a rest Herman.......

Unofortunately Herms, that's as bad as the 'i've got a black friend' defence

If he was truly racist I just don't see how he'd be able to work with John David

I don't see how someone who wasn't racist would think that t-shirt was appropriate, it's a straw man argument.

Get off your high horse Hammer as a Mayweather fan it doesn't suit you

I'm not a Mayweather fan in the slightest, being appreciative of somebody's skill does not make you a fan.

I equally found Hopkins burning the Puerto Rican flag abhorent.

Your views on Mayweather knocking women around?

He's a herbert, as was Kov, not sure he's really racist though just ill informed I suppose. He got a load of stick for it and I haven't seen anything else come up

Hammersmith harrier wrote:I'm not a Mayweather fan in the slightest, being appreciative of somebody's skill does not make you a fan.

I equally found Hopkins burning the Puerto Rican flag abhorent.

He didn't burn it, he dropped it. Is that less "abhorent"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHRrgGQkkJ4&feature=youtu.be

Dylan1979 wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHRrgGQkkJ4&feature=youtu.be

In other news..

..Bush commissioned 9/11......and Armstrong said "One small step" before jumping onto some soil in a studio located in Hicksville..South Dakota.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Dylan1979 wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHRrgGQkkJ4&feature=youtu.be

In other news..

..Bush commissioned 9/11......and Armstrong said "One small step" before jumping onto some soil in a studio located in Hicksville..South Dakota.

Ward has already swerved the '120 days' of testing that was part of the initial agreement - FACT!!

You really think Prince and Roc Nation are going to play fair?

All three judges gave Ward round 10 in the first fight. How anybody can score that round for Ward is beyond
belief!

Those who choose to ignore the blatant corruption that went down are contributing to the downfall of
boxing.

Dylan1979 wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Dylan1979 wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHRrgGQkkJ4&feature=youtu.be

In other news..

..Bush commissioned 9/11......and Armstrong said "One small step" before jumping onto some soil in a studio located in Hicksville..South Dakota.

Ward has already swerved the '120 days' of testing that was part of the initial agreement - FACT!!

You really think Prince and Roc Nation are going to play fair?

All three judges gave Ward round 10 in the first fight. How anybody can score that round for Ward is beyond
belief!

Those who choose to ignore the blatant corruption that went down are contributing to the downfall of
boxing.

Used to be a guy at work who asked me for advice regularly on his failing marriage...I used to offer up some advice knowing full well he wouldn't listen to any of it...

Have a feeling I would be wasting my time here.

But good luck to you..

Time to get over it Dylan, Ward won fair and square.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Time to get over it Dylan, Ward won fair and square.

He won that's true. Don't know about the fair and square part.