"SOG" Ward vs "King" Krusher Kovalev @ 175 lbs / 12.5 stone: Who wins?

[.!WAR MIKEY!.]

... no more heavy padded Grants for this fight!...

Fresh ELITE gloves for

— Everlast (@Everlast_)

I rather see him in the MX!

[NEETzsche]

Problematic quote from kovalev: if ward tries to fight dirty I'll break his hands. I like the aggression but ward fights w these tactics vs everyone. If your response is to break his hands, then you clearly haven't come up with a tactical way to neutralize this strength, which by the way is coming soon. I don't think he's learned in fighting and Bc of this I'm going wqtd

kovalev actually trains a little bit of grappling. i think it's common for russian fighters to know some wrestling basics since it's a popular sport there

[.!WAR MIKEY!.]

[The Gambler1981]

well he hurt hopkins early and managed to maintain his composure

though some have speculated that he went easy on the old man...

I would say current Ward is a trickier guy to deal with than that version of Hopkins. Plus there was never much bad blood between Kovalev and Hopkins. I think Kovalev is much more amped for this fight, that can be good or that can be bad. If he doesn't hurt Ward early I don't see him falling into that trap though, so it just brings extra possibilities into play.

[MDPopescu]

... no more heavy padded Grants for this fight!...

Fresh ELITE gloves for

— Everlast (@Everlast_)

... "high quality blended foam and quilted horsehair."

[TheUptownKid]

kovalev actually trains a little bit of grappling. i think it's common for russian fighters to know some wrestling basics since it's a popular sport there

I've heard this but from what I've seen on tape, kov either takes a half step back and counters, or grabs the opponents head. There's really no answer for sustained prolonged infighting besides stepping back. We'll c how it plays out

[MDPopescu]

Are those better than the MX in terms of power? First time I see the elite line.

... Those here are "custom made", of course...

[MDPopescu]

I rather see him in the MX!

... I only saw him once with Everlast gloves (in one of those Pascal fights)... but never noticed him using MXs...

[MDPopescu]

B-Hop's break down:

analyst takes viewers into the gym to break down & 's fighting styles and game plans.

— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing)

[Flemming]

My thoughts on Ward-Kovalev

The fight is so close now and I felt that it was about time that I joined this message board, after a long period of lurking from the sidelines. This fight is certainly worth talking about.

Size-wise, Ward and Kovalev are the same. Same height, same reach, same weight.

Kovalev got some skill issues, which we have seen in a lot of his recent fights. He was falling over his own legs while chasing Pascal, he was unable to stop a completely shot grandpa Hopkins and his perfomance against Chilemba was... well, not exactly something to brag about.

Kovalev packs a serious punch, though, which makes up for his limited skills. He could stop Ward with just one well-placed right hand and he punches harder than anyone Ward has ever faced before. There is a reason why Kovalev is undefeated.

Ward, on the other hand, is not a monstrous puncher. His punching power is simply weak compared to Kovalev's. His skills are fair superior to Kovalev's, though. He has not lost a match since he was 12, he won gold in the Olympics, he is undefeated through 30 fights and he cleaned out his division. Ward can be a bit dirty at times, but he is extremely fast and extremely skilled.

How do I think this fight will go? I expect Ward to neutralize Kovalev's offense, counter him so much that he feels unsure to attack. Ward's punches are weak, but we have seen his opponents get shocked from their pure accuracy before. I think Ward will win by decision, due to the massive difference in speed and skill level.

However, Ward looks like he has slowed down a bit since the Super Six tournament. I got a bad feeling that Kovalev just might catch him with some wild surprise in the later rounds. However, it's all up to a puncher's chance. If Kovalev doesn't land the perfect punch, Ward will win and that's the outcome I lean towards. I simply don't think that Ward's speed has been reduced enough for Kovalev to beat him yet.

But I would not be sad if Kovalev won. Both men deserve massive respect for giving us this great and exciting P4P battle. This is the stuff history is made of, in which even the loser is a winner, just for having made the event a reality. Come on, none of us remembers Joe Frazier as a loser because of his epic battles with Muhammad Ali.