I wish people would really analyze boxing... I'm worried about Ward v Kovalev

[-Kev-]

Defensively he was good, offensively he needs to do better but he was rusty.

Ward vs Kovalev is a really high quality fight. It's not a game. I pick Ward to win but I know Kovalev is no joke.

[Redd Foxx]

The Barrera fight wasn't the performance of his career but he put in a perfectly fine performance against a reasonable opponent who was a legit LHW. It's not proof he'll beat Kovalev but I think it's progress in the right direction. It's good that Ward is planning to get in another fight because I'd like to see more of him at this weight. As far as coming into a fight with relatively few fights over the last couple years goes, his performance is up there. He handled the power well, put Barrera on the canvas, and looked pretty good defensively.

That's a really good evaluation. I was really surprised that he was so quick on his feet and able to hop out of range at 175. A lot of guys going up a class lose that. A lot of the "warning signs" I was looking for just weren't there. Would definitely like to see another fight, against someone respectable, before the Kovalev fight. The fans need it and Andre needs it too, to really get his bearings at 175 and see where he's at as a boxer in his 30's.

[LA_2_Vegas]

Overall I thought he looked relatively flat. His defense was alright and he didn't fight a bad fight but he was just very static.

and that was against a guy who was also stiff and static, and at one pace all night no matter how far down on the cards he was. He just didn't look as light on his feet as he would need to be against Kovalev, who is quicker and more athletic than given credit for because all the attention is on power and such. I realize Ward isn't out there dancing around but he just lacked some precision in how he usually moves to setup offense. Picturing that Ward against any recent version of Kovalev presented a stark contrast right away in my mind. I just see bouncing around, throwing hard jabs, jumping in,out, creating space, just looking like the more lively dynamic guy against that Ward. I think Ward respects and acknowledges those attributes in Kovalev and he said himself that he still needs to work on some things. I don't get the sense that he's prolonging or trying to avoid by saying he needs more fights, I think it was pretty obvious

[therealpugilist]

There's an odd skew with Ward fights. If he gets hit AT ALL, people think he's looking terrible. Kovalev not only gets hit more, by lower level competition, but his connect rate is not as high as Andre's.
This isn't some end boss in a video game where he touches you and you're dead. Let's get some perspective here. Not an easy fight for either guy but Ward taking less than 20% from Kovalev's mandatory isn't anything worrying. Kovalev took more shots (%) from a broken down Pasqual.

Man you summed up my thoughts....they forget kov is getting hit back n will likely be 40-50%

Anyone landing that high n only getting hit 25 n less is hard to beat with or w/o 1 punch Power

[Foreign Soil]

That performance would have him flat on his back vs Kovalev. Not just a loss, but a bad one. For it to even be competitive, Ward has to be on his A+ game.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Kovolev is gonna wreck Ward... I just don't see how Ward will keep him at bay..

[Redd Foxx]

Kovolev is gonna wreck Ward... I just don't see how Ward will keep him at bay..

No disrespect to your opinion, but that's a familiar tune before Ward fights,
Kessler is gonna wreck Ward... I just don't see how Ward will keep him at bay..
Froch is gonna wreck Ward... I just don't see how Ward will keep him at bay..
Dawson is gonna wreck Ward... I just don't see how Ward will keep him at bay..

Saying Kovalev wins is a reasonable opinion but "wreck"? He wrecked but couldn't finish a 50 year old Hopkins. Ward is way, way past where Hopkins is. Kovalev is real solid, but isbeing oversold based on so-so competition. Kovalev hasn't ever had a foe like this and Ward hasn't had one in a few years.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

No disrespect to your opinion, but that's a familiar tune before Ward fights,
Kessler is gonna wreck Ward... I just don't see how Ward will keep him at bay..
Froch is gonna wreck Ward... I just don't see how Ward will keep him at bay..
Dawson is gonna wreck Ward... I just don't see how Ward will keep him at bay..

Saying Kovalev wins is a reasonable opinion but "wreck"? He wrecked but couldn't finish a 50 year old Hopkins. Ward is way, way past where Hopkins is. Kovalev is real solid, but isbeing oversold based on so-so competition. Kovalev hasn't ever had a foe like this and Ward hasn't had one in a few years.

I think it will be a lot like the kovolev-hopkins fight. But I think kovolev is a better fighter now for having that experience and Ward is easier to hit than even a 50 year hopkins. Ward will have better offensive firepower than hopkins but I don't think he will be able to hide his chin for 12 Rds like hopkins can, and he won't be able to keep kovolev off of him.

My bold prediction: this fight will look something like a combination of pavlik/taylor--kovolev/hopkins

[Redd Foxx]

I think it will be a lot like the kovolev-hopkins fight. But I think kovolev is a better fighter now for having that experience and Ward is easier to hit than even a 50 year hopkins. Ward will have better offensive firepower than hopkins but I don't think he will be able to hide his chin for 12 Rds like hopkins can, and he won't be able to keep kovolev off of him.

My bold prediction: this fight will look something like a combination of pavlik/taylor--kovolev/hopkins

Lol, I didn't realize you were just trolling. Sorry, nevermind.

[Vasyl’s dad]

There's an odd skew with Ward fights. If he gets hit AT ALL, people think he's looking terrible. Kovalev not only gets hit more, by lower level competition, but his connect rate is not as high as Andre's.
This isn't some end boss in a video game where he touches you and you're dead. Let's get some perspective here. Not an easy fight for either guy but Ward taking less than 20% from Kovalev's mandatory isn't anything worrying. Kovalev took more shots (%) from a broken down Pasqual.

And then, you when put it into proper perspective, you realize that in 30 fights, 26 have ended before the bell, which skewers the numbers vs someone who has KOs in only half of his fights. So in reality, that connect rate doesn't really mean much when one guy is finishing his fights early and quite often.