Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward

That is actually kind of shockingly wide for Claressa Shields, even though she was a dominant amateur generally projected to not only make waves in the pros but perhaps usher in a new era of doors opening for women's boxing to push into mainstream crossover appeal.

They didn't just pick some tomato can (or formerly respected but very faded journeywoman with a recognizable enough name to create the air of a daunting initial foray) as is usually done to showcase a medalist being groomed for the bright lights from day one. Crews was a very successful amateur herself, 8x national champ and nabbed a silver medal at the world championships, and she was eliminated from the Olympic qualifiers in 2012 by none other than Shields' bitter arch-rival Tika Hemingway, in a close match. (Shields was 5-0 versus Hemingway, but all of them were life and death bloodbaths, a couple of them split decisions)

I'm not saying Claressa ought not be a prohibitive favorite, but something more like 1/10ish seems reasonable. 1/33 makes it seem like she's getting in with a soccer mom who took a few box-fit or Tae Bo classes.

 

...and yeah, there's a little background info so that if Claressa does score a blitz thirty-second brutal KO you can have some context and not think "oh, cool, whatever, she just annihilated some middle school lunch-lady..." and give her some actual credit for it. Like, the only more ballsy recent debut in the male ranks I can think of is Lomachenko with José Ramírez.

 

Also too wide for Stevens. JDLR could get the upset if he catches him square on the jaw.

 

Ward's demeanor will be very interesting to watch unfold. This will be his biggest chance maybe ever to increase his market value by taking risks and making it a dogfight...but this also makes him vulnerable.

 

Neither do I, but he can not possibly have insulated himself from seeing - or at some visceral level, just from being a man alone, having an emotional response to - all the criticisms of him in the boxing world (press, social media, forums like this) nor can it have failed to dawn on him that in one fell swoop he can redeem himself and recreate his public image by simply going to war against Kovalev, giving his future earnings potential an exponential increase - and that said opportunity is a one time deal, the pins set up perfectly for him to roll a lucrative strike on the grandest stage of them all. Should this, however, be a hyped but disappointing Mayweather vs. Pacquiao type of dud, his earnings potential will not only stagnate, but plummet for almost certain)

 

Yeah, a loss if he goes out swinging and on his shield doesn't hurt Ward's stock in the slightest (from a future earnings perspective)

 

Kovalev is asked whether he respects Ward or plans to knock him out.

Both, of course, he answers.

 

Currently sitting @ 56-51-4 AW

 

I'm excited for this WHOLE card - the free HBO portion and the PPV.