Follow the money. Kovalev was cheated in the first match by the judges. If it goes the distance and its close, this time he'll get the nod setting up the final 3rd match.
I think Kovalev got outsmarted in the first fight. Him winning the 2nd depends on if he draws the right conclusions from the loss. If he thinks he "just has to knock out that fraud" and use "brute force" then he might fail again. If Kovalev concentrates on winning rounds, using his jab, and stop trying to punch that single big hand he will win rather easily.
I picked Ward to win the first fight, and I had him winning, but after seeing the fight, I like Kovalev's chances better in the rematch. Not confident to pick either though but I'm leaning towards Kova.
Kov will probably beat ward again in the rematch, but if it goes the distance, he ain't gonna win on the judges cards.
Kova can definitely beat him but has to be smarter... I had it very close the first time. But I did have Ward winnning a a very close and ugly decision.. I think Kovalev needs to get one knockdown like last time to secure the first half of the fight... Then fight smart with the jab the rest of the fight and finish strong.. Either way if he knocks him out or makes it look domininant or sufficiently close they may give it to him on the cards... Lots of money to be made on the 3rd fight if Kova wins this time and Ward aint going to retire after losing so hell want the rubber match... Thats my guess
Sorry to bust the bubble of the KANvolev nut hugging crowd - BUT - the TOMATO KAN Krusher isn't going to learn an inside game within the space of one training camp. Nor is he going to improve upon his conditioning. There is nothing about drinking Vodka that helps a professional prize fighter fight effectively for 12 rounds. As I see it, Kovalev has 5-6 rounds in order to impose his will on Andre Ward. If the fight has been fought on even terms going into the second half - Ward is gonna get the decision. Only this time there will be no controversy..
Kovalev will lose more decisively in this fight. And before someone calls me a Ward fanatic or something else crazy, prior to the first fight, I consistently said I thought Kovalev was the number 1 fighter P4P and would win the first fight. After seeing that first fight, Ward's upside potential for doing better is far higher than Kovalev's
If we'd replace the words "an inside game" to "wrestling moves" and "conditioning" to "tactics against dirty ****s" in your comment, it would make more sense but it'd still be a hate soaked peace of shyte. Then again, when have you ever posted anything but that.
Just for arguments sake, maybe the first fight wasn't a robbery and Ward did enough to get the W, only he himself didn't believe that as the final bell rung but... still "he won". While I can respect the willingness to do what it takes, I can't respect the system that allows fighters to "win" this way and fighters abusing it. It doesn't even matter if judges were corrupt or not (which is another thing... how come they get paid by promoters), how many other fights have been won by "technically" doing enough while actually doing just about anything to avoid contact. I do not blame Ward, but I hope the rematch puts everything in the correct places.