Beating Ward is simple second time around

If he didn't think that Ward could punch then he would've done to Ward what he did to Cleverly and walked through Ward. I wonder why he didn't. Hmmmmm. #Armchairs

 

This. Kovalev tried, but Ward adapted and exploited Kovalev's willingness not to guard his body and by the later rounds Kovalev had no steam left. Kell also gave away a bunch of body shots to Spence, which is why he also suddenly had no gas in the later rounds.

Williams tried to get those body shots in on Jermall, but Jermall either moved or countered, but he didn't just absorb blows. If Kovalev is willing to give those body shot away again Ward will school him this time.

 

If he could have he would have

I'm not a Ward fan and like and root for Kovalev but he had his chance, kind of like Mosley had his chance vs Floyd. Ward survived and Kovalev never came near a stoppage again. Ward proved he can take Kovalevs punch and continue. That said I still thought Kovalev won the fight by banking the early portion, scoring a knockdown and winning the 10th amidst a Ward rally of rounds.

Kovalev needs to make serious adjustments to win this fight now just "Krush him". Kovalev largely ignored Wards body. Ward is illusive, the body is much larger and less mobile target than the head. His body punching vs Agnew and Caparello was outstanding and led to victories there. He needs to do something on the inside besides holding Ward's head. He fought very consciously of Ward's head and seemingly did not want anything to do with Ward in close leading to lots of clinches where Kovalev was just trying to pull Wards head down. I think this became tiresome for him and prevented him from scoring blows when in close.

He needs to box all 12 rounds effectively. He either tired out or coasted in the first fight as he waned in pace down the stretch coming on strong in the 10th and again in the 12th but he certainly struggled to the finish or took his foot off the gas the first time.

Finally, he needs to put Ward away when he has a chance. He had Ward down and hurt and yeah it was near the bell but he didnt make a strong effort to try and land another meaningful blow in the 10 or 5 seconds he had to do it. Ward proved he can recover and weather and Kovalev just cant assume the guy is going down the next round just because he fell this round

 

This is the same thing people said about pbf opponents he can't punch so why not just walk right through him? If it was that easy kovalev would have done so. Boxing isnt a video game and Ward hits hard enough to get your resoect. It's just not that easy to walk right through an elite fighter like ward.

 

You can't bully Ward on the inside as he is the master
I'm still calling it
Ward, again, razor edge win

 

The only reason he won so many rounds is cause he was so disciplined with his jab.

 

Lol I love angry ram.

 

Kovalev used a jab and looked like the winner first time around. He showed Wards weakness in that Ward struggles with a boxer and is more of a very good brawler rather than a boxer.
When Ward tried to box with Kovalev, he was losing. When Ward brawled it was a more even fight. Kovalev to me controlled most of the fight with better boxing. Kovalev adapted to Wards brawling and I think this is what caused Ward so many problems.
Ward tried to box with Kovalev and got wobbled. Ward tried to box with Kovalev and got put down by a timed shot. Ward started brawling and did alot better. Kovalev adapted and boxed and brawled which I felt stopped Ward from being able to take over.

Its a shame that the rematch is not in a neutral location but hopefully there will be neutral judges

 

I am confident Kovalev will build on his successes from the first fight and ensure both his conditioning and tactics will be improved for the rematch and either get the stoppage or win enough clear rounds to put the decision beyond any doubt.
However, Ward will have tweaked his own strategy to implement into his performance and neither man has a routine task ahead of him on the 17th. Also, Ward may not have a reputation as a power puncher but anyone dismissing him as feather-fisted is badly informed and does both Ward and Kovalev a disservice.
Like I mentioned above, I have faith that Kovalev will win decisively in this grudge rematch but Ward won't be turning up just to roll over. This fight will be a battle of elite talents, let's just hope it lives up to the hype and may the best man win.

 

Nice post.

This one too. There's a reason I keep hanging around here.

 

Kovalev won the first fight and he won it with his jab no need to abandon it in a rematch. Ward fought a survival fight after getting nearly swept the first 6 rounds. He did better in the second half as Kovalev tired, the rematch is intriguing and I don't pretend to know the adjustments both men have made and will make on fight night. I'm picking Kovalev by decision again we will see what happens. May the best man win (and this time hopefully that is true)

 

Boxing establishment saw how well Kovalev did in the first fight and had to resort to crooked judging. They cannot do that two fights in a row so this time around they are NOT drug testing Ward.

 

Oh I think we're going to see 'Krusher' on the 17th. Andre is getting hurt