Very good point. Around the time this fight was vaguely rumoured (I think before Ward-Kovalev I) it was actually listed by some bookmakers at exactly even money. For fights which don't attract the attention of casual betters, the odds are usually fairly accurate and reflect the expectations of the industry.
The question you need to ask yourself is why Lil G would not take the fight when Ward was at 168 pounds for many years? Only lies he would move up to 168 pounds to take after Ward had left the division to fight at 175 pounds. You know the answer so stop behaving like a punk as you are better than that. ““I moved up. That was a real opportunity for him to take that fight. He didn’t want the fight. He wanted to push it out 2 or 3 years. Once you go up, you can’t come back down. If he wants to come up, that’s another story. I’m not going back down,” said Ward. Source: [url]Ward Says He Won’t Fight Golovkin At 168 - Boxing News 24[/url] ([url]https://www.boxingnews24.com/2017/04/ward-says-wont-fight-golovkin-168/)”[/url]. Lil G is a scared coward wh3n it comes to fighting Dre. Dre was undefeated whereas Lil G lost 3 times to Canelo.
Prime or not Kovalev would get KOed by AB. Kovalev does not possess the defensive skills to frustrate nor the stamina to defeat AB. Bivol possesses the defensive skills and the counterpunching ability to defeat AB just as long he avoids a firefight with AB, which I doubt he would be able to do. Bivol is in no hurry to duke it out with AB and he is hoping that Father time will do him a solid.
Prime Kovalev had tight, top notch defense. He was consistently among the hardest fighters in the sport to land clean on.
I don't know about the first, but the second was a razor thin victory. Don't know why people keep bringing it up.
Ward "Once you go up, you can’t come back down" *Golovkin prepares to defend 160 titles after facing Canelo at 168* Truth is Ward is a cowardly bully boy who invented excuses to avoid Golovkin that GGG himself has never used. Ward needed home advantage for nearly all his fights while Golovkin fights on the road. Even after GGG gave in to his 168 demand Ward was still running. Ward could have had the fight, he didn't want it. Even the huge size advantage Ward held over GGG wasn't enough to make his balls drop into place for that fight. Warderella excels at finding excuses and at stacking the deck.
Kovalev offered Beterbiev a shot at his belt(s) but the latter for unknown reasons declined. The excuse was Ramadan.
There is no money in Kazakhstan that’s why He fights on the road. USA is the capital of world boxing so your argument is weak. If the right money is provided Ward would go abroad and kick ass.
What is most important is he wins full stop. Like I said keep making excuses but your excuses don’t dimish his perfect record. Nothing is perfect except for the boxing records of Floyd, Rocky Marciano, Super Joe Calzaghe and the Son of God himself Andre Ward.
His defense wasn't as elite as you make it out to be. It was definitely decent, but he was hit plenty. His control of distance and jab/straight is what made him hard to hit.
Great fight. Kov was very tough in his prime but I’m going with AB. Beterbiev is so disciplined and strong. I think he would have eaten a lot of leather but eventually get to KOV and finish him. Kov was tough but never faced a guy like Beterbiev.