Great post my friend! But...Calzaghe got drop many times in his career too(Jones.forget about the others)and Ward vs Kovalev(only time he got drop?).
Ward was also dropped against Darnell Boone. A tough journeyman who also knocked out Adonis Stevenson and supposedly beat Kovalev(officially lost an SD to Kovalev) and knocked Kovalev down in their first fight which wasn't televised. This content is protected This content is protected
Thanks man! forgot about Boone...what a dangerous puncher! abeilt a journey man too(sadly).and supposedly beat Kovalev(officially lost an SD to Kovalev)yeah if the fight was stage in the US Boone could have won...
I think the first fight was in a metro fitness gym in Atlanta. I just think he may have got an unfair shake but that's simply going on what Darnell Boone has said about the fight because there's no footage of it. Boone claimed in an interview he knocked Kovalev down and i don't see why he'd lie about that.
I beleive him btw Back to the thread a little,Calzaghe take angle to hit his opponent instead of Ward standing in front...do you agree with that?
Jeffries but he stupidly came back and was dealt with by the legendary Jack Johnson. Dre retired after Kovalev and has not come back.
I think Calzaghe can throw punches on the inside and take the distance away from Ward giving him less room to move. I think it would be an ugly fight at times and maybe a very close fight depending on what occurs early on. This content is protected This content is protected Calzaghe was landing a variety of shots going from the head to the body and was coming inside with no issue. Whereas Ward clinched more often than i think he needed to get his punches through. I think Ward's work was less cleaner than Calzaghe's overall. I think Calzaghe had the much better performance against Kessler. Ward looked good and did what he had to do but i think it could have been cleaner. Ward and Calzaghe were both at different stages of their career so it's hard to judge too much on both performances. I think what you mean by angles is Calzaghe could throw a right cross and hooks quite tight and throw them with two hands in combinations. He moved quite well so you could say he threw shots at angles and kept his stance quite tight with his footwork. Ward relies much more on his movement and distance to get his punches off than Calzaghe does. If you notice with Ward he'll keep his left or right hand up to gauge distance which makes it trickier for his opponent to figure out when to throw shots. It helped Ward judge the distance from his opponent.
I gave him the first though it was closer over the 12 rounds Dre won more rounds to offset the 10-8 round Kovalev won in round 2. In the 2nd fight Dre took his soul. Kovalev was a very good boxer puncher devastating everyone but Dre worked him out took him into deep waters and drowned him. @C.J. is my friend but there are 3 boxers he hates with a passion Floyd, Dre and Canelo.
I think the general consensus is Kovalev won the first fight against Ward after the knockdown and kept the momentum long enough winning some of the later rounds to deserve the win. Ward won and did well to recover. I think Ward was very lucky to escape with a win. Andre Ward worked out Kovalev in the 2nd fight and took all the zap from Kovalev's punches whilst systemically breaking him down on route to a stoppage win. I think Kovalev should have got the win but officially Ward has the W on his record. Ward worked out and beat Kovalev handily in the 2nd fight i think regardless of the ending of the fight. Ward was breaking him down and looked stronger than Kovalev on the inside and wasn't going to be bullied.
In saying this absolute Bull Feces you tend to lose any credibility you had to score a fight honestly & without bias. He's a dirty fighter, which is why he only wanted to fight at home so he got favorable officials every time. The question asked was... How good was Andre Ward ?? To which I gave an honest answer as I see it, its a pity you couldn't do the same
By being beaten around the ring and getting bailed out by the judges with a gift decision and then resorting to numerous low blows and winning by groin shots? Not exactly my idea of taking someone's soul. Not that I don't like Ward, because I do. He just deserves several losses on his resume. Like mostly every other fighter in history.
Ward IMO was very skillful, with a very high boxing IQ, as well as having a ruggedness which served him in matches which he struggled. In many ways I see him as being similar in attributes to Hopkins. His ruggedness also reminded me of John Ruiz in many ways.
