Has Ward's latest masterclass changed your mind on the Kovalev fight?

Not really.

I have always thought this is a fight that Andre could win on points; 116-112 or there abouts. A competitive fight, but one that isn't contraversial. My only worry for Andre was that after the lay off and level of opposition over the past four years, he might lose some of his sharpness and get caught by a big shot from Kovalev and get KO'ed.

Ward's sharpness, reactions and timing has improved fight after fight since the Smith fight, although he does seem a little bit more flat footed than he used to be. This, however, could be down to the opposition and he may be more on his toes against Kovalev. Anyway, I think Ward is close enough back to his best so I am expecting a points win for Andre.

 

Not really, it's still a 50-50 fight, but I'm slightly leaning towards Kovalev since Ward hasn't shown anything special in his recent outings

 

Yes. I picked Kovalev by KO before, switched to "Kovalv should win but I'm not that confident" after the Chilemba fight ... now I agree with CST again. If this is the best Ward can do, Kovalev is gonna smash him up.

 

I thought Ward looked terrible. He has no power and he looked like he was protecting a suspect jaw against a 39 year old nobody. His reflexes looked ****. Accuracy is great but when you are fighting an also accurate but devastating and crafty puncher like Kovalev who has a good jaw this is an easy prediction to make. I think Kovalev will outbox him and beat him up and finally KO him in the 8th round.

 

I am as certain as ever that Kovalev wins. I just hope Ward doesn't pull out, he has a tendency to get injured/sued at the worst times imaginable.

 

haven't seen the entire fight and went to bed, but after 4½ rounds it was clear to me how things would progress and turned in.
My predicition hasn't changed one bit, and I didn't expect it could against this opponent unless Ward showed something really special.

Kovalev TKO round 5 or 6

 

Don't you think that Kovalev is a good matchup for Ward stylistically while Ward is a bad matchup for Kov? I mean Ward likes to fight straight line boxers like Kovalev while the Russian didn't look very comfortable against a tricky Chilemba.

 

Ward doesn't have a Chilemba type chin to deal with the punches that do get trough, and himself hasn't faced a Chilemba level opponent at LHW yet, who I think would give him heaps of trouble.

 

Tell me more about his fading reflexes. Did Brand touch him up a bit, chilemba-style?

 

HBO ****ed up by allowing these tune ups. Neither looked good and the fight's lost a bit of lustre.

 

You Kovalev nut huggers see what you want to see.

Ward's skill set is several levels above Kovalev's. Ward UD 117-111

 

If the Kovalev from the Hopkins fight shows up, I expect a win from Kovalev.

But anything can happen in a fight, so who knows.

 

Talk about nut hugging.