Sergey Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal II & Dmitry Mikhaylenko vs. Karim Mayfield RBR

Kovalev weighed 1lb more tonight than Dawson did when Ward fought him.

 

'But in the meantime Ward has decided to do some wide-open preaching with his mouth, claiming in an interview with ESNews that heavyweight twin-peaks Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko are possible future targets for the current 168-pound world champion.

“I want to [challenge for a world heavyweight title], I’ve talked about that since I’ve been a kid,” Ward said, apparently straight-faced. “It seems crazy right now, but I’m not gonna be [one-hundred and] sixty-eight [pounds] forever.”

“You got to fight the right heavyweight,” he admitted, but added: “As a fighter, I believe I could beat a Klitschko… I’m wired to believe that…I think it could happen, absolutely.”

“By 32 years old, Andre Ward will be heavyweight champion of the world,” says the confident trainer. “He has always beaten guys bigger than him, even in the amateurs. If Andre gets to 200 pounds naturally and maybe grows an inch taller, he could become heavyweight champion absolutely.”

---Virgil Hunter

Hunter on Dawson's advantages in height and reach

“The one-inch height advantage means nothing,” assessed Hunter. “As for the advantages in reach, I am not one to believe in that sort of stuff. Reach is greatly exaggerated and overhyped in boxing. What it comes down to is establishing distance as well as utilizing your range. Distance and range is more important than reach. Whichever fighter can do this the best will win the fight.”

Don't forget that Ward is a devastating puncher too.

Meanwhile Virgil Hunter, Ward’s trainer, and the rest of the camp were waiting patiently. During the waiting game, Hunter had a few choice words about the upcoming Ward/Kessler fight. The ultra confident trainer laughed confidently when I asked him if he thinks Ward is going to knock Kessler out. “Let’s just say that my fighter is going to hit him real hard,” Hunter said. “My guy can hit. You have heard what they said. They say that he is a slick boxer. But I think Andre is the strongest puncher in the super middleweight division.


“I have already told people, that when Andre becomes champion there will be very few people that go the distance with him. You know, I listen to people talk about his punching power, but I think that he can hit just as hard as anybody out there, and they (the critics) don’t know that. Now that he is a champ, and you include that extra twenty five to thirty percent of confidence, I am going to start calling for the knockout. You see, I never used to call for it before. But believe me he could knock out anybody out there. And he could hit as hard as anybody out there. But the critics don’t believe that. They will believe that when it starts happening.

---Virgil Hunter

There's no such thing as home advantage either. Outside of Europe that is. atsch

Hunter added, “But again, as I have stated many times in the past, there is no such thing as home field advantage in boxing unless you are somewhere out in Europe. In the past, we have seen some home-cooking in Germany, Wales, Denmark, London; I am sure there have been some funny things that have happened in the Olympics as well as other parts of England. Just look at what happened in the fight between Andre Dirrell and Carl Froch. But elsewhere there is no such thing. In Oakland, the crowd may be behind Andre but they can’t fight for him. Andre has no allegiances to the judges either. It’s just going to be Andre and Chad the night of September 8. It’s an even playing field; no one has an advantage.”

 

Kovalev 181 - Sillakh 185

Kovalev 183 - Agnew 187

Kovalev 185 - Caparello 185

Kovalev 188 - Hopkins 182

Kovalev 189 - Pascal 185 (Pascal was 189 against Yuneski)

Kovalev 183.5 - Mohammedi 180.5

Kovalev 186 - Pascal 185