Ward will comfortably beat Kovalev in the rematch

I'll be amazed if there's a rematch any time soon,the vey most I gave Ward was five rounds or six tops,that said despite the knock down how well did Ward do avoiding Kovalevs punches,I was screaming at Kova to cut the ring off and throw more power punches when Ward was on the ropes.

 

In fairness, it seemed clear that Ward definetly stepped up his game as the fight got deeper. Early on he was out of sorts and was in danger of getting stopped. The KD was sort of a wake up call and it took him a while to figure Kovalev out. But once he go into the groove he became possibly the best version of Ward we've ever seen. (at least since the Super 6 days) So it's possible that he'll start the rematch out closer to the way he finished the first one. And he certainly will get more respect from Kovalev knowing that Kovalev did taste Ward's power which he wasn't sure he had going into this fight.

I'm not sure you can say Kovalev is only getting better. He looked Shaky vs Chilemba who his stablemate Gvozdyk handled rather easily and faded as the fight wore on vs Ward. I'm not sold on Kovalev's punch resistance. Ward landed some hard jabs and body punches that really seemed to bother Kovalev.

 

Nobody look good against Chilemba.

Kov's punch resistance is miles better than Ward's.

 

Have it in Russia with ALL Russian judges!! Oh and a Russian ref too! Why not?! What's fare is fare.

Honestly though I think Sergey breaks Ward's face and shuts his lights off in the rematch though. But the hometown judges and ref will be a nice touch for Ward to walk into

 

LOL! Nothing in the fight indicates to me the fight plays out any different.
Kovalev controlled the distance and he outmuscled Ward and prevented him from using his customary dirty tactics on the inside.

I thought Kovalev won so clearly, I don't much anticipate looking forward to watching them again.
Just one of those fights to me where one fighter showed he was clearly better at most facets of the game than the other one.

 

I wouldn't be too surprised but I also wouldn't be confident in that happening. Both fighters are smart so could figure the other out. Ward adapted well and won the second half of the fight but I think part of that is also down to Kovalev having quite poor stamina.

 

Kovalev didnty have to agree to the fight conditions when they were negotiating, he must have been happy with what he signed up too!!

 

I think you're actually way off in this bit. If he was nothing like his old self then he wouldn't have been able survive against Kovalev (who is bigger, stronger, more powerful and better than anyone in the S6). The reason he may have looked a bit better in the S6 was because of the opposition and the fact that styles make fights and even then he didn't always look great.

 

I don't know. These two are evenly matched. They could fight 10 times and it would be 5-5. No shame in either winning/losing.

 

I would favour the boxer (Ward) over the boxer/puncher (Kovalev) in the rematch as he would likely be able to adapt his game plan based on what he learned from the first fight and is generally more adaptable than Krusher, who is skilled without a doubt, but has fewer strings to his bow. Ward would adjust tactics based on what he now knows, whereas I feel Kovalev would try to do the same, only better. That's my take, anyway...

 

Agreed, Ward was pushed to his limit and you could tell the corner were concerned and knew the fight was close and he wasn't having things all his own way.

Fact is the rematch will likely be close too. I'd be surprised if one dominated the other next time round, barring Kova landing a huge shot that takes Ward out of course, but I'd expect the fight to be close up to that point.

 

The fight should have been a draw LOL you are part of the problem with boxing then, kovalev was robbed, am i right in saying that all 3 judges gave ward the 10th hahahaha if so

 

Ward will comfortably sleep for 5 minutes after Sergey clips him in the rematch.