When he is firing on all cylinders, taking boxing seriously, not drinking and smoking cigs in camp he is a near perfect boxer. He has the skills and the power. He also showed a good chin in the rematch last saturday night, he got caught with a nasty right hook and was able to shake it off and finish the round strong. He might be the best LHW boxer of all time. 99% of fighters could not come back from such a nasty loss.
I agree he is a great fighter, he beat Ward in the first fight but was robbed because Ward is a gold medalist from USA. The 2nd fight was a low blow but i have to give it to Ward. Ward retired because he doesnt want a 3rd fight he is shook.
Losing might be the making of the final years of his career. The 'krusher' rep made too much of his power and too little of his talent, and perhaps he neglected the latter by relying on the former. His footwork is exemplary, and when his hands and feet work in harmony he's right up there in terms of pure boxing. His power should always have been the icing on his cake...
He can fight on the outside better than any fighter in boxing. He just needs to work on his inside game.
No doubt about it man. I think Saturday night reignited that fire he once had for the sport and did a lot for his confidence. Beterbiev just recently challenged Sergey to a unification fight. THAT’S going to be a wicked fight and Krusher will be at his best again. Toss up for me. I think it will be a fight of the year candidate.
He showed us again he's more than just a puncher but also a very good, perhaps great out boxer. We saw this before when he fought BHop, his jab, along with his movement and right hand makes him very effective from range, always thought he'd beat Stevenson because of this. But you have to question his commitment to the sport. Been too many stories about his drinking and partying which resulted in the loss to Alvarez and now this accusation of assaulting some woman. These kind of distractions will not help him in the future, he needs to be fully committed if he's to come out on top during this era with guys like Bivol, Gvozdyk and Beterbiev.
Given that he has a limited amount of time left in the sport and wants to make big $$$, perhaps we will see him commit and fight an un-expected opponent(s).... He looked really good the other night.
It's amazing what one great fight can do. Before the fight he had one foot out the door just about if he had lost. But since he won resoundingly the ball is back in his court.
Ward admitted in the Fighthub interview that in the second training camp he wanted to make sure he never had to fight Kovalev again (rubber match). That suggests despite his bravado about 'having his number', he knows full well Kov can beat and hurt him. It makes me think he is very unlikely to fight him again even though there would be legacy and money reasons to if Kov won all the belts, because Ward didn't get the WBC. Probably he'd only do it if he saw Kov obviously slipping. Problem is the only chance for that rematch might be if Kov gets all the belts and that buddy of his has the one Ward didn't get, so I wonder whether Kov will ever get hold of it.
I made this post yesterday: I do think he's an elite boxer when on form. Even Ward acknowledged how good & difficult he is to fight in the commentary the other night. He punched his way to the HOF now IMO... Whatever happens from here on out. I think with Beterbievs career stalling & Kovalev getting some momentum back (depending on what happens with these abuse allegations) that is now a natural fight to make & a winnable one... Albeit dangerous. It has history too... Big fight!
Classic punchers curse, really. It's not surprising he'd develop a big head and get lax the way he was cutting through everyone. Great punchers are routinely the hardest to train, and Kovalev played right in to the stereotype.
Must drive trainers crazy with frustration, because the knocks out will come off the back of good fundamentals....