At this point, this is THE BEST matchup to be made in the sport. Who wins? I really am picking Kov. Don't get me wrong, I know damn well that Ward is far quicker, and more elusive than a 50 yr old Hopkins. But, I have a hard time envisioning Kov NOT finding Ward with shots. And if there's one thing Hop still has, it's an all time great chin. Ward's chin is not all time great. Gimme Kov in a minor upset. Kov is peaking right now, whereas it's possible that Ward peaked in the Froch & Dawson fights.
Agreed, this is one of the most interesting matchups in the sport. I'll also go out on a limb and pick Kovalev. He's an excellent fighter, solid, power in both hands, and a very steady, consistent offense.
I don't think ward will take this fight. Or, he'd try to lure Kov down to a catch weight, which would be stupid. Buy yeah. This is a better fight than stevenson. Kov would have to employ a similar strategy of keeping distance, but ward would be pushing a faster pace and so it'd be tougher for Kov to keep things outside. My guess is ward wins rounds here unlike hopkins but ends up getting hurt.
Going off twitter it seems like Ward has respect for Kovalev. Whether that means he'd fight him is another matter but at least he isn't pretending he doesn't exist which is the common theme amongst top fighters these days
In the end, inactivity might be Ward's downfall. How old is he now? 30? 31? He's still relatively young, but he's not 26-28 anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if the Froch & Dawson fights were his absolute peak.
Kovalev lacks the imagination to beat Ward. It would be very difficult for him to land the game changer.
You might be right he couldn't land the game changer. But I have to strongly disagree he lacks imagination. I think it's his strong suit actually. I mean, I think most would agree that if Kovalev's offense were predictable or unimaginative, that even a 50 year old hopkins would not have been hit as often and as consistently as he was saturday. The idea that Kovalev's offense is too basic just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Examples? Kov ' s jabs to the body. The right hand he knocked hopkins down with...totally off rhtyhm...perfect timing. The right hand is totally without telegraph. To me the idea his offense is unimaginative is 100% wrong.
Even against Froch, Ward dropped 3 rounds and got hit with decent shots. Now consider that Kov is far quicker than Froch, far more skilled than Froch (both offensively and defensively), and hits FAR harder than Froch.
Froch's punches, mindset, and timing are such that he's going to land against anyone. Kovalev's right hand upstairs looks the same every time. Plus, Ward isn't going to be willing to take a shot from Kovalev like he would from any other opponent. Kovalev will bring out his A+ game, I suspect. Ward's A+ game seems to be as effective as pretty much anyone's. Ward's best game not only means he'll be extremely hard to hit, it also means Kovalev is going to eat some clean stuff. I personally think Ward is better than Hopkins ever was, but the same reasons people picked Hopkins against Kovalev actually have a chance of being realized with a Ward fight.
I'd still pick Ward against Kovalev, he's still too fast and slick and good inside, he'll neutralise Kovalev offence. On the other hand I think that Froch would get demolished, since it looked like his best days are past him.
This post around was retarded enough, but once it got to the part of Ward being better than a prime Hopkins, it became comical. Prime Hopkins would beat the shit outta Ward.