By Allan Fox: Trainer John David Jackson says he plans on having his fighter IBF/WBA/WBO Light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev target Andre Ward’s bad shoulder that he’s had problems with when they face each other on November 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are a lot of boxing fans that are excited about this fight. Let’s hope this match-up doesn’t turn out to be a dud like the much hyped Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight from last year. There are still a lot of angry fans about that high-priced dud.
Jackson specifically wants Kovalev to land his big power shots on Ward’s shoulder area, and try and break or hurt it enough to where he can’t use it. Jackson says it’s legal to punch to the shoulders, and he wants to make Ward quit.
Jackson wants Kovalev, 33, to hit Ward everywhere. He obviously realizes how hard it is to land shots against the 31-year-old Oakland, California native due to his elusiveness. If Kovalev can’t hit Ward with shots to the head, then he’ll have a better chance of landing his big power shots to his shoulder, chest and midsection. Ward’s last opponent Alexander Brand was able to land to Ward’s shoulder areas with his shots, but he had problems connecting with his head.
Ward has the boxing skills advantage over Kovalev. What Ward doesn’t have is the punching power, work rate and the sharpness that he needs guarantee a win.
Jackson’s main concern about this fight is Ward’s holding that he likes to do, as well as the wrestling that he does on the inside. Jackson isn’t saying what Kovalev will do to deal with the holding that Ward does in the fight, but he might look to nullify that by not letting Ward get close enough to reach out to grab.
Depending on how much holding Ward does in the fight, Jackson can try complaining to the referee to do his job and take points away from Ward. Few referees are willing to stop fighters from holding excessively unfortunately. It’s more likely that Kovalev is going to be out there all by himself without the referee doing anything to stop Ward from grabbing and wrestling him every chance he can get.
If Kovalev can’t keep Ward off of him, then he’ll have to try and use his superior power to hurt Ward while wrestling. It’ll be ugly fight if the two wind up grappling on the inside, but there’s not much you can do if Ward chooses to turn it into a wrestling match other than hope that the referee is willing to do his job by deducting points from Ward if need be.
Kovalev-Ward will be televised on HBO pay-per-view on November 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jackson said to Fighthub.com:
“The holding is my main concern. Grappling on the inside [by Ward is another concern]. He’s very elusive. I’m not worried about the jab. I’m not worried about the power. Sergey is going to take away Ward’s jab. The way to do that is to jab with a jab. The fact that Sergey is the bigger more powerful fighter is definitely going to present big problems for Andre. Is he willing to gamble against Sergey? It’s going to be a death wish if he does that. You can’t fight an army with a handgun, and that’s what he has. He’s not a big puncher. You’ve got to try and get a big puncher’s respect somehow. Ward had a bad shoulder. Hit him in the shoulder. It’s legal. Try to break it. Who cares if he quits. We still win by a technical knockout. The plan is to hit him everywhere. Hurt him. What that does is the arms come down and the chin is wide open. We’re going to make him fight, hit him everywhere and hurt him.”
Ward insists that he’s still in the prime of his career at this point in his pro career. He doesn’t look like it though. Ward hasn’t looked that great in his last three fights since making a comeback following a two-year layoff from boxing.
Ward said:
“I feel like I’m at my peak right now, and you’re going to see that on November 19th. Everything is the same. I just feel seasoned.”