By Eric Baldwin: Former super middleweight champion Andre “SOG” Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) has had his game plan set for the fight against IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) on November 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Oakland, California.
Ward has the boxing IQ in his favor along with a boatload of experience. Ward has been facing better opposition his entire career. Kovalev could find himself over-matched in this fight if he’s unable to KO Ward with one of his big shots.
Photo Credit: Khristopher Sandifer/Roc Nation Sports
Ward isn’t giving away his game plan, but it’s likely to involve a lot of defensive moves to offset whatever Kovalev does inside the ring.
“This is a fight that we have been working up to since last spring,” said Ward. “The game plan hasn’t changed. I am here and I am ready.”
Ward’s game has changed a lot from what he used to do in the past. He’s no longer moving around the ring and he doesn’t like he did in the past. Part of the reason for that may be due to Ward getting older and not having the wheels to move like he once did. Ward’s reduction of holding could be due to him fighting guys that are bigger and stronger than the super middleweights he fought in the past.
Ward’s fight strategy for the Kovalev fight will likely involves tactics:
– Catching Kovalev with single shots as he’s coming forward
– Jabbing frequently
– Head movement
– Ring mobility
– Holding when necessary
Kovalev had problems in his last fight against Isaac Chilemba, who was able to hit him with pot shots while he was coming forward. Kovalev looked uncomfortable with Chilemba’s accurate punches and jabs. The results were a reduction of offense from Kovalev. He cut down his offense to the point where he wasn’t throwing many punches like he normally does.
That was a minor victory for Chilemba in that he was able to force Kovalev to change his fighting style to benefit him. Where Chilemba came up short was his lack of offense. He didn’t throw enough punches, and the punches he did throw lacked the needed power to worry Kovalev.
Ward is an upgrade of Chilmeba. Ward has better punching power than Chilemba, so he’ll make Kovalev pay for any mistakes he makes in the fight. Ward and Chilemba are equal in hand speed and work rate. The only real difference is Ward has slightly more punching power, he’s harder to hit, and he does things like holding and moving that makes it difficult for his opponents.
Kovalev is going to need to come up with something to deal with Ward’s accurate shots, because he’s going to get getting hit with a lot of head-snapping shots in this fight that are going to impress the judges. It’s not going to be enough for Kovalev to come forward looking to land his big power shots. If he’s not able to land his punches, then he’s going to find it hard to win rounds against Ward.