By Allan Fox: Former IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) is talking about potentially adding a Russian coach to his training team to get him ready for his rematch against Andre Ward (31-0, 15 Kos) in 2017. Kovalev is reportedly interested in adding former Russian Olympic coach Nikolai Khromov to his team. Khromov trained the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Russian Olympic boxing teams.
The rematch still isn’t set, but it’s expected to take place in the first half of the New Year. Kovalev isn’t saying he’s going to boot his trainer John David Jackson, but he is talking about wanting to add another coach.
How that reflects on Jackson is debatable. Is it a signal that Kovalev doesn’t think Jackson can do the job or is this just a precautionary measure on his part to make sure nothing goes wrong the second time around. Since grappling isn’t a big part of Eastern European boxing, it might not help Kovalev to get a trainer from Russia to help him.
It would be understandable if Kovalev could get the trainer that developed Russian Artur Beterbiev, because that two-time Olympian has one of the best inside games in the light heavyweight division. Unless Beterbiev is a naturally born inside fighter, Kovalev would do well to try and get whoever taught him out to fight on the inside.
Beterbiev looks like a better inside fighter than Ward. The question is how quickly can Kovalev assimilate what is taught to him by a new coach? Maybe he doesn’t need any additional training. Kovalev appeared to beat Ward even with his normal style.
Kovalev, 33, lost a controversial 12 round unanimous decision to Ward on November 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. There was only one point that separated the two fighters, as the judges scored the fight 114-113, 114-113, and 114-113. In the view of this writer and many other boxing fans, Kovalev won the fight fairly easily. However, he struggled with the wrestling that Ward did from rounds 3 through 12. The constant grabbing and mauling by the 32-year-old Ward seemed to sap the strength of the Russian Kovalev in the second half of the fight. Additionally, Kovalev had problems getting any separation from Ward to let his hands go, because he was constantly being grabbed.
Kovalev said this to allboxing.ru about wanting to add Khromov to his team as a coach:
“I would love to talk to him [Nikolai Khromov], listen to his opinion, maybe have his advice,” said Kovalev. ”Or maybe he could agree to being one my coaches. I wouldn’t mind. He’s a great trainer even though he trains amateurs. If I got to be honest, he is a really good coach.”
Just how the addition of Khromov – or another trainer – would impact Kovalev’s current situation with his trainer John David Jackson is unclear.
Ward is likely going to fight in a different way than Khromov saw in the Olympics. There isn’t a lot of mauling type fighters in Olympic competition. In that type of competition, you’ve got throw punches. Wrestling isn’t how you wins fights in the Olympics, so it’s unclear how much Khromov can add to Kovalev’s team to help him get ready for the rematch against Ward. Kovalev needs the trainer that developed Beterbiev. Obviously, Beterbiev isn’t going to help Kovalev get ready for Ward, because he’s planning on fighting the winner of that fight. Beterbiev isn’t going to give Kovalev tips in how to deal with the inside tactics that Ward will be using.
Kovalev could probably go a long ways towards teaching himself some of the finer points in how to fight on the inside if he would study Beterbiev’s fights. Kovalev has to learn how to stay busy on the inside by throwing short punches without being able to get leverage on the shots. Learning how to fight on the inside has to be priority one for Kovalev, because that’s clearly what Ward is going to be doing in the rematch.
Instead of Ward waiting until the 3rd round to start with the grappling and mauling on the inside against Kovalev, you can expect those tactics to start in round 1. It’s up to Kovalev to persuade Ward that it’s not in his best interest to fight on the inside by him hurt him with short shots in close the way that Beterbiev would do. Ward will then make adjustments by taking it to the outside and trying his best to beat Kovalev from there. Kovalev is a better outside fighter than Ward. If Kovalev can dominate Ward on the inside, then it’s pretty much game over for Ward.
“Filter everything that I need and dump everything that I don’t need,” said Kovalev. ”Maybe add someone into my team. I’ve already started the talks with some of the specialists whom give me advice, whom might be useful for me and the career ahead. It’s going to be like a second breath,” said Kovalev.
Jackson is still with Kovalev right now, but it’s going to be interesting to see if he’s still there when the rematch takes place against Ward in 2017. With Kovalev talking about not wanting to “dump everything that I don’t need,” it suggests that he might be kicking around the idea of changing his training team.
“I’ve never used practices and tactics of U.S coaches,” said Kovalev. ”If I got to be honest, they’re all zeroes over there. Some think about them like they’re the best. These some are wrong,” said Kovalev.
Kovalev is talking about the U.S boxing coaches, and yet he’s still being trained by a U.S coach in John David Jackson. What does this mean? Is Kovalev going to keep Jackson or simply add the Russian coach Khromov to the team if he accepts the offer to work alongside his U.S coach?
That would be potentially difficult for both trainers, because they might wind up trying to get Kovalev to do different things. Unless one of the coaches is going to be the junior coach, it could be a difficult situation. Will Jackson be the secondary coach or will the Russian coach? Who will Kovalev listen to on a daily basis in training camp?