By Allan Fox: Abel Sanchez, the trainer for Sullivan Barrera (17-1, 12 KOs), is giving former WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) no chance whatsoever to defeat IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev if the two fighters square off later this year in November.
Sanchez feels that the 31-year-old Ward has lost way too much from his game from six years ago, when he was clearly at his best in the Super Six tournament, for him to be able to beat a fighter that is in the zenith of his career in Kovalev.
Sanchez thinks that with the big shots that Barrera was landing last night, Ward would be knocked out if it were Kovalev the one throwing those same punches. Sanchez used to train Kovalev in the past, and he knows what kind of talent he has going for him.
“This is a student [Ward]. We’re trying to match him against the teacher Kovalev, Golovkin,” said Sanchez to the media at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night. “This is an impossible task. He [Ward] didn’t look like he could handle those guys today. He was able to handle a young man with 17 fights, but it’s a different story moving up to the elite guys,” said Sanchez.
When asked if Ward is ready for a fight against Sergey Kovalev, Sanchez said, “Absolutely not! Those shots he was getting hit with from Barrera would destroy him with those shots [if it were Kovalev that was throwing them]. I think he either gets two or three more fights to sharpen up…Mind you, the Andre Ward that fought five or six years ago in the Super Six is a different guy that’s today. Kovalev is at the top of his game. It would be impossible for me to think that he [Ward] has an even slight chance against Kovalev,” said Sanchez.
I happen to agree with Sanchez about Ward not being able to beat a fighter like Kovalev at this juncture of his career. I don’t think it’ll matter if Ward gets three tune-up fights before he faces Kovalev. He’s still going to be out of his depth in that fight. Ward didn’t just look rusty last Saturday night against Barrera. He looked older, and not the youthful fighter that had dominated the super middleweight division.
When you get older, you don’t get younger by taking multiple tune-up fights. There is no fountain of youth that Ward can drink from to bring him backwards in time to get him to his mid-20s again. That train has left the station. I also think the extra weight that Ward has put on since moving up to light heavyweight has slowed his game down as well. He’d be faster if he were still fighting at super middleweight.
Never the less, Ward still wouldn’t be the fighter he was five to six years ago no matter what weight he fights at. He’s definitely older now, and he’s not going to be able to ever get back to what he was 2200 yesterday’s ago. Those days have passed and Ward is not going to be able to be the same guy. The only thing Ward can do is to try and figure out how to neutralize the power of the better fighters in the 175lb division, because he clearly doesn’t have the power or the offensive skills to compete with the very best in this weight class.
When I say the very best, I’m talking about Kovalev, Adonis Stevenson and Artur Beterbiev. These guys are a cut above the rest of the fighters in the 175lb division. I think Ward would have problems dealing with some of the other light heavyweights like Eleider Alvarez, Andrzej Fonfara and Juergen Braehmer. Ward might be able to beat those guys, but he would have to use the same finesse approach as he did last night. Ward couldn’t just stand in the pocket and trade with those fighters. It would be bad for Ward if he attempted to do that.
“I think Kovalev, right now, is the most high in this division,” said Barrera. “I think it is very hard for Andre Ward. He has power. I think it very hard for Andre Ward.”
Ward beat Barrera by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 117-108, 117-109, and 118-109. The Ward-Barrera fight was televised on HBO Boxing.
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