By Allan Fox: In a real surprise, unbeaten #1 IBF, #2 WBA, #2 WBO, #4 WBC Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) says he didn’t watch IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev’s fight last Monday night against Isaac Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) on HBO World Championship Boxing.
Ward says Kovalev isn’t his next opponent, but you would think that he would be at least curious about seeing the 33-year-old Russian fight because the two of them will be facing each other on November 19 on HBO pay-per-view. It’s always wise to scout out your opponent ahead of time to learn as much as you can about them.
Ward has a fight next month against 39-year-old Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) on August 6 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. While you can say that Chilemba had a very similar style to that of Ward, you cannot say the same thing about Brand. He’s nothing like Kovalev.
It seems that Ward’s promoters at Roc Nation Sports dropped the ball in selecting an opponent for him.
Brand is someone that Ward should be fighting if he were getting ready to fight a super middleweight like Zac Dunn, not a fighter like Kovalev. Ward is going about getting ready for Kovalev in the wrong way by not watching his fight and then facing the wrong kind of opponent.
“No I didn’t watch it,” said Ward said to fightnews.com. “Obviously, that’s not the next opponent. Obviously, that’s the end game and what we’re trying to get, but I didn’t watch it. I have to compartmentalize what I got to do right now. That’s just kind of how I operate and how I stay focused. I don’t want to juggle two opponents right now. I literally have to focus on one guy and that’s Alexander Brand on August 6. I will not take him lightly. If I’m not successful August 6, there is no fight down the road with me and Kovalev.”
There shouldn’t have to be too much for Ward to worry about in getting ready for the 39-year-old Brand. We’re talking about a straight up slugger that previously was beaten by Badou Jack four years ago in losing an eight round split decision. That was the only good opponent that Brand has fought during his career. The rest of the guys he’s faced have been lesser opponents with marginal skills. If Ward needs to focus a ton on Brand, then he might be worrying a little too much about a fighter that is arguably a big step down for Ward’s last opponent Sullivan Barrera.
“He is undefeated. This adds a kind of psychological pressure,” said Kovalev about Ward to ESPN.com. “He is the best in all the categories. But talking of power he is not a crusher. We have two different styles. So that is the difference between (Ward and Chilemba). They are counter-punchers.”
Ward does everything that Chilemba does, but he’s more accurate. However, he doesn’t throw a lot of punches. Ward is pot shot fighter in the Floyd Mayweather Jr. mode. He’s very likely going to be looking to tie Kovalev up frequently when thy face each other, because he’s not going to be able to beat the Russian fighter with pot shots alone. Kovalev will outwork Ward if all he’s going to do is throw pot shots. Ward will need to reduce Kovalev’s work rate considerably for him to have a chance at winning the fight. The best way to do that without running around the ring for 12 rounds is to hold him frequently.