Kovalev’s trainer: Andre Ward is past his prime

By Boxing News - 08/10/2016 - Comments

Image: Kovalev’s trainer: Andre Ward is past his prime

By Allan Fox: Andre Ward isn’t the fighter that he once was says John David Jackson, the trainer for IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs), says he’s seen slippage in Ward’s physical skills and he sees him going downhill as a fighter. Jackson couldn’t miss the decline in the 32-year-old Ward’s boxing skills after seeing his last three fights against Alexander Brand, Sullivan Barrera and Paul Smith.

Jackson feels that the two years that Ward was out of the ring did a number on his skills. He also notes that Ward has a lot of stress on him from his problems with his past promoters, and he feels that did that took something out of him as well.

“If Sergey catches him with a big shot, let’s see what happens if he gets up,” said Jackson to Fighthub.com. “His prime, believe it or not, has past him. From 27 to 32, those were his best years. Well. those years were spent in court and whatever else. He’s only had three fights. So the best years of his boxing career are over. He’s still okay but he’s on the downward slide. If you watch his fights, he’s not the same fighter he was before. He’s a bit slower of foot and a little bit slower of hand. He’s still good, but we’re getting him at the best time. It’s not the prime Ward. He’s past that point, so I’m glad we’re getting when we’re getting him. I’ve watched his past three fights, and I’ve seen he’s not as quick as he ever was. The reflexes are a bit slower; not by much. He’s not the fresh young kid that came out of the Olympics and was overwhelming everybody. He’s a grown man now. He’s getting up in age now, and you’re beginning to see, not so much the wear and tear on his body, and he’s had the mental part of boxing he had to deal with the promoters. That’s wear and tear also. We’re catching him at the right time. He’s a little rusty. The fight that he’s had doesn’t prepare him for the fight he’s going to have against Sergey. That’s a tough task. Ask Bernard or anyone else. He looks easy, but when you get inside the ring, it’s not. He’s smarter than people give him credit for him. So we’re catching him at the right time,” said Jackson.

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I think it’s pretty obvious from watching the way Ward fought last Saturday night against Brand that he’s nowhere near the same fighter he once was. Ward does not have the speed he had before, he definitely doesn’t move like he did in the past during his best years from 2004 to 2013. I disagree with Jackson in him saying Ward’s best years ended for him at age 32. I think Ward’s best years ended at age 29, when he fought Edwin Rodriguez in 2013.

Ward still looked good in that fight, almost as good as he did against Carl Froch in 2011. I thought Ward had slipped a little when he fought Rodriguez, but since then, I think he’s lost a huge amount from his game. I rate Ward as 50-75 percent of the fighter that he was in the past. That’s a considerable amount that Ward has lost from his game.

I don’t think he’s aging like Bernard Hopkins, who was still fighting incredibly well in his last 40s. I rate Ward around the same level that Hopkins was at when he fought Kovalev at age 49 in 2014. I think Ward has lost that much from his game that he’s right at the same level Hopkins was at two years ago when he fought the Russian fighter.

Kovalev is lucky to be fighting Ward right now because if he had to deal with the fighter that one the Super Six tournament five years ago in 2011, it would have been a real problem for him. But then again, it’s hard to tell whether Ward would have been able to beat Kovalev even then. Ward barely beat Froch and I don’t consider him as having the same kind of talent that Kovalev has right now.

the way Ward looked against Brand, it was obvious that he’s not the same fighter and isn’t going to be able to recapture his lost youth from 1,800 yesterday’s ago. The Ward from 2011 is gone and won’t be seen again in my view. The Ward that is remaining is more of a shell of the fighter he was after many of his physical skills have imploded from age, inactivity and the wear and tear of a lot of hard training camps during his career.