By Allan Fox: IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev expects challenger Andre Ward to do a great deal of holding/wrestling on November 19 when the two of them face each other. Kovalev says he’s ready for the wrestling from Ward. His trainer John David Jackson has no doubt been preparing for Ward’s holing style of fighting, so it shouldn’t be as much of a surprise to him as it’s been for many of Ward’s past opponents.
They weren’t ready for the wrestling on the inside from Ward, and it cost them big time.
It’s going to be real interesting to see what happens if Ward chooses to do a lot of holding.
(Photo credit: Craig Bennett/Main Events)
Ward hasn’t done a lot of holding since his fight against Edwin Rodriguez. Ward hasn’t faced anyone really good since that fight that required for him to hold a lot. Kovalev may cause Ward to revert back to his old style of fighting.
“Yes I think he will use it and I am ready for this too. It will be wrestling and not fight,” said Kovalev.
It’s going to be risky for Ward if he chooses to hold a lot, because Kovalev is bigger and stronger than the guys that he fought in the 168lb division. If Kovalev is able to hit Ward with point blank shots while wrestling with him, he could break him down. It might not be a pleasant experience for Ward to be hit by Kovalev in close over and over again for 12 rounds.
Kovalev appears to be strong even when throwing short punches. Still, you’ve got to expect Ward to at least try and use his holding tactics just to see if he can negate Kovalev’s offensive weaponry. If the holding doesn’t work for Ward, then he’ll switch to Plan-B, which could involve moving around the ring.
Kovalev’s trainer John David Jackson says he sees a lot of slippage in Ward’s game from aging and inactivity. Jackson doesn’t see Ward as being the same fighter he was five years ago. He’s hoping Ward will stand and trade with Kovalev, because he thinks he can hurt him if he does. However, Jackson doubts Ward will want to slug with Kovalev due to the risks involved.
“He has three major things he does wrong,” said Jackson to Fighthype.com about Ward. “He’s going to have to wait until fight night. If he doesn’t correct those problems, then we’ll see. I’m just being honest when I say he’s starting to slip, as for him being past his prime. It’s a slow progression, but he’s not the guy he was five years ago. He’s only had three fights in five years. How active has he been? Not very and that hurts. I don’t care who you are, especially with his style. That hurts him. Five years ago this would have been a tougher fight. Do I still think Kovalev would have won? Kovalev would have caught him with a good shot down the road. Five years ago, Ward was a hell of a fighter. He’s still a good fighter, but he’s starting to slip. The fact that he doesn’t have power to keep the guy off him, that’s going to hurt him. From what I hear, he’s trying to work on his power. Hopefully, he stands still and trades a little bit so we see what happens then. I think once he gets hit with a hard shot, I think he’ll say, ‘Let me get back to what I do best and try and systematically break him down.’”
Kovalev and Ward will be fighting on HBO pay-per-view from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
