By Allan Fox: Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev says he’s prepared to fight dirty in response if challenger Andre “SOG” Ward resorts to dirty fighting this Saturday night in their match on HBO pay-per-view. Kovalev says if Ward fights dirty, he’ll kick him or use karate on him to retaliate. Kovalev points out that Ward hits low regularly in his fights.
Kovalev says he saw Ward use his elbow in his match against Sakio Bika six years ago in 2010. Kovalev says he wants a clean fight from Ward, but he’s prepared to retaliate if he’s met with these kinds of tactics in the fight. Hopefully, referee Robert Byrd does his job properly on Saturday night to keep the fight degrading into a fouling contest.
When those type of things happen in fights, it’s often because of the failure of a referee to correct them early. If one fighter is getting hit low blows, elbows and rabbit punches without a referee doing anything about it, the other fighter sometimes gets tired of it and goes after the other guy with the same kind of fouls. If that kind of thing happens on Saturday, then Byrd is going to need to address it early on so that the boxing fans see a real fight and not a street fight.
“One fight against [Sakio] Bika, he punched elbow. He can punch low blow. It’s regular for him,” said Kovaelv about Ward’s fouling. ”I will kick him if he will do something. I will use karate,” said Kovalev.
If Kovalev kicks Ward in response to one of his fouls, it could get really messy inside the ring. Kovalev. 33. doesn’t seem like he’s playing around in this fight. He’s not just going to take being fouled without coming back with his own fouls, especially if the referee is asleep at the wheel and not taking charge of the fight. Byrd is going to have a lot of people watching him in how he controls the fight. If he just lets the two fighters foul each other nonstop without doing anything about it, then it’s going to reflect on him.
There’s also the issue of sorting out who started the fouling. If Byrd penalizes one fighter and not the guy that started the fouling, then that’s going to make him look bad as well. He’s got to keep his eyes open to what’s going on inside the ring on Saturday night, because it’s unfortunate news if he penalizes or disqualifies the wrong fighter for the fouling. Referees need to keep their eyes open and not miss stuff. It’s too bad there isn’t instant replay in boxing, because it might come in handy in a foul-fest type of fight.
“His strong suit is boxing,” said Kovalev’s trainer John David Jackson about Ward to Fighthype.com. “I hear rumors that he’s going to try and stand in the pocket. We love that. We’re prepared for that, and we’re prepared for boxing. If he’s going to take off. I’m not going to say running. I’m saying being evasive. We’re ready for either or. Sergey is a bigger puncher, and is just as smart as Andre. He’s not as evasive, and maybe his ring generalship is not as good as Andre’s, but we’re bringing the heat. In other to be a champion and stay a champion, you’ve got to be able to give a little damage and take a little damage. Is Andre willing to take that kind damage to win the title? Sergey is. I think he’s [trainer Virgil Hunter] going to try and make Andre a little bit aggressive. If he does that, it plays right into Sergey’s hands. Once Sergey hits him, I think it’s going to change Andre’s whole perception of the fight. He’ll go back to safety first boxing,” said Jackson.
Ward, 32, will likely try and stand and fight Kovalev early on in the fight, because that’s what he’s done in his last three matches against Alexander Brand, Sullivan Barrera and Paul Smith. Ward will no doubt be looking to conserve as much energy as [possible by not moving around the ring, because that’s a style of fighting that quickly empties a fighter’s gas tank quickly. With Ward about to turn 33, he doesn’t have the stamina, energy or the youth to move around the ring if he doesn’t need to. That’s why I think Ward will stand and try and make Kovalev miss with his shots like he did against Brand, Barrera and Smith. Ward did a good job against those fighters in making them miss, but only because they all had slow hand speed and were throwing one punch at a time.
Those guys didn’t have the skills or the game plans intact for them to beat Ward. Kovalev, 33, doesn’t have great hand speed either, but what he does have is a great jab and the ability to throw combinations from short range. Kovalev will be putting his hands together each time he’s in punching range of Ward, and he’s going to force him to either respond back or wind up as a punching bag. Ward will likely resort to grabbing and holding. I don’t think Ward is going to run around the ring, because like I said, that will take the energy out of him quickly. Ward is too old to move around the ring for long without tiring out badly.
“Now, Ward is very smart as well, but he does not have that one big punch. If he goes looking for that punch then he will be left vulnerable and be countered,” said Jackson to skysports.com about Ward. “You could also say that Sergey may be declining, but a puncher declines a lot slower than a boxer.”
Kovalev’s punching power is still everything that it was in the past. If he’s losing hand speed, it doesn’t matter much, because he’s never had fast hands to begin with. Ward on the other hands has never been a puncher. He’s always depended on his hand speed, movement and wrestling to win his fights. With Ward’s hand speed and ring movement deteriorating due to age and inactivity, he’s going to have to try and make the best of things on Saturday night. Without Ward being able to move or use the fast hand speed that he once had, he’s going to need to likely do a lot of holding to slow the fight down to a crawl to keep Kovalev from battering him into submission.
Ward will need to use his boxing skills or what’s left of him if he doesn’t want to end up as another one of Kovalev’s knockout victims on his record. It’s good news that Ward could end up punching with Kovalev, because the fans will potentially see a good fight on HBO PPV. I just don’t think it’s going to end well for Ward, especially if he tries to make it a dirty fight. Kovalev is going to be ready for whatever Ward brings to the table on Saturday night. If he chooses to run, then Kovalev will chase him down. If he wants to brawl, then Kovalev will be ready for that too. Lastly, if Ward wants to fight dirty, then Kovalev sounds like he’ll be more than ready to respond in kind.