Sergey Kovalev

By Allan Fox: IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) says he wants to knockout challenger Andre “SOG” Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) in their fight in two months on November 19 on HBO pay-per-view. Kovalev wants to give his boxing fans “a big present” by stopping the 32-year-old Ward, and in front of them, and he says he would be very happy if he can KO him in the 1st round of the fight.

Kovalev says if he catches Ward with a left or a right hand, he could get him of there early. Above all, Kovalev, 33, says he wants to score a knockout, because his goal is not to have the fight go 12 rounds.

read more

By Allan Fox: IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) and unbeaten former super middleweight champion Andre “SOG” Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) met earlier today for their New York press conference to promote their November 19 fight on HBO pay-per-view from the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Kovalev-Ward press conference took place at the Le Parker Meridien. The fight is being promoted as a match-up between the #2 pound-for-pound fighter Kovalev and the #4 pound-for-pound Ward. I’m not sure that either of these guys deserves their places in Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list, but it’s still a good fight.

The real question about the Kovalev-Ward fight is whether Ward has enough left in the tank to beat Kovalev after his many years of inactivity. I say no. I don’t think he can. I saw enough of Ward’s last three fights to realize that he’s not going to be able to come back to the fighter he was 2,000 yesterday’s ago. I think that version of Ward no longer exists and will not be brought back no matter how many fights he takes. He can fight Kovalev four times per year for the next five years, and I don’t see Ward ever going back to the fighter he was.

read more

By Earl E: On November 19, we boxing fanatics are treated to a special fight between IBF/WBA/WBC light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 Kos) and Andre Ward (30-0, 15 Kos) for their HBO pay-per-view from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Us boxing fanatics watch all the matches. We aren’t your casual boxing fans that only watch boxing when it’s PPV hype or it’s the cool thing to do on a Saturday night. We are fanatics, and I say that word with the utmost respect. We love everything about the sweet science. There is something about boxing that gets us excited. As you sit there reading my article, I know you understand that excitement we feel when any boxing subject comes up. Go ahead and nod in agreement with me.

read more

By Chris Williams: The tickets are selling at an alarming rate for the November 19 fight between IBF/WBA/WBC light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) and Andre “SOG” Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) for their fight on HBO pay-per-view from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the first 36 hours, 9,500 tickets have been sold for the 17,500 T-Mobile Arena. What’s really interesting is that these tickets were sold to the public and not to ticket brokers like you sometimes see happen when tickets first go on sale.

“In 1st 36 hours of tickets on sale for Kovalev-Ward about 9,500 of 17,500 available were sold. Glad to see fans responding to a great match,” said Dan Rafael on his Twitter. “And to clarify on the Kovalev-Ward tickets — they are sold to public, not brokers/consignments. #boxing.”

read more

By Allan Fox: Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) is now scheduled to challenge IBF/WBA/WBC light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) in the next three months on November 19 in what will be a real test of whether Ward can hang with the best at 175. It’s good that the fight got negotiated because for a time there it was unclear if it would get put together.

We don’t yet whether Ward is cut out to be fighting in the light heavyweight division because he’ s only fought one actual light heavyweight during his three-fight comeback and that was the badly flawed Sullivan Barrera. Ward’s other two fights came against super middleweights Alexander Brand and Paul Smith. Ward didn’t even look good in those fights. He couldn’t do anything with Brand, and Smith staggered him in the 7th round with a right hand in their fight last year.

read more

By Allan Fox: Unbeaten challenger Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) is a slight favorite to beat IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KO) in their fight on November 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ward, 32, is the favorite by Bovada by the line -150 to +120 for Kovalev. The odds are likely to change by the time the two unbeaten 175lb fighters face each other on HBO pay-per-view in Las Vegas.

Kovalev, 33, likely would be the favorite in this fight if he had destroyed his last opponent Isaac Chilemba last July, but he struggled a little bit in beating him by a 12 round decision.

read more