Sergey Kovalev

Ward vs. Kovalev heading towards Las Vegas

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Image: Ward vs. Kovalev heading towards Las Vegas

By Allan Fox: Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward appear to have cleared their impasse for the venue for their November 19 fight. According to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, the Ward vs. Kovalev fight looks to be headed to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the same venue that the two fighters were originally supposed to be fighting.

This is good news for boxing fans because many of them were starting to think that Ward would look for an excuse to get out of the fight after he failed to show up for Tuesday’s press conference with Kovalev. At least with the venue of the fight being agreed on, the two camps have settled one sticking point in their negotiations.

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Kovalev’s trainer: Andre Ward is past his prime

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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.

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Ward a no show for Kovalev press conference

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By Allan Fox: Andre Ward was a no show for Tuesday’s press conference with IBF/WBA/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev for the two fighters to discuss their upcoming fight on November 19 on HBO pay-per-view. It’s hard to tell why the 32-year-old Ward chose not to attend the press conference. Kovalev isn’t sure if it was gamesmanship or a case of Ward simply not wanting to take part.

Kovalev says should have been there, and he’s hoping that he shows up for the future press conferences for the fight. This is not a good start for the Kovalev vs. Ward fight. If Ward isn’t going to attend his own press conferences, it’s going to be difficult to drum up support for the fight. You’ve got to feel sorry for Kovalev, because this is the biggest fight of his career and it’s off to a bad star.

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Hunter talks Ward vs. Kovalev

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By Allan Fox: Andre Ward got past the small and old fighter Alexander Brand (25-2, 19 KOs) that his promoters at Roc Nation Sports lined up for him last Saturday night in his showcase fight on HBO Boxing.

Ward is now facing the real thing in IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev on November 19 in his next fight. Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter thinks that Kovalev will be wondering about whether Ward will be switching to southpaw during their fight on November 19.

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Ward vs. Kovalev: Watch the Throne

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By Raj Parmar: When Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired last year after outpointing the overmatched Andre Berto, not only was there a void left in boxing in regards to a top level pay per view superstar but there was also a void left on the throne for top pound for pound fighter in the world.

In the months since, the boxing landscape has gotten just a bit clearer. While there is no fighter out there that will bring Mayweather’s monster pay per view impact, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has emerged as the main pay per view star in the sport even though he is a long way from becoming the mainstream star that Floyd was. Canelo fights in a very fan friendly style and has a distinct look to him, however his inability to speak English is for now preventing him from becoming better known among casual fans.

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Kellerman: If Ward beats Kovalev, Golovkin fight happens

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By Allan Fox: Andre Ward could soon be facing middleweight Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in the near future if Ward beats IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev in their fight on November 19 on HBO pay-per-view. That’s what ESPN First Take commentator Max Kellerman sees happening. He believes that we’re going to see Golovkin step up and face Ward if he defeats Kovalev. However, for that fight to happen, Golovkin would need to likely move up two entire divisions to fight Ward at 175, because the 32-year-old former super middleweight champion says it’s too hard for him to fight at super middleweight at this point his career.

(Photo credit: World Boxing Council)

“Eventually that’s the fight [Ward vs. Golovkin] you’re going to get if Ward wins that fight,” said Kellerman on ESPN’s First Take.

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Ward: I’m a combination of Mayweather, Jones Jr and Hopkins

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By Patrick McHugh: Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) broke down the guys that he’s patterned his fighting style after last night following his 12 round decision win over Alexander Brand at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Ward said that he’s a combination of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins. It was interesting to hear Ward explain where he got his fighting style.

Hopkins is someone that jumps out at you when you look at how Ward fought last night and in his previous fights. Mayweather and Jones Jr. are fighters that completely different from how Ward fights like. I don’t see any of those fighters’ styles inside Ward’s style.

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Hopkins: Ward must smother Kovalev’s offense

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Byn Allan Fox: Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) must disarm IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev to beat him in their fight on November 19, according to Bernard Hopkins. He feels that Ward has to take away Kovalev’s right hand immediately to be successful. From there, Hopkins thinks that Ward can smother the 33-year-old Kovalev all night long in their fight on HBO pay-per-view.

What this means for boxing fans is that they would likely see Ward clinching a lot, and wrestling on the inside for 12 rounds. We saw a lot of the wrestling last night with Ward’s 12 round unanimous decision victory over Alexander Brand (25-2, 19 KOs) at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

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Kovalev: I don’t see anything new from Andre Ward

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By Allan Fox: Sergey Kovalev was at ringside last Saturday night to see former super middleweight champion Andre Ward’s fight against Alexander Brand (25-2, 19 KOs) at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Kovalev says he didn’t see anything new from the 32-year-old Ward that he hadn’t seen before from him. Ward beat Brand by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 120-108, 120-108 and 120-108.

The fight was televised by HBO Boxing. The commentators for HBO seemed impressed enough by Ward’s performance, but they didn’t go overboard in pouring the praise on him the way they do with other fighters. That gives you a hint that they may not have been entirely been impressed with what they saw last night. They had to say something though, because the fight was seen as a very boring one by a lot of boxing fans. For the HBO commentators to whitewash it by saying that it was good performance and good fight from Ward was predictable.

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Brand: “Ward has no power, Kovalev knocks him out”

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By Dan Ambrose: Alexander Brand came up short last night in losing by a 12 round unanimous decision to former super middleweight champion Andre Ward at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Brand, 39, lost every single round of the fight in losing by the scores 120-108, 120-108 and 120-108. However, he came away from the fight less than impressed with the 32-year-old Ward’s punching power. In fact, Brand (25-2, 19 KOs) says that Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) has no power at all in his punches, and he feels that IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev will beat Ward when the two of them fight on November 19 on HBO pay-per-view.

For future fights, HBO Boxing needs to be a little more selective in the type of opponents that they’re willing to give the green light to for Ward’s fights. The Ward-Brand fight arguably should have never been televised in my opinion because it was such a horrible mismatch on paper. I feel the same way about Ward’s fight against Paul Smith, but that wasn’t televised by HBO.

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