Ward vs. Kovalev is the potential FOTY

Andre Ward returned to the ring this past Saturday for only his 4th fight in a 4 year span. Ward, in his fight light heavyweight bout, put on an impressive display against Cuban Sullivan Barrera, winning a unanimous decision after 12 rounds. Additionally, there is every indication that Ward will finally return to the ring on a regular basis, having moved beyond the court and injury problems that plagued the former super middleweight champion in recent years.

During the HBO telecast Jim Lampley indicated more than once that Ward-Kovalev is just around the corner and Ward himself, in his post-fight interview with Max Kellerman, when asked about a potential matchup with the Krusher, replied that “it is not a manner of if, it’s a matter of when”. In fact Ward’s contract with HBO stipulates a fight with the Russian power-punching light heavyweight champion at the end of the year.

Embed from Getty Images

Ward was sharp, despite his B-minus self-assessing performance grade, landing 36% of his punches (near his average) and limiting Barrera to a dismal 15% connecting mark (well below Barrera’s average).  Nonetheless, I think he should have at least one more tune-up before the big showdown with Kovalev.  Ward proved once again that he is a master at fight preparation and barely showed any rust from this latest layoff but a fight with Kovalev, a rare monster with jaw-busting fists, at the heavier light heavyweight division, will require the S.O.G. to be at his best.

Kovalev’s most recent fight was in January and was his second bout against Jean-Pascal. The fight was both dominating and disturbing. Kovalev had more or less taken over the fight by the end of the 4th round and could have put Pascal down at any point thereafter but dragged the torturous exercise on for whatever reason.  Nevertheless he showcased his growing skill and control as a fighter. He’s expected to fight someone in the summer to keep up his ever busy fighting schedule.

What kind of fight would Ward-Kovalev produce? We know Ward prides himself on taking away punchers’ ability to land their cannon shot. He’s shown he can do this in a variety of ways and at every distance. Kovalev, however, has shown a somewhat unexpected ability to evolve into a boxer. Ever since the Hopkins fight the Krusher has shown that he can and will utilize the boxing skillset that he likely learned as an amateur. His two fights with Pascal also prove that his chin is pretty tough.

Embed from Getty Images

That leaves us with two main questions: can Ward hit Kovalev hard enough to slow down his offense and can Ward avoid the big shot? Naturally these two are closely related. If Ward’s punches don’t scare Kovalev he is going to have a much harder time avoiding the big one, especially with Kovalev’s quick power. If Kovalev is able to comfortably throw his punches I suspect Ward doesn’t have the chin to go head to head. If, however, Ward is able to control the distance and really put Kovalev’s chin to the test, he could likely take the fight 12 rounds and win by the cards.

Regardless of how the fight goes I’m sure we are in for a treat when these two pound for pound greats meet up.