Kovalev vs Ward 2 is now a reality for later in 2017 in a fight that split opinion as much as any in the world of boxing in 2016.
Although American boxing wizard Andre Ward secured the victory on points in their first meeting the calls for a rematch since have been coming from left, right and centre.
Many feel Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev deserved to win the fight that night. Particularly after knocking Ward down in the contest.
(See also: Billy Joe Saunders t-shirt message for Golovkin)
Now he has his chance to exact revenge and set the record straight with news this week that Kovalev vs Ward 2 will take place June 17th at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
The battle for light-heavyweight supremacy rages on as a fight for either man with the other division belt holder Adonis Stevenson (WBC champion) looks about as likely as pigs flying this year.
Who wins Kovalev vs Ward 2 though?
It’s likely going to be a close fought affair again, but one would imagine that Kovalev is going to be as motivated as humanly possible this time around.
Not to say he wasn’t up for it the first time, which he clearly was, but when you look at the history of these big fight immediate rematch type scenarios in boxing, usually the guy who loses the first time tends to have a slight advantage second time around.
It’s hard to see how either man will get a whole letter better technically or physically in a relatively short time frame since the first fight.
More so it seems to me it will be about who gets his gameplan right.
Ward was perceived by many to be the better boxer before the first fight but Kovalev more than showed he can mix it with Ward in the technical department.
He’ll need to get off to a fast start and stay on Ward every minute of every round throughout the fight this time. More than likely I can see Kovalev going for the knockout this time around.
I’m not sure does Ward have the ability to knock Kovalev out, however. It will be interesting to see what type of Ward turns up and how motivated he is come fight night.
Since the first fight talks were doing the round at the start of the year that Andre was considering retirement. I just wonder that if this was true, could he already have one eye on exiting the sport this year?
Always a dangerous thought for a pro fighter. Particularly one about to face a super charged dangerous knockout artist like Sergey Kovalev.
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