Sergey Kovalev vs. Isaac Chilemba

[Primo Carnera]

I haven't seen the fight yet, but it doesn't change my thoughts on Kov v Ward.
IF Ward is anywhere near the fighter he was, he wins. But that's the 64 million dollar question!

[Master]

I haven't seen the fight yet, but it doesn't change my thoughts on Kov v Ward.
IF Ward is anywhere near the fighter he was, he wins. But that's the 64 million dollar question!

This is at light heavyweight, so an extra difficulty for Ward. Kov is a monster at the weight and the best fighter Ward would have faced. Real tough fight for Ward.

[Freedom]

[Tam Seddon]

Sergey Kovalev vs Chilemba - full fight Video 2016 WBA

Kovalev was dominant but Chilemba did land some shots. He's tough as nails Chilemba and would be a fight for anybody at 175. I think ward will be watching this thinking he does have a chance to beat Kovalev. It's going to be a very interesting fight. Kovalev did get hit a bit to be fair, it could of been the fact he's waiting for the Ward fight and it's signed too.

[Primo Carnera]

I haven't seen the fight yet, but it doesn't change my thoughts on Kov v Ward.
IF Ward is anywhere near the fighter he was, he wins. But that's the 64 million dollar question!

This is at light heavyweight, so an extra difficulty for Ward. Kov is a monster at the weight and the best fighter Ward would have faced. Real tough fight for Ward.

The weight won't be the problem , I think Ward was always a LHW waiting to happen.
He's tough and strong too, and this is something that is usually overlooked.
I don't see Kovalev stopping Ward and Ward is capable of doing enough to win the rounds because he doesn't get hit much. This could frustrate Kovalev.
The main thing is whether Ward still has his timing. It's difficult when you have been as inactive as he has.

[ruthless rocco]

Kovalev showed how limited a fighter he is against Chilemba.
Ward will wreck him and make it look easy.

[powerpuncher]

This is easily the worst I've seen kovalev look, but he still won pretty easily. I think going bacl to Russia and waiting for the ward fight were both distractions. I could be wrong, but it happens all the time. The tune up fight is harder than anticipated because your actual focus is your future fight. It was good practice for ward though.

I think that Ward should easily be #1 p4p, but he didn't look extraordinary in his last outing either. I think that both will come in ready once they fight each other. If Ward comes in with no rust, he wins decisively. That's more just because Ward is that good not because kovalev isn't that good.

[Freedom]

I just watched the HBO version of Kovalev-Chilemba.

Earlier today, I watched it live on Match TV. I tried BoxNation for awhile, but I was sickened by the ridiculous and misleading commentary by John Rawling and Barry Jones, so I went back to Match TV, even though my understanding of the Russian language is poor.

However, the team of Jim Lampley, Roy Jones and Harold Lederman tonight did an excellent job - they called the fight exactly the way it happened!

Tonight, listening to Roy Jones' insights and analytical commentary was very refreshing after the repetitive, boring, biased commentary of Rawling and Barry Jones.

Can't BoxNation find someone better than those two? There must be an ex-boxer who could replace Barry Jones as analyst, and a younger brighter blow-by-blow commentator to replace Rawling.

[Fenster]

Looked like Kovalev underestimated Chilemba, who is not just awkward but a hard bastard (to think Tony Bellew got dogs abuse for not chinning him. Boxing).

Got to admit the fight changed my mind about Ward-Kov. Even though I would expect Kovalev to be much more focused against Ward, he got hit with so many jabs and flush shots. Ward is obviously not a big hitter, like Chilemba, but with his speed, jab, awkwardness and ability to fight on the inside he could make Kovalev look clueless.

[Silkeyjoe]

Ward Kov is very interesting. Kov looked poor last night but he has that power to change the fight at any time.

[J_Undisputed]

Looked like Kovalev underestimated Chilemba, who is not just awkward but a hard bastard (to think Tony Bellew got dogs abuse for not chinning him. Boxing).

Got to admit the fight changed my mind about Ward-Kov. Even though I would expect Kovalev to be much more focused against Ward, he got hit with so many jabs and flush shots. Ward is obviously not a big hitter, like Chilemba, but with his speed, jab, awkwardness and ability to fight on the inside he could make Kovalev look clueless.

I kind of agree with @powerpuncher. Kovalev looked rather uninterested and to me kind of sickly and nonchalant. His offense looked kind of predictable. This looked much different from the kovalev that fought say hopkins? The big difference yesterday being that chilemba didn't lead with his head much or go human octopus on kovalev. Kovalev needs a better understanding of distance and inside fighting. I just hope he gets it before November. Everytime I saw kovalev lead with the jab, i see ward taking it on the right glove then countering with the right straight down the middle, maybe following with a left hook and then slipping under kovalevs right as it goes off course. Then of course tying up and trying to tenderize kovalev on the break.

Kovalev seemed really open down the middle yesterday and was going straight back on his heels at certain points. Lets just hope hes up for ward like he was for hopkins and at least learns to expect that extra left following up (the one chilemba caught him with) and on the inside to turn ward and shift his weight to nullify the inside fighting