Here’s what I say about Ward. Before the Kovalev fight, he basically destroyed all of his opponents. Nobody could even get close to beating him. Also, he fought really good competition. It’s not like Ward was beating nobodies or hype jobs. He even beat Froch basically with one hand. The only fight that Ward struggled with was the first Kovalev fight. People tend to forget though that Ward was still a bit rusty and moving up in weight. Also, Kovalev was a top 3 p4p fighter at the time (arguably #1).
I think that Joe is a tough match for most fighters because of his output. He beat good enough competition to prove that he was legit and wasn’t just a hype job. Unlike Ward though, I had seen Joe struggle here and there with certain fighters. He adjusted well and ended up winning, but I give the adjustment advantage to Ward. Even if Joe adjusted during a Ward fight, I see Ward adjusting quickly after that to get back on top.
Like I said before, I think Joe definitely wins some rounds, but I think Ward wins fairly in a close on the scorecards kind of fight in which Ward dictated the pace better.
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