The boxer v the puncher but who wins in Ward v Kovalev?
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As the old saying goes, ‘styles make fights’. And this is certainly the case if you buy-in to the build-up ahead of the light-heavyweight showdown between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev.
Their upcoming Las Vegas dust-up is widely considered to be a battle to establish boxing’s number one pound-for-pound fighter.
But which style will reign supreme?
Kovalev (30-1, 26KO) is set to put his IBF, WBO and WBA belts on the line against the supremely talented former super-middleweight king Ward (30-0, 15KO) at the brand, spanking new T-Mobile Arena.
And given the fact the man known as ‘Krusher’ has made a career of dismantling his opponents, there will be a few tempted by the 2/1 on offer for a Kovalev victory by KO, TKO or Disqualification.
Oh, and throw in that Ward is stepping up to 175lb for the first time and has only stopped two of his last seven opponents.
However, that isn’t reflected in the fight odds with the self-proclaimed ‘Son of God’ the 8/11 favourite to win the bout.
The 11/10 for Ward to triumph by Decision or Technical Decision offers more value. But even so, it’s the brutish Kovalev who still makes more appeal for us.
While the Californian challenger has carved out a stellar career by utilising his immense natural talent he looks extremely vulnerable here.
His five wins in as many years since beating Carl Froch have hardly represented the sternest of tests and there’s a growing weight of opinion that Ward is now on the downgrade.
And against a hard-hitting opponent like Kovalev, the 32-year-old could be about to be cruelly exposed for the very first time.
Latest Ladbrokes Betting:
Fight Result
Andre Ward – 8/11
Draw – 22/1
Sergey Kovalev – 6/5
Click here for all the latest Andre Ward v Sergey Kovalev odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
