Sergey Kovalev has a unique insight into a top level fight many fans wish had happened – Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez versus Andre Ward.
The fight between the two pound-for-pound stars has always been talked about and Ward even admitted he was waiting for his rival to call him out after hanging up the gloves seven years ago.
Kovalev’s unbeaten record was taken by the American back in 2016 when he lost by unanimous decision, but some felt he did enough to get his hand raised. The controversy lead to an immediate rematch and second time around there would be no doubt with Ward stopping ‘Krusher’ in the eighth round.
Three years later, having regained a light-heavyweight title, Kovalev would face Canelo in the Mexican’s debut at 175lbs. The Russian was spectacularly stopped by the naturally smaller man in the eleventh round.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV about a potential light-heavyweight clash between the two greats, Kovalev was ‘100%’ sure that Canelo would get the victory.
“100% [Canelo is a better fighter than Andre Ward].
Maybe Ward was better at super-middleweight but not at light heavyweight. Canelo fights everybody, he has stamina, good legs, speed, IQ, everything. I respect him.”
Naturally, Ward doesn’t share Kovalev’s view and has questioned Canelo’s resume and desire to face the best.
“In terms of his resume, the opponents that he’s fought, and people say ‘he fought this name and he fought that name’, but where did he fight that name when he fought them? He’s 32, he’s coming off two losses, he’s 35, when he fought Kovalev, Kovalev was cooked, he wasn’t ‘The Krusher’, he wasn’t the undefeated guy, he had already lost that.
I’m not knocking the hustle, but you lose me when you start saying ‘I’m the best fighter in the world’, or you lose me when you feel like you don’t have to fight the best but then everybody else has got to fight the best. Canelo is a really good fighter man, but you don’t really know how good you are until you fight the other best.”
As for Kovalev, he made a return to the ring after two years out back in May but lost a wide unanimous decision to Robin Sirwan Safar, a fight that could be the last of his career.
