On Saturday, November 19, arguably the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer will be crowned, as Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs), the WBO, WBA, and IBF Light Heavyweight world champion, and undefeated Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KOs), a two-time world champion, officially announced their long-awaited showdown following Ward’s victory over Alexander Brand Saturday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland. The event will be shown live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
"I have been doing this for 22 years and if I am not ready to fight the best now then I will never be ready," said Ward. "I have been preparing for these moments since I been a kid. You got to respect Sergey for the way he has gotten to where he has gotten. He didn’t have any soft touches. He wasn’t protected. He wasn’t really pushed by the media. He is a guy who should get a lot more credit than he has. The winner of this fight could possibly be pound-for-pound number 1.”
The event is one of those rare occasions nowadays in boxing where the best battle the best. Unlike what is happening in the middleweight division, where Canelo Alvarez is putting off a fight with Gennady Golovkin in order to let the public's demand and the potential purse increase, Ward and Kovalev aren't going to waste the fans' time.
The fight should turn out to be a classic boxer versus puncher duel between two of the top five fighters in the world. Odds makers and pundits have this fight evenly matched at 50-50
Kovalev and Ward are currently ranked the number two and number four pound-for-pound boxers in the world, respectively, by The Ring Magazine, making their hotly anticipated fight only the third bout in the history of The Ring Magazine's pound-for-pound list to pit two undefeated top-five ranked pound-for-pound fighters against each other.
Ward, 32, the last American man to win an Olympic Gold Medal in boxing (2004), reigned as the WBA Super Middleweight World Champion from 2009 to 2015. He announced his intention to move to up to the light heavyweight division in search of a bigger challenge in 2015.
Kovalev, 33, has been dominating boxing’s light heavyweight division with his aggressive, fan-friendly style. Out of of Kovalev’s 30 career victories 26 have come by way of knockout.
"This fight for me is dangerous," said Kovalev. "Any fight is dangerous but this fight is really important for my career and for the boxing world because it is a really high level for both of us. When I was a child I was just dream to be on this level so this fight for me really means a lot. For me this fight means everything in my boxing career and after this fight we will find out who is the best pound-for-pound."
Additional details for the event, including ticket information, will be forthcoming, according to the promoters.
By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services
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