Panel: Kovalev-Ward picks

It’s two of the pound-for-pound best putting their unbeaten records on the line in Las Vegas, but who do our panel think will win?

Sergey Kovalev defends his WBO, WBA Super and IBF world titles against technical supremo Andre Ward on Saturday night, live on Sky Sports, in one of the biggest fights in recent years.

World champions, boxing stars and former fighters have all had their say on the big light-heavyweight showdown….

George Groves

Ward is silky smooth and on his day is exceptional, he is fantastic in terms of shutting you down and not letting you do what you want to do. But I don’t think he’s ever boxed anyone like Kovalev with that eastern European style and a massive punch.

I have a sneaky feeling that Kovalev might shock a lot of people, he dealt with Hopkins extremely comfortably, down to his size, physicality, strength and punch power. Ward can’t find sparring fighters to mirror Kovalev. He has enough experience to handle all of Ward’s tricks and be busy enough to win.

Tony Bellew

I predict a close, hard battle. Kovalev’s only chance is by knockout, he is not going to be able to outbox or outwork Ward. Kovalev has got the power to knock someone out, but I don’t think he can clean Andre out with one big punch, it’s going to take a series of punches to connect and he is capable of it. However, my money is on Ward.

Ward’s close game negates Kovalev’s power and he is better all round. I think Ward makes it an ugly fight and wins it on points.

Kell Brook

I don’t mind who wins as long as it’s a great fight. We are going to see different styles and I like both but if I was going to sit down and watch one of them, I prefer Kovalev. His punching power is great and his mind will be set on getting him out of there.

Ward is technically very, very good, but I can just see ‘Krusher’ winning. I’ve got a feeling he will do it and yes he can stop Ward but even if it goes the distance, I’m going for Kovalev.

Jamie Moore

I can see both fighters winning both ways, which is why it is such a great fight. If you look at it, is Ward able to sit in the pocket and ride Kovalev’s punches and catch him with the counters on the way in and test his chin? We’ve not really seen that.

On the flipside, Kovalev has such a weird rhythm, he’s difficult to read. If he can maintain pressure constantly and Ward can’t catch him …

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