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Pound 4 Pound Supremacy: Sergey Kovalev Vs Andre Ward

andre-vs-sergeyBy BJ “Warhammer” Proctor

November 19th, less than 2 weeks away we have a fight of extreme magnitude. Two undefeated fighters putting it all on the line. Three world titles, first official loss, legacy, and of course pound for pound dominance. Throughout the buildup as well as the promotion for this fight, the reoccurring theme is that the winner of Ward Vs Kovalev will be undoubtedly the pound for pound number 1 fighter in the world.

We have Andre Ward, the last American Gold Medal winner from the 2004 Olympics. He dominated the Super Six classic, and thus the 168 pound division. His record, a perfect 30-0, 15 KO’s. Then we have Sergey Kovalev, considered the top dog at 175, holding 3 of the 4 major world titles. His record also a perfect 30-0-1, 26 KO’s. The boxing bible Ring Magazine has their pound 4 pound rankings which is universally considered the ultimate authority on which fighters should be recognized, and thus granted a spot in those rankings.

Kovalev sits near the top at number 2 and Ward not far behind at number 4. We’ll have two top 5 fighters in the pound 4 pound rankings squaring off and no doubt the winner will have gone a long way towards staking his claim as the best fighter in the world. The burning question on my, and many boxing fans minds that pay attention to the entire sport, every weight class, is… How?

The significance of the fight cannot be understated. This fight is by far the biggest that could have been made in the sport. Bigger than Canelo Vs Golovkin, bigger than a rematch of Pacquiao Vs Mayweather, JR. II. So why am I questioning if the winner of this fight will be catapulted to the top of the rankings you may ask? Well, the answer to that question is very simple. There is an extremely talented fighter named Roman Gonzalez whose record is also a perfect one, sitting at the top of those records currently. A fighter who has accomplished as much as, if not more than both Ward and Kovalev, and to assume that the winner of this fight leaps ahead of him in my opinion is short sighted to say the least.

To clarify my position I must explain that I’m the ultimate Andre Ward fan, have been since 2004 and I’ve studied him and his career since its inception. I truly believe he is the best fighter on the planet. That being said, I am a fan of the sport of boxing above any single fighter and try my very best to be as objective as possible.

Andre Ward’s most significant victory would either be Carl Froch or Chad Dawson. Whichever fight you choose, both happened as early as 2012 and as far back as 2011. Now Ward has had good victories since then, an undefeated Rodriguez as well as an undefeated Barrera, but neither fighter were of the legacy defining variety.

Sergey Kovalev resume wise doesn’t come close to Andre Ward, but he has steamrolled his competition, and since winning the WBO belt from the undefeated Nathan Cleverly, he’s added two more world titles when he surprisingly dominated Bernard Hopkins. Kovalev’s most significant victory is the 49 year old Hopkins, the runner up being former champ Jean Pascal.

Roman Gonzalez is a perfect 46-0, 38 KO’s. He’s a multi-time champion, with World titles in 4 different weight classes. He has held titles in the minimumweight, Light Flyweight, Flyweight, and just recently captured the Super Flyweight title.

If we go back to 2012, when Ward defeated, no dominated and made Dawson quit, the career’s of all three men have all gone in much different directions. Ward had an injury as well as legal issues which forced significant inactivity. Kovalev has asserted his dominance at 175 and defeated good, but nowhere near great opposition. Then we have Gonzalez who since 2012 to the present has won titles in 3 different weight classes, has defeated several current or former world champions, as well as two fighters who could or should have been in the pound 4 pound top 10. Juan Francisco Estrada who was a current champion until recently vacating his belt to move up. Akira Yaegashi who has become world champ since his loss to Gonzalez. Former champions Edgar Sosa and Brian Viloria. Most significantly, Gonzalez moved up to Super Flyweight and immediately took on the best in the division by fighting and beating the undefeated champion Carlos Cuadras.

Everyone involved in this fight, from the promoters, to HBO, to the fighters themselves have been quoted as saying the winner of this fight will cement his place as the best fighter pound 4 pound. If you have done the research, and fully understand when, how, and why pound 4 pound was created, then a much deeper, and much more difficult conversation must take place as to why Gonzalez would be supplanted as the best fighter pound 4 pound.

HBO did an amazing article called Pound for Pound-A History, which was a great lesson and great insight into what the pound for pound truly should consist of and I highly recommend that read. The most important factor was the skill level of the fighter, then came his accomplishments in the ring. Skill was and in my opinion still should be king. If we are looking objectively at all three fighters, the skill that Gonzalez has shown would be in an elite class, which only 3 or 4 fighters would be privy to. We have Ward, Rigondeaux, Lomachenko, and Gonzalez. Who is the most skilled of these four men is up for debate, but the accomplishments of the four men resume wise is a no contest win for Gonzalez.

On November 19th we will have a clash of epic proportions. We will have two pound for pound great fighters take center stage and I for one hope the entire boxing world tunes in and this helps boxing in a massive way. The winner will have a legacy defining victory and quite possibly a hall of fame call because of it. I will be glued to my television and waiting with baited breath for the outcome. I just don’t believe that I nor anyone else should wake up Sunday morning, claiming that either Ward or Kovalev is pound 4 pound number 1, when Roman Gonzalez is currently sitting at the top and is still an undefeated highly skilled world champ.

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