Ward: “I can’t say I’m surprised by Kovalev’s positive test”

Boxing

According to Andre Ward, he suspected that Sergei Kovalev was using illegal doping drugs. Ward stated that he was not surprised when it was recently revealed that Kovalev tested positive for synthetic testosterone. The three-time light heavyweight champion’s use of a banned substance led to the cancellation of his fight with Bektemir Melikuziev, who was scheduled for January 30 in Indio, California.

Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev

Ward twice defeated Kovalev in light heavyweight championship fights and noted that Kovalev’s age (37 years) and his “withering” in recent years are factors explaining the use of doping.

“I can’t say I was surprised,” Ward said during a speech Thursday on the Ak and Barak show, which airs daily on DAZN. – And this is not an accusation against Kovalev. You know, I’m not saying that I felt that he was using something. But I have been in this game for a long time, and much bigger names have given positive results than Kovalev. So I just know that this is an option for these guys. “

“You do the analysis and you realize very quickly that you are getting old, everything slips away, and these guys tend to do these things when trying to keep their careers. They know that physically they can no longer compete with the young guys with whom they enter the ring. So I was not surprised. Very sorry”.

Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs) has not boxed since losing to Saul Alvarez in the 11th round of their fight for the WBO light heavyweight title in November 2019 in Las Vegas. 24-year-old Melikuziev has only 6 fights in the professional ring, with 5 knockouts, but he is a silver medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games and was considered an ordeal for Kovalev.

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Melikuziev publicly stated that he would fight Kovalev despite testing positive, but the California State Athletic Commission canceled their fight once the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association alerted all parties involved.

Ward and Kovalev expressed contempt for each other both before and after their two fights. However, the retired Ward made philosophical rather than critical statements in a dispute with Kovalev.

“You know, a lot of people on social media wanted me to kind of pounce on him,” Ward said. “But I’m not that guy. I’m not going to kick the guy when he fell. I just really hope that Kovalev will evaluate his career and his life correctly, and just bring everything together, because it will end very soon. And I’m talking about sports. One day he will leave. Hopefully he built something to be proud of. He is quite a whole person, he can move on and live a productive life. This man has a family. “

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