Thursday 17 November 2016 07:45, UK
Andre Ward is in decline and can be stopped early by Sergey Kovalev, according to the Russian's trainer John David Jackson.
Ward (30-0-KO15) is preparing to clash with WBA Super, IBF and WBO world light-heavyweight champion Kovalev (30-0-1-KO26) on November 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, live on Sky Sports.
The American has been fairly inactive in recent times, having had just four fights in four years, and Jackson believes that he is in not the same fighter that he once was and will consequently get found out.
Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports, he said: "I'm definitely not saying that Andre is past it but for me he is on a slow decline.
"He is 32 and if you look at his last few fights, he does not move as fluently as he once did and his timing can be a bit off. Maybe it is ring rust, but his last fight against [Alexander] Brand certainly did not help him prepare for Sergey.
"You could also say that Sergey may be declining, but a puncher declines a lot slower than a boxer.
"Of course this fight is not simply just a boxer against a puncher, which would be selling Kovalev short on his true boxing ability.
"You just have to look at his fight with [Bernard] Hopkins - a unanimous decision win - and Sergey showed that he can be patient and very smart against one of the most intelligent fighters in the game.
"Now, Ward is very smart as well, but he does not have that one big punch. If he goes looking for that punch then he will be left vulnerable and be countered."
Although 'Krusher' failed to stop Hopkins or Isaac Chilemba in his most recent outing, Jackson insists that Ward can be taken out early.
"I'm very confident that Sergey will win and he knows exactly what to do against Andre. We know that you can't fall into Ward's pitfalls. We know Andre's strengths, his feinting and trying to punch and move away - we can't let him do that.
"Ward can be taken out early, if Sergey lands cleanly early on then Ward is gone. If he manages to get back up, he will still be hurt and is now a sitting duck. Once Sergey smells blood, he will go for the knockout.
"Reports say he's gonna stand and fight and go to Sergey's body and we want that, he will leave himself wide open for counter punching.
"Ward will want to be aggressive and cut off the ring and keep our guy from landing long punches, but Sergey can throw bombs from any distance."
Watch Sergey Kovalev v Andre Ward live on Sky Sports for just £6.99 with a Sky Sports Day Pass.
