On Saturday night in Las Vegas, in a dramatic and very close fight that some would call a controversial decision, Andre Ward defeated Sergey Kovalev by unanimous decision to capture the WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight championships in front of a raucous crowd of 13,310. The win was far from an easy one for Ward as he was wobbled in the first round by a jab and dropped in the second by a right. Behind on the scorecards, Ward seemed weary of the power that Kovalev possess and began to pick his spots beginning in round three. That round also saw the beginning of what was to become a theme for the fight, roughhouse tactics by both men.
There seemed to be a shift in Ward’s posture and demeanor in the middle rounds, coming forward and using head movement to avoid the power of Kovalev while scoring shots of his own. In round seven, Ward got the crowd on his side by landing some pot shots that looked very good. But that round, as were so many rounds of this fight, was a very tough round to score. Down the stretch, the pattern of the fight was very repetitive, rough housing and exchanges of one hook or one power jab at a time. Multiple rounds were on the table with a minute and thirty or thirty seconds left. While both fighters continued to score, it appeared that Ward was landing more of the cleaner punches while using his defense to make Kovalev miss.
Kovalev, for his part, appeared to want to box more with Ward in the later rounds, not pressing the action at times where that seemed to be called for. After twelve rounds, the judges rendered their decision and all three scored the fight the same, 114-113 in favor of Ward. The crowd went wild, but it was a mix of elation and shock. Once Ward began to speak to Max Kellerman, the crowd that had been so heavily in his corner booed him loudly while Kovalev was cheered when he spoke. That is, until he attempted to blame the American judges for the decision, which drew the ire of the crowd.
Between the end of the fight and the post fight press conference, various media members began asking each other how they scored the fight. Some had it as wide as 116-111 for Kovalev while others said that they agreed with Ward being the winner.
Former HBO analyst Larry Merchant said “He (Ward) got the benefit of the doubt in every close round? How can that be?” So the media was divided to say the least on who they thought won the fight.
During the post fight press conference, Kovalev’s promoter, Kathy Duva, announced that she believed Ward should have been fighting UFC star Conor McGregor with all of his rough house tactics. She also said that there is a rematch clause in the contract that she intends to invoke. When asked if it was for an immediate rematch, she said it would since both parties would have to agree to it not being immediately, and she wouldn’t do that.
Kovalev, for his part, said “The decision today was not on my side”. When asked again about his thoughts on the scoring, Kovalev said “Look at his face and look at my face, who was the winner?” The new champion then took the stage and said “It was a close fight, I’ll have to watch it to give a clear assessment”. “It’s one thing to say a fight was close and I edged it out, versus saying it was a highway robbery...I did what I had to do to win”.
On a potential rematch, Ward said “I think that’s a question for James Prince and my lawyer...I’ve never ducked or dodged anybody, honestly I think a second fight would be a lot worse because I’ve been in there with him….I don’t know how many adjustments he can make”.
With the victory, Ward goes to 31-0 and now hold three major world titles in the light heavyweight division. Adonis Stevenson is the lineal world champion and WBC titlist, but he barely fights any more. Kovalev falls to 30-1-1.
