It wasn’t pretty, but it was masterful.
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But the three United States judges scoring an attritional bout at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena all gave more weight to Ward’s disciplined display over the closing stages, when he landed scoring blows as the previously unbeaten Kovalev exhausted.
“This is a attractive thing”, he said.
“We did it, baby”. Many writers have pegged Nicaraguan flyweight Roman “Chocolatito” González as the current number one heading into tonight, but did Ward’s performance warrant putting him on top of the sport’s Mount Olympus? “Surreal! This is what I set out to do”. The win transferred the WBA, EBO and IBF world titles at 175 pounds to Ward, giving him world titles in two weight classes to date.
The moment the fight was announced, Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward was a coin flip of a fight where it would be Ward’s boxing brilliance versus Kovalev’s mind warping power.
The Russian sent Ward to the canvas in the second round with a right hand that landed flush on the side of the American’s head. Once Ward adjusted, Kovalev wasn’t effective.
The Oakland, California, native handed Kovalev his first defeat and kept his own record spotless.
“I’ve been a champion and was a champion before I came in here and I knew it was going to be a tough fight”, he said. In a year for boxing that really only ever got started in the summer, we just got one of the big highlights of 2016. I was at peace. It was a flash knockdown. “As a matter of fact I wasn’t hurt by anything he threw”. Ward began expertly measuring the distance and angles, changing the way the fight was fought. Fans in the United Kingdom can watch streaming video of the Ward vs. Kovalev the match on Sky Sports 1 online.
Ward seemed unwilling to go inside after that, moving backward and trying to land jabs to control the action.
Earlier, Kovalev had quickly made his superior punching power tell, rocking the challenger with two stiff jabs that appeared to startle Ward towards the end of the first round. Most people still thought Kovalev won, but not Burt Clements, John McKale and Glenn Trowbridge. I haven’t seen so much wrestling since Conor McGregor was fighting. That would have given him a split-decision win.
“It feels so good to have just made my pro debut”, she said. A Ward round ties it up at 104 as we go to the 12th round.
He began slowing the pace and landing shots of his own in the fourth, however, and effectively neutralized Kovalev in numerous middle and late rounds with body work and his ability to get in close. “I’m happy for Andre”.
Ward vs Kovalev was a ‘tale of two fights.’ Sergey won the early rounds and Ward asserted himself in the second half.
CompuBox showed that Ward connected on 34 percent (116 of 338) of his punches.
Kovalev-Ward is a stylistic match between boxer and puncher, and a title match up for the history books.
“Sergey”, Ward said, “has no inside game”. “I don’t have any different strategy”. I had it 115-113 and it was a very, very close fight.
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With nowhere else to turn but to each other, this is destined for a rematch. In 2005, Boone is best remembered for flooring fellow American Ward during their six-round contest, before losing via unanimous verdict.
