Ward-Kovalev was no robbery and everything boxing needed
Posted: 21 Nov 2016, 11:57
Boxing got what it needed Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena: fans clamoring for a rematch for all the right reasons.
Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev will meet again real soon, and figure their rematch to be bigger than their pay-per-view rumble Saturday night that ended with Ward capturing a unanimous decision and the WBO, IBF and WBA light heavyweight titles.
Plenty of fans and media believe Kovalev couldn’t have lost a fight in which he knocked down Ward in the second round and dominated the first half of the 12-round bout.
“I think I won this fight, but the decision was not on my side,” said Kovalev, who lost for the first time in 32 pro fights. “Everybody saw what happened. Look at his face and look at my face and see who is the winner.”
What the judges saw is Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) turning the fight in the seventh round and capturing just about every round the rest of the way toward a 114-113 edge on all three scorecards. The Post also scored the bout 114-113 for Ward, who had moved up to the 175-pound division after winning various world championships at 168 pounds.
Ward, an Oakland native fighting in Las Vegas for the first time, was on the defensive from the opening round absorbing hard right hands from Kovalev, who entered with 26 knockouts. Ward was dropped for only the second time in his career by a right cross in the second round. He survived the second, but was down by five points on two cards after six rounds.
America’s last gold medal winner in boxing (Athens 2004) subtly changed momentum when he landed a stinging left hand in the seventh. From there Ward began to connect with quick combinations, many of them during inside exchanges, that scored enough to win rounds.
Kovalev, who couldn’t miss early, had trouble connecting late in the fight. The Russian tired a bit and was a fraction slower. Except for judge Burt Clements giving Kovalev the 12th round, every other round from all three judges — Clements, Glenn Trowbridge and John McKaie — went to Ward from the seventh round on.
“I got off the canvas against the hardest puncher in the division and smiled,” Ward said. “I took the fight to him and closed the show.”
Judge for yourself Saturday night, when HBO airs a replay of the fight before Vasyl Lomachenko defends his WBO super featherweight title against Nicholas Walters from the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Kovalev’s camp made it clear it will exercise an immediate rematch clause. It complained about the scoring and the job by Hall of Fame referee Robert Byrd, who allowed for plenty of clenching, wrestling and headlocks.
“We’re going to get them back in the ring as fast as we can to right this wrong,” said Kathy Duva, Kovalev’s promoter at Main Events.
The rematch will be much-anticipated and not because the judges got it wrong. That can’t be said when all three had virtually the same scores from the seventh round on. They all saw the same fight from the best seats in the house. This was no robbery.
What’s worth seeing again is the gladiator chess match that took place, part boxing, part wrestling, plenty of determination and grit. It wasn’t pretty. But it was two world-class athletes doing everything they could to win.
“I slowly broke him down,” Ward said. “I felt like he was getting tired. Obviously, he didn’t want to be inside, and I tried to keep him there as much as possible. I don’t know if I would have won this fight if I didn’t have a good inside game. This is a notch under my belt. We got off the canvas and got stronger.”
Kovalev complained Ward either ran too much or held too much. Otherwise, he was gracious in defeat, knowing another multi-million dollar payday is ahead.
“The decision wasn’t on my side,” he said. “But next time I will do something much better.”
That’s why it’s worth seeing again.
Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev will meet again real soon, and figure their rematch to be bigger than their pay-per-view rumble Saturday night that ended with Ward capturing a unanimous decision and the WBO, IBF and WBA light heavyweight titles.
Plenty of fans and media believe Kovalev couldn’t have lost a fight in which he knocked down Ward in the second round and dominated the first half of the 12-round bout.
“I think I won this fight, but the decision was not on my side,” said Kovalev, who lost for the first time in 32 pro fights. “Everybody saw what happened. Look at his face and look at my face and see who is the winner.”
What the judges saw is Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) turning the fight in the seventh round and capturing just about every round the rest of the way toward a 114-113 edge on all three scorecards. The Post also scored the bout 114-113 for Ward, who had moved up to the 175-pound division after winning various world championships at 168 pounds.
Ward, an Oakland native fighting in Las Vegas for the first time, was on the defensive from the opening round absorbing hard right hands from Kovalev, who entered with 26 knockouts. Ward was dropped for only the second time in his career by a right cross in the second round. He survived the second, but was down by five points on two cards after six rounds.
America’s last gold medal winner in boxing (Athens 2004) subtly changed momentum when he landed a stinging left hand in the seventh. From there Ward began to connect with quick combinations, many of them during inside exchanges, that scored enough to win rounds.
Kovalev, who couldn’t miss early, had trouble connecting late in the fight. The Russian tired a bit and was a fraction slower. Except for judge Burt Clements giving Kovalev the 12th round, every other round from all three judges — Clements, Glenn Trowbridge and John McKaie — went to Ward from the seventh round on.
“I got off the canvas against the hardest puncher in the division and smiled,” Ward said. “I took the fight to him and closed the show.”
Judge for yourself Saturday night, when HBO airs a replay of the fight before Vasyl Lomachenko defends his WBO super featherweight title against Nicholas Walters from the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Kovalev’s camp made it clear it will exercise an immediate rematch clause. It complained about the scoring and the job by Hall of Fame referee Robert Byrd, who allowed for plenty of clenching, wrestling and headlocks.
“We’re going to get them back in the ring as fast as we can to right this wrong,” said Kathy Duva, Kovalev’s promoter at Main Events.
The rematch will be much-anticipated and not because the judges got it wrong. That can’t be said when all three had virtually the same scores from the seventh round on. They all saw the same fight from the best seats in the house. This was no robbery.
What’s worth seeing again is the gladiator chess match that took place, part boxing, part wrestling, plenty of determination and grit. It wasn’t pretty. But it was two world-class athletes doing everything they could to win.
“I slowly broke him down,” Ward said. “I felt like he was getting tired. Obviously, he didn’t want to be inside, and I tried to keep him there as much as possible. I don’t know if I would have won this fight if I didn’t have a good inside game. This is a notch under my belt. We got off the canvas and got stronger.”
Kovalev complained Ward either ran too much or held too much. Otherwise, he was gracious in defeat, knowing another multi-million dollar payday is ahead.
“The decision wasn’t on my side,” he said. “But next time I will do something much better.”
That’s why it’s worth seeing again.
you are SO unfair...you obviously forgot 8-9 more boxrec fans supporting this decision and making it a whopping dirty dozen, all told