Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev (2nd meeting)

2017-06-18T13:54:00Z

Kprestore:

<fight>2153454</fight>

==WBA Super, IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine World Light Heavyweight Titles==

*The bout appeared close to even on the scorecards entering round eight. The end came abruptly. Ward, getting inside with power, landed an overhand left hand to the head of Kovalev at close range, who got hurt. This punch was repeatedly reported as an overhand right by fight announcers on HBO, by Pauly Malignaggi (who was covering the fight for Sky Sports Boxing) and by Andre Ward himself during the post fight interview but it was in fact an overhand left. The fight ended in controversy shortly thereafter on the ropes, when Ward landed three hooks to the lower body which appeared to be either borderline low blows or low blows. Kovalev doubled over on the ropes, bending over and down. The referee, seeing Kovalev not getting up, awarded Ward a TKO win. Kovalev had complained a number of times about Ward's low blows beforehand. [[Johnny Nelson]] noted "Towards the end, even if the punches Ward landed were borderline, Kovalev should have hit Ward back in the same place. We did not get the camera angle to see where the punches landed exactly at the end, the blows were borderline from close, the referee should have given Kovalev a count and a breather." [[Paul Malignaggi]] stated "The stoppage was terrible. Kovalev was up in the fight a little bit. Kovalev was not hurt more than other guys. They (Ward's punches) were definitely borderlines. Kovalev was fading, and Ward was going to win." However, Kovalev, doubled over along the ropes, was not arising. The referee had the best view of the situation, and acted accordingly.

*Purses: Ward $6,500,000 for retaining his titles. Ex-champ Kovalev, who disputed the stoppage and asked for another rematch, was paid a percentage of the Pay-Per-View and tickets.

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Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev (2nd meeting)