Andre Ward Is The New King of Boxing After Edging Sergey Kovalev
by Gautham Nagesh
Andre Ward staked his claim as the pound-for-pound king of boxing by narrowly defeating Sergey Kovalev by unanimous decision on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Ward won a unanimous decision in a close, championship fight matching two undefeated champions that is destined to become a classic. There will be some controversy over the final scorecards, which all read 114–113 in favor of Ward, the clear crowd favorite. Kovalev has the right to feel slighted. But regardless, such an epic confrontation can only enlarge the reputations of both combatants.
I scored the fight even after 11 rounds and agonized over who should be awarded the tight final stanza. My gut told me Ward, but I questioned whether that was hope speaking, or the desire for my pre-fight prediction to come true. I ended up scoring the 12th for Kovalev, which gave him the fight by a score of 114–113 the other way. Still this was not a robbery, and Ward only proved that he was Kovalev’s equal, not his clear superior.
That itself is remarkable after the way the fight started. Tentative at first, with Ward circling to keep the Russian at bay, until Kovalev fired a stiff jab into Ward’s nose, shaking the American and ending the round on a sour note. The second was worse, as Kovalev dropped Ward with a right hand and appeared to have in serious trouble at times with his jab alone. Ward went into full retreat, abandoning all pretense of attack.
The third was more of the same, with Ward awkwardly grabbing and wrestling with Kovalev, hoping to neutralize his punching power for a few seconds at a time. Kovalev was not just stronger, but faster, beating Ward to the punch with timing and his straighter blows. His second and third punches found home where the first would miss.
Ward’s roughhouse tactics slowed the pace of the fight in the 4th, and he made his stand in the 5th round with the crowd chanting “S.O.G.” [Son of God] in his honor. Kovalev kept up his offense but Ward started to pound him with the jab in return, adding in some nasty body work whenever the two fighters found themselves in close quarters.
As he has so many previous opponents, Ward’s defense and inside fighting lulled Kovalev into an uneasy impotence in the middle rounds, allowing him to close the gap on the scorecards. Ward went from on his heels to controlling the action, and soon he was landing both his left hook and right hand to the Russian’s head. The crowd erupted in his favor, and it looked like Ward was on the verge of an astounding comeback.
But Kovalev refused to comply with the storyline, mounting a rally in the championship rounds by extending his jab and taking the fight back to the center of the ring. The two traded blows at will while somehow staying defensively responsible, a remarkable demonstration of craft that is seldom displayed in such ideal circumstances. This was two undefeated fighters in their prime agreeing to take on the most dangerous opponent of their careers. Whoever won the final round would be the new Champ of the entire sport.
The 12th was close and the action was heavy, and who won depends on where you sat and how you see boxing in general. Boxing is infinite and it is concrete. Any man can spring an upset by landing a big punch and knocking their opponent down for the ten count. Fail to do that, and you leave your fate in fickle hands of the judges.
Kovalev probably knew that a close fight would go against him, but he was still genuinely appalled at the result in Ward’s favor. Good for him. A champion should not take defeat lightly. We all hope there will be a rematch, because this fight was the rare example of what boxing can be when everything goes right.
