During the Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev boxing match, the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion Andre Ward outpointed the Russian boxer Sergey Kovalev for a unanimous decision of 114-113 on all three cards last Saturday night despite Kovalev dominating Ward in the early rounds. Ward also said that he will offer a rematch with Kovalev next year.
SB Nation reported that in the Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev boxing match, the Russian boxer Kovalev's jabs connected in the first round, giving Ward trouble defending himself until Kovalev scored a giant knockdown in the second round. This was the second time in Andre Ward's professional career that he had been knocked down and the first time in his big fight. Luckily, Ward managed to stand out from the storm and outpoint Kovalev in the later rounds.
Still undefeated!
Andre Ward is the new light heavyweight champion after defeating Sergey Kovalev by unanimous decision. #KovalevWard pic.twitter.com/qUK5bGon3g
— ESPN (@espn) November 20, 2016
According to the Forbes, Sergey Kovalev had overall punch landed 126 punches and 27 percent of his shots in the Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev boxing match. The new Light Heavyweight Champion Andre Ward landed 116 punches with 34 percent accuracy. It was a really close fight and Kovalev could have won the match.
Kovalev disappointedly said during Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev post-fight interview that it was a wrong decision and everybody knew who really won that fight. Kovalev said he lost because all of the judges were from the USA.
The result somehow reminded boxing fans a similar controversial decision with Manny Pacquiao's first fight with Bradley in 2011.
The New Light Heavyweight Champion said it was a close fight and Ward was pleased with himself, by the way he returned from the second-round knockdown. Ward also said that he expected Kovalev to lose his stamina in the later round of the Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev boxing match.
However, it happened on the ninth and tenth rounds when Kovalev seem to fade off and almost got his first knock down from Ward. In his post-fight interview on HBO, Ward said that he would absolutely offer Kovalev a rematch which the Russian replied immediately that he will take it.
It is a great fight to look out for. Hopefully, the next Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev fight will be in 2017, with fans hoping for a not-so-long overdue fight.
Do you think the new Light Heavyweight Champion Andre Ward really deserved the title? If one of the judges came from Russia, what do you think the results would have been?
