LAS VEGAS — Andre Ward delivered. He got stung by punches early. He was down early, on all fours and only canvas looking back up into his dazed eye. But he got up. He adjusted. And, in the end, he did what he has done for just about as long as anybody can recall.
From winning a gold medal on the last day of the 2004 Olympics in Athens to his career defining moment against a feared Russian light-heavyweight, Ward prevailed with subtle moves, quick punches and unshakeable poise.
Sergey Kovalev represented the biggest test of all those Ward qualities. Kovalev had — still has — all of the stuff to perhaps beat Ward in what appears to be an inevitable rematch. On Saturday in an HBO pay-per-view bout, many of the right moves and most of the timely punches belonged to Ward. So did the victory by the narrowest of margins. Ward won, 114-113, on all three scorecards.
“We did what we set out to do,” said Ward (31-0, 15 KOs), who was a 2-1 betting favorite at opening bell. “It’s amazing. It’s my most important and satisfying win.”
Amazing, yes. Yet, predictable too,
If taken within the astonishing context of Ward’s singular career. He always finds a way and he did again. This time, it was somewhat controversial. Scores alongside press row were split. HBO Harold Lederman had Kovalev wining by five points. The
15-rounds.com scorecard was 114-113 for Ward, identical to the judges. It was that close.
Kovalev disputed the decision. No surprise there. He scored the bout’s only knockdown with a short right hand in the second round.
“It’s the wrong decision,” said Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs), who surrendered the IBF, WBO and WBA titles in front of 13,310 roaring fans at T-Mobile Arena. “I don’t want to say my opinion. The witnesses are here. They saw it. It was a fight of my life I am disappointed in the judges decision.
“He got maybe a few rounds. I agree with that. I kept control. I lost maybe three rounds the whole fight.
Kovalev has a rematch clause in his contract. Nobody had to ask him or his promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events, whether he intends to enforce it.
“Of course,” he said after his first loss. “And I will kick his ass.”
In the end, Kovalev’s loss might be boxing’s win. It has a rivalry. It needs one.
Ward-Kovalev undercard finally ends with a dull draw
A forgettable undercard finally came to an end with a result that summed up everything that came before it.
It was a draw.
A dull one
As a crowd began to gather for the Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev showdown at T-Mobile Arena Saturday night, Dallas junior-welterweight Maurice Hooker (21-0-3, 16 KOs) and Darleys Perez (33-2-1, 21 KOs) left it yawning.
Hooker couldn’t capitalize on his reach. Perez, of Colombia, couldn’t sustain his aggressiveness. On one scorecard, it was 97-93 for Hooker. On another, it was 97-93 for Perez. On the third, it was 99-99. A unanimous dud.
Gvozdyk punishes Chilemba for a TKO victory
Ukrainian light-heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk calls himself The Nail. It’s an appropriate nickname. At least, it was on HBO’s pay-per-view undercard before the Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward main event.
Gvozdyk (12-0, 10 KOs), an Olympic bronze medalist, nailed Isaac Chilemba (24-5-2, 10 KOs) with repeated punishment, forcing him to quit after eight rounds Saturday night. With blood streaming from both nostrils,Chilemba, a South African, finally surrendered because of a fractured right hand.
Stevens retains minor middleweight title with a unanimous decision
Curtis Stevens retained his role as a fringe middleweight contender with a 96-92, 98-90, 96-92 decision over James De La Rosa for a minor 160-pound title in the first pay-per-view bout on a card featuring Kovalev and Ward Saturday.
Stevens (29-5, 21 KOs), of New York, scored an early knockdown with a short left counter in the opening moments. Then, he fought in spurts, offsetting a one-point penalty for a low in the seventh round. De La Rosa (23-5, 13 KOs), of Harlingen, Tex., damaged his chances at an upset in the sixth when he appeared to hurt his right hand.
Claressa Shields wins pro debut
There’s more than Olympic gold in Claressa Shields’ possession. There some pro power, too. Shields, a two-time gold medalist from Flint, Mich. used it repeatedly in a head-rocking debut for a unanimous decision over Franchon Crews, a Baltimore super-middleweight who also was making her debut on the Kovalev-Ward undercard.
A sparse crowd booed. Only Tyler McCreary cheered. The Toledo featherweight had good reason to. McCreary (12-0, 6 KOs) won a controversial majority decision over Vincent Jennings (5-3-1, 4 KOs) of Grand Rapids, Mich., in a dreary eight-rounder in the fourth bout on the pay-per-view card featuring Kovalev-Ward
Toledo junior-welterweight Sonny Frederickson (15-0, 9 KOs) employed quicker hands and superior reach to score a unanimous decision over Gabriel Duluc (11-2, 2 KOs), a Boston fighter who was left with nasty over his left eye midway through an eight-rounder on the non-televised portion of the Kovalev-Ward card.
Rock rock solid in winning one-sided decision
Philadelphia heavyweight Darmani Rock stayed unbeaten (6-0, 4 KOs) with a one-sided decision — a four-round shutout on all three scorecards — over Brice Ritani-Coe of San Pedro, Calif., (4-5-1, 3 KOs) in the last bout before HBO’s pay-per-view telecast of the Kovalev-Ward card.
Russian middleweight scores Kovalev-like stoppage
Russian middleweight Bakhraim Murtazaliev (7-0, 5 KOs) came into the ring wearing trunks with Sergey Kovalev’s last name on the belt line. It didn’t take long for the Robert Garcia-trained Murtazaliev to do what the guy with the familiar name does in the second bout on Kovalev-Ward card. He crushed Bortirsher Obidov (6-1-1, 2 KOs), knocking down the Uzbekistan fighter three times in the second for a stoppage at 2:52 of the round.
First Bell: Kovalev-Ward card underway with middleweights in opening bout
In an empty NHL arena seven hours before the main event, a couple of unknown middleweights opened a card that would end later Saturday night with Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward.
Meiirim Nursulatnov and Henry Beckford stayed upright. Nobody got iced. But heavy-handed Nursulatnov (1-0) of Kazakhstan emerged with an easy victory in his pro debut, winning a unanimous decision with a shutout on all three scorecards over Beckford (5-5, 1 KO) of Hempstead, N.Y
