Andre Ward Vs. Sergey Kovalev Fight Results and Highlights

Referee Robert Byrd (L) holds up the arm of Andre Ward of the US following his unanimous decision victory over Sergey Kovalev of Russia in their WBA, IBF and WBO lightheavyweight world championship fight on November 19, 2016 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ward, the 2004 Olympic champion, recovered from a second round knockdown to defeat Kovalev by the same score of 114-113 on all three judges cards after an attritional battle at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena. / AFP / John GURZINSKI (Photo credit should read JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Andre Ward (31-0) is the new WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion after winning a razor-thin unanimous decision (114-113×3) over Sergey Kovalev on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

The fight was billed as the battle to determine the pound-for-pound king of the sport, but few can even agree who actually won the fight. One thing most will say is that it was one heck of a battle between two amazing fighters.

Kovalev controlled the early part of the fight with his accurate jab and straight right hand. He dropped Ward in the second round for just the second time in his career. At that point, it looked as if it would be a short night for the former Olympic Gold medalist.

He seemed shocked by Kovalev’s power and he was retreating a lot and not claiming any part of the ring as his own. Ward hung tough, weathered the storm and stuck to his game plan.

Slowly but surely, he began to find his range with the jab and the left hook. He snapped Kovalev’s head back on several occasions and found a home for the left hand as well. Perhaps most importantly, Ward did some serious work to Kovalev’s body. The punches downstairs slowed the previously undefeated Russian and allowed Ward to seize the momentum late.

LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 19: Sergey Kovalev of Russia reacts after losing a unanimous decision to Andre Ward in their light heavyweight title bout at T-Mobile Arena on November 19, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Kovalev wasn’t merely wasting away in the second half of the fight. He was offering back and landing at times, but his punches didn’t have the same snap they had early in the fight and Ward was dodging the bigger shots. Many of the late rounds were close, but I thought Ward won seven of the last eight rounds, and that included the all important 12th frame.

Match Highlight

Truth be told, Ward looked legitimately surprised when he heard the judges’ scorecards. I think he knew the fight was close, but he had to be nervous about the early knockdown. Also, like Tom Craze said, if you ignored Ward’s body work, it would have been easy to miss the rounds he won.