Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2017-06-17, disappointing finish but the rest of the fight was pretty good: Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev 2 gets three stars.The undefeated 2004 Olympic light-Hw gold medalist and world champion in two different weight classes Andre Ward entered this fight with a perfect boxing record of 31-0-0 (15 knockouts) and he is ranked as the No.1 light heavyweight in the world. “SOG” Ward fought three times last year winning over Sullivan Barrera (=Ward vs Barrera), Alexander Brand (=Ward vs Brand) and Sergey Kovalev in their first fight (but it was a controversial decision, Kovalev vs Ward I).
His opponent, the former WBA, IBF and WBO light-Hw champion Sergey Kovalev, has an official record of 30-1-1 (26 KOs=87%) and he entered as the No.2 in the same weight class. Before losing to Andre Ward in his last bout, “Krusher” Kovalev fought twice in 2016 beating Jean Pascal (=Kovalev vs Pascal 2) and Isaac Chilemba (=Kovalev vs Chilemba). Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev 2 is valid for the WBA, IBF and WBO World light heavyweight titles (Ward’s first defense). Watch the video and rate this fight!
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Date: 2017-06-17
Where: Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Division: light heavyweight (175 lbs, 79.4 kg)
Title: WBA, IBF and WBO World light heavyweight titles
Their previous fight: Sergey Kovalev vs Andre Ward I
Kovalev’s next fight: Sergey Kovalev vs Vyacheslav Shabranskyy
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Ward vs Kovalev 2 Fight Video:
Official video
(Free embeddable video hosted on Youtube and not uploaded by AllTheBestFights)
well, i saw an impressive amount of low blows: I couldn’t believe it. But Kovalev has no back up: he could retire now. At this point we have to be clear: Joshua has never to fight out of UK: this is boxing.
Same could happen to Golovkin: though Golovkin is stronger than Kovalev low blows are painful.
this is why Golovkin’s team had the common sense not to agree to Ward’s demands when they were looking into setting up the fight.
Ward’s camp stinks to high heavens for Rocnation and the CIA social engineers behind it.
There were many low blows that Tony Weeks didn’t saw. Kovalev didn’t get the proper time to recover from them.
Low blow after low blow, and Weeks blind as a bat.
An other controversial fight, i don’t know what to think the fight was great but the end still give me a bad taste like the other fight. The last punchs of ward was borderline low blow but kovalev was almost K.O too but that can happen it doesn’t mean kovalev would have lost and the round was almost over…really don’t know what to think i hate this kind of ending. That was a really good fight before the end.
I watched the fight with two friends who are casual boxing fans. We were all shocked by the outcome and couldn’t believe Ward was awarded a KO victory after hitting below the waist so many times. And as soon as the decision was official, it’s like we should turn the page and forget all about it. “Ward is the best p4p”, “He won in spectacular fashion”, etc.. (Max Kellerman I hate you and I always will). I was very disappointed by Weeks, ’cause I believed he was one of the best ref out there. Tonight he was awful.
Fight was good and very close. I had Kovalev ahead by a point when the fight was stopped. Ward landed a very hard right hand indeed and stunned Kovalev who was barely holding up. But after that, I think I counted 4 or 5 low blows. And after the fight, Kellerman underlined Ward great finishing skills… (Did I mention I hate Max Kellerman?). Sadly, Kovalev won’t get a rematch, Ward will move up in weight.
Great analysis, Olivier, as usual.
I picked Ward this time, thinking he’d improve on the first performance. I don’t like his style, too negative for me, but he makes adjustments that are more nuanced than most fighters can handle.
So Sergei surprised me a little tonight by thwarting Ward’s inside game, and I had it even going into the final round. Both men looked to be tiring and slightly marked up. Maybe Kovalev was gassing. The low blow by Ward in the previous round was upsetting — the UK broadcast showed it on replay, a real nut-clanger — but Weeks hadn’t seen it. There would be much more Weeks didn’t “see,” or simply didn’t want to call.
Ghastly outcome, and it has ruined what should have been one of the FOTY. This sleazy stoppage ranks with Floyd Mayweather’s KO of Victor Ortiz as one of the most shameful in the modern sport…but of course not to Max Kellerman! Kellerman bellowing his hosannas over Ward points to the desperation felt at HBO as it watches the boxing audience slip away. This will cost it more fans.
About Kellerman: he is paid for that. It is a fact that without heavyweight champions in usa all the business has moved and everybody earns less.
As i said i hope that Golovkin can fight a fair match. Would be nice to have his next fights in europe where his fan base is growing, he could make much more money and be sure to have a fair referee.
I couldn’t agree more with everything you said. I watched the UK broadcast (Paulie’s analysis are spot on most of the time) and they made it clear with the slow-motion replay. Kovalev was hit numerous times below the belt after that.
Some will say “Kovalev got what he deserved” for threatening Ward in pre-fight interviews when he said he would end Ward’s career, just like some are saying about Flores who faked to be KOed in the previous fight of the night… “he got what he deserved for trying to steal the championship”. . But personally, I don’t care about Kovalev total lack of manners outside the ring. I recognize he often sounds like a sociopath, but inside the ring, his act has always remained very clean. Some people might say “if you get hit low, just retaliate with a low blow of your own”. I don’t agree with that kind of retaliation (just like what Mayweather did to Ortiz after that headbutt). It’s the referee’s job to punish fighters who hits with illegal punches. Sometimes, it seems to me that for some reason Ward is getting some kind of special treatment, just like Sugar Ray Leonard had from the judges and the ref most of the time (remember the “bolo-punch” south of the border and many other low blows against Hagler?).
About the fight itself, I thought Ward was en route to a UD (legitimate this time!) as the tide was turning in his favor. I think Kovalev’s biggest mistake was to try to deny Ward’s clinches and to work him on the inside. Primo, this turned out to be a very exhausting tactic for Kovalev more than Ward, and secundo, Kovalev needs space to deploy his full power. In the first fight, I felt Kovalev was robbed and I was hoping he could get an early rounds KO victory.
Hearing Kellerman made me think that was another fight, they didn’t even mentioned the low blows with the tape repetition. Here in latinoamerica the journalist sent for this fight (Juan Larena from Combate Space) asked S.O.G. about the low blows and he clearly got pissed and dismissed the issue.
It was a good fight, Ward made the necessary adjustments, with that being said there were way too many low blows and Tony stopped the fight way too early. Kovalev needed to knock Dre out in order to win, it was clear to everybody though it seems that he didn’t really change his tactics from the first fight. He should’ve listen more to Jackson and get a proper strength and conditioning coach the specializes in boxing…not sure what’s next for him. Maybe Adonis will be willing to fight him…
What about the hits before the “questionable” low blows that stunned kovalev? He was hurt, no doubt about it, and he gave up. On the scorecard, I had Ward losing up to this point, but he made adjustments, saw that the body was hurting, and went for kill. At the beginning of fight, ref showed that kovalev belt was too high thus the body shots were legal….
Nevada boxing commission and HBO boxing has egg all over their faces. What n embarrassment of a PPV event… The undercards wouldn’t even make Lou debellas Broadway boxing events. So lopsided, and a ppv event at that. Then the debacle of a knockout hit after the bell, wait before the bell, wait, he acted as though he was knocked out, wait no, they were both throwing at the same time, but only one connected, wait, wait, I heard from the truck the hit connected before the bell. WTF HBO?
Roy Jones, you were a great boxer, but as commentator, you need to fake a knockout. Give me showbox or Broadway boxing events any day.
nothing controversal about this fight. The right man won. Excuses are for losers
mmm Armstrong was saying the same ….
Now we laugh at him
false victories and jobs with the NSA and CIA are for losers.
The Krusher got Krushed by the smaller S.O.G Ward! Them blows was border line belt. People keep making excuses for the bully but he shouldn’t never threat a man on ending his career, like he’s trying to kill someone in the ring. I would say Ward let him off easy!!
…..AND STILL LIGHT WEIGHTCHAMPION OF THE WORLDDDDDDDD…
What is wrong with Boxing?ref did not give kovalev a chance!this is a world class fighter,give him 10sec ref..ward is behind in the scorecard..USA decision last time and again this time..,
Yes. Sir…I saw it. When I think of blatent low blows I think of Gollatta vs Bowe…Or wut Mares Did to that kid yrs back. Agbecko it was maybe. But yeah. I just thought wen I rewatched the bout & concentrated on the body work being done by both men it was excellent work. There was no need for anyone to cheat. 90+% of the shots were accurate throughout. Also, Maan nothing…
in no contest…no activity really that I can think of do rules get applied to the letter. I didn’t see either man’s belly button last night. Kov put dre in a headlock every round of the fight. There was rabbit punching in every rd as well. I counted 1 warning…There was holding by both fighters…zero warnings…Andre would measure w/ his left from time to time… No one follows the rules to the letter. Nor do they get enforced fully. Besides the stoppage I just didn’t see enough to be outraged about. & when I watched weeks in the replay he actually did an excellent job of allowing the fighters fight & not inject himself too much.
The last thing I’ll say is this….This is “the BUSINESS of sports and entertainment”. I’ve long since shed my complete voluntary delusion over the spirit of pure competition. I always know in the back of my pea brain that there are multiple interests in play to be met. Do I think weeks was perhaps instructed to be quick on the draw in favor of Ward?? ABSOLUTELY. But I also understand that athletes know what they’re up against in every scenario. & the pure beauty of sports reality is everyone has to play their part for home cooking to be effective. & Sergei didn’t quite live up to the task. It’s the reason guys don’t like going into other people’s countries to fight. They know they’re up against the crowd…the ref…AND their opponent. It’s just the nature of the beast…Felix Sturm feasted on that sh*t for Yeeeears. He’s not alone. I just didn’t think last night was an egregious example. I didn’t like it. But I wasn’t outraged. (sorry for being so long-winded) (should prolly just start a youtube channel) lol
Hey fellas…To anyone who cares: There’s a vid on youtube showing the fight from inside the arena. Excellent footage. (Surprisingly better than the telecast IMO) Super clear & close. I was wrong. NONE of wards shots were low. They were ALL on the beltline & the white of kov’s trunks where his abdomen is. I froze all the frames. 30:23, 30:57, 31:30, 31:38. If you freeze them at the point of impact you see the red of ward’s gloves on the white of kov’s trunks. They were all clean to the body. Incedentally, the vid shows just how thorough ward broke kov down. It’s amazing the live effect contrasted against the broadcast. Kov was finished man. It actually made me change my mind on the stoppage as well. That was an excellent fight front to back. go watch it. I think it’s titled “full fight from inside the arena”.
Thanks. Can you provide the link? At least the link address after the ‘watch’ part?
https://youtu.be/fc0F5BIXXBs
Wrong. You are not just wrong there, you are lying through your teeth.
I watched that final flurry from three different angles , including in the ‘inside the arena’ footage, and its plain as day that Ward is hunching down and reaching low to hit Kovalev in the groin as hard as he can.
Tony Weeks was standing right there and pretended not to see it.
Millions of people know that this was a corrupt, fixed fight. Pathetic lies like yours cannot obscure the truth.
did you not see low blows?are you blind or f liar?the all world can see them- people from England,Germany,France…only wards fanboys defend them.Shame and corruption.
Idk.. it felt.. kinda rigged in a way. Kovalev was not as sharp with his right hand at all it was almost like he wasn’t trying to counter with it. I saw ward make a few adjustments to avoid them but if you compare his right hand this fight to the first one you can see that he was a lot sharper with it. That and the low blows bothered me about this fight.. idk if kov was drained or something but his right hand s*cked almost seem to fight the entire fight with his left hand only. When he had clear openings for the right hand he didn’t take it.. And when he did land the right hand he would pull it back. It’s weird.. I like ward but I didn’t want him to win like this.. weird stoppage weird ref.. And weird right hands from kovalev.
I don’t like Ward and everyone saying that this was such a good fight before the end needs their eyes examined.
Ward elbowed Kovalev in the face and grabbed Kovalev so many times that Referee Tony Weeks should have deducted a point for holding.
Ward hit Kovalev in the groin area at least three times before the fight was even half way over.
This clutching and wrestling and knashing of heads is not boxing. It is disgusting. Ward is disgusting.
Bro…I’m gonna be honest. You sound like a puss up here whinning & crying foul so much. This sport of our is a subjective one. You’re entitled to your opinion. All good. But to go on this ridiculous campaign like this fight was a monstrosity is ridiculous. Kovalev is on record to be Joining the Ward camp w/ Hunter as his trainer. Does that sound like a man who was aggrieved as you suggest?? Cut it out man…We’ve all seen some pretty shocking and terrible outcomes in fights. But this is a bloodsport. & it was up to Kov to cancel out any perceived fouls. He did not protest when the fight was stopped. & it’s been proven now that he has stamina issues…His inside fightgame is weak & he’s mentally vulnerable at times. It’s like wtf are you on??? It’s a fight…This isn’t the Olympics. Speaking of which there are some pretter horrific scandals in boxing history. Go protest those. This fight was a beatdown. I posted the inside the arena footage. I don’t see how you can conclude otherwise. Also…no one here is complaining about Kov fouls…Bc no one gives a sh*t. Ward didn’t look for help. He got gritty. It was a really good fight. Too bad u didn’t enjoy it & want to sh*t all over it. Many here have said the stoppage was fugaze. But He was going to get stopped bro. & it would’ve been a brutal stoppage. Stop whining…Let the babies & the women do that.
The most stupid and crazy comment here.Only a fanboy can say that.There are rules in the boxing and those rules are to protect the health of the fighter.If Connor kicks only one time Floyd he will brake his leg or ribs.This is not a street fight. and if someone can win against the rules and try to hurt the opponent and the referee does not follow the rules too there is- corruption.Not many people watched this fight because they know how it will finish.And the next fight-they will be less.
welp…there u go. Theres one. For u to be upset at. Even a mega star like pac falls prey to home cooking.
I can’t wait to get ur take on jeff horn & the pacquiao fight. Lol
Totally satisfied LEGIT stoppage. If the fight would have gone on Kovalev would have been eating head shots then gone down, wich I would enjoy seeing….. but ,good stoppage. Kovalev tried to play the “LOW BLOW” victim but as i keep seeing in the last round that ,indeed, the shot was NOT low most would assume the blow was low because Kovalev pretended that most of the body shots thrown by Ward through out the early part of the fight were low. wrong ref for that type of tactic.–NO trilogy. Kovalev vs Adonis Stevenson would be great for the light heavyweight division tho.
Kovalev’s back end touched the bottom rope. That’s just a knockdown , not a stoppage. If Tony Weeks had been properly officiating it would not even have been ruled a knockdown.
Tony Weeks moved in waving Ward off , and everyone thought he was moving in to call an illegal foul on Ward.
Kovalev should have been five minutes to recover while Ward was deducted a penalty point for illegal foul.
Instead Tony Weeks suddenly stopped the fight and ruled a bogus fake win for Ward.
Insane.
Tony Weeks even admitted after the fight that he should have called Ward for the low blow. He admitted that he wrecked the entire fight. A fight for THREE TITLE BELTS.
Insane corruption
Don’t expect too much from T. Weeks since he is useless. He did the same sort of bad judgement in other few bouts.
Mr. October, what we saw was a disgusting politically motivated mugging and farcical cancellation of a fight which had not even been decided.
Kovalev got caught with ONE damaging blow, after which he immediately grabbed Ward to buy precious seconds of recovery time/
Then he got rocked by several consecutive illegal low blows, and was yelling at the ref as he crouched down to take a knee. You even see Ward stop briefly because Kovalev is dropping to take a knee or take a knockdown.
Then the fight was stopped. Ridiculously.
Anyone or everyone is forgetting that Pascal won two rounds decisively vs. Kovalev in their first fight? That Pascal rocked Kovalev coming in?
That Kovalev looked shaky in that round, only to return the next round and put on a clinic of outside boxing because Pascal was tired?
Kovalev went on to administer a career-altering beating to Pascal.
And because of it, the social-engineers prevented Kovalev from fighting Adonis Stevenson and unifying all of the light heavyweight belts.
Lets face it , boxing is corrupted and politically manipulated.
That’s a powerful post my friend!
Mr-October: I agree with you on some of your good comments but no with the one regarding low blows since most likely some of them were intentionally landed.
Again the American “darling” won the fight with the referee successful intervention supported by the ring commentators adulating a Ward’s work with not value at all and quite disgusting to be honest. Because the referee was partially obstructing the camera it is difficult to be precise but in my opinion the last two punches trowed by Ward were so low that almost hit the knees of Kovalev. Unfortunately, this sport is so biased to the point that even the corruption word, which is totally acceptable in this case, is not good enough to define this event.
Kovalev just can’t take a punch as well as he can give one. He flaked it and quit. If he was that bothered by low blows he should of returned the favour. A lot of people seem not to recall the shot that started the onslaught that made Kovavlev do the Bambi dance.
are you serious-if he returned the low blows weeks will dq him immediately.did you not see the stoppage?corruption
ttrak: Destroyed!!!! it is too much to say for a guy that hasn’t power at all and wasn’t able to connect the number of punches he requires to do so if he ever can.
He may be just destroyed Kovalev’s pride hitting so so low.
Ward whooped his a*s and made the ref stop the fight because Kovalev was bent over on the ropes and not defending himself!! You can say he pretty much quite and low blows are questionable.
Another runner, like fortynine and O, a low blow special, five shots to his nuts and four to his d*ck, SOG must like likes playing with pricks, Weeks is on hand to close the show, another bent fight, what do you know!
Ward completely has his old rhythm back.He plainly whip his ass.Low blow were real but I believe he would have won anyways.
Despite all the controversy, these two fights were epic. Kovalev displayed his skills in the first fight, disproving the notion that he was just a big puncher. Ward looked very nervous and indecisive at the opening of the first fight, but grew into the fighting making a closely contested, pendulum-swinging fight, that was an underrated fight of the year contender, imo. Then we had months of controversy surrounding the rematch with negotiation disputes, sh*t talking social media, and heated press conferences amounting to a genuine animosity between both guys that was lacking in the first fight. Ward fought out of his skin in the rematch, taking risks and being prepared to eat kovalev’s punches. Kovalev’s jab was even better in the second fight but he couldn’t deal with ward’s increased intensity. Ward found Kovalev’s weakness (body punches) at the end of the first fight and ruthlessly exploited it in the second. It is very telling that ward’s best finishes have come against arguably his best opposition (dawson and kovalev).
As for the controversy …
Holding, or clinch work, is a grey area in boxing. Kovalev held in the first fight to nullify ward’s inside work and ward holds as a proactive defence after he lands a shot, and he uses wrestling to set up his offence — case in point where he held kov’s head in round 4 to set up a 2 to the body and a 3 upstairs. Personally, i don’t think what either fighter did with clinching was egregious enough to constitute a foul.
As for the low blows, Ward was aiming and concentrating on Kov’s body, throwing much more punches there, so that increases that likelihood that some may miss and land downstairs. Furthermore, both fighters had their trunks high in the second fight, as Weeks indicated at the start of the fight, so when ward landed on Kov’s belt line those were, in fact, legal.
The real question is why did Kovalev react so much to those borderline shots? because he was tired, he was hurt to the body, and he was mentally beaten. Ward did that to him fair and square. Kovalev is a great fighter, Ward is an all-time-great fighter. That’s what these two fights showed. Deal with it, racist cry-babies on the internet.