Sergey Kovalev vs Andre Ward: 5 biggest takeaways

The decision was controversial, but not a robbery

In his post-fight monologue, HBO’s Max Kellerman made one particularly salient point: there’s a significant difference between a controversial decision and an outright robbery. And regardless of what one feels about the result of Kovalev-Ward — and it could be viewed as entirely suspect — the three identical scorecards were hardly a travesty.

That said, general consensus seems to be that Kovalev did enough to win the fight, even though a solid cohort of fans and pundits feel Ward had legitimately earned his 114-113 victory. Ironically, though, the debate and mild controversy this has fostered could be positive for boxing. For once, disagreements will be grounded more in breaking down contrasting styles and approaches — Kovalev’s purposeful early pressure versus Ward’s later rally behind sharp boxing and ruthless in-fighting — and not outright institutional corruption.

One unfortunate reality worth noting, however, is that all three judges somehow saw fit to give Andre Ward round ten, a stanza where Kovalev appeared to have a clear edge. Over three torrid minutes, Kovalev and Ward exchanged punishing single shots as the action seesawed. But the difference was that Kovalev’s blows appeared to do more damage, and the Russian punctuated this with a clean right hand that seemed to leave no doubt about the round’s winner. This is the sort of issue that is legitimately frustrating.

This was a significant moment as Ward, during rounds seven through nine, had taken control of the fight, scoring with his jab, right hand to the body and forcing Kovalev to engage on the inside. And it’s because of minor — yet crucial — moments such as round ten that Kovalev-Ward demands a second viewing and even closer scoring scrutiny.