[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- The following is a presentation of HBO Sports.
- Hello again. I'm Jim Lampley.
On June 17, HBO pay-per-view will take you live to Las Vegas
for the fiercely anticipated rematch
between light heavyweight champion Andre Ward
and former champion Sergey Kovalev.
Fiercely anticipated not just because they are two
of the top five pound-for-pound fighters in boxing,
but even more so because of the controversial outcome
of their first fight, which took place
November 19 last year
in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Both fighters entered unbeaten
for what the boxing world saw as a pick-'em fight.
It was a classic seesaw,
in which one fighter clearly won the first half of the bout
and the other fighter clearly came back in the later rounds,
and the decision was razor thin,
with the winner asserting he had clearly won
and the loser screaming bloody murder.
In other words, boxing at its maddening best.
Let's go back six months now
to see how I called Kovalev-Ward 1
with Max Kellerman and Roy Jones.
- Only the third time since "Ring" magazine
began carrying pound-for-pound rankings in the 1980s,
that two unbeaten fighters from the top ten
of the pound-for-pound rankings have gone against each other.
For that reason and that reason alone,
it's the most important fight of 2016.
- And without a doubt, I can't see this fight
not being a good fight.
Both of these guys want to win, both of these guys
want to inflict pain on the other guy,
both of these guys want to prove that they are
pound-for-pound the best,
right now today at their primes.
- Opinions are split just about 50/50 as to
who is gonna win this fight.
Ward wound up the very slight betting favorite,
I think because his entire career has demonstrated
that he's a truly great fighter.
He's going to have to be great right now
to overcome Kovalev.
- Hold! Stop! Let him up, let him out!
- And the buildup to the fight
has been just fractious enough
that as they get going here,
neither fighter is hampered by the problem
of liking the other guy.
They don't. - [laughs]
- Tactical start.
Kovalev wants to be sure not to overreach early.
Quick right hand lands for Ward.
[cheers and applause]
Ward getting a little left to the body.
- Thing about Kovalev's power is it makes it such
that Andre has to walk a tightrope--
- Stiff jab by Kovalev.
- There you see him hurt by a jab.
- Two stiff jabs by Kovalev
knocked Ward back a few feet.
- Ward controlling the round until then,
and one jab seemed to shake him up.
- Kovalev has one of the most powerful jabs
in boxing, Max.
- Bernard Hopkins says it's a power punch.
It's not like other jabs.
- Much more of a margin for error for Kovalev.
Ward not as big a puncher.
- But you know, Max, sometimes when a guy feels power...
- Hard right hand by Kovalev. - No, no, no, no!
- You realize that he has to throw more power
in order to be able to keep up with his opponent.
- Just shows you, though, Ward doing
a lot of good things this round.
And Kovalev only has to do one or two good things.
- Stop! Let him out. Let him out. Let him out.
Let him out. Let him out.
- So round 1, very interesting so far
with 30 seconds to go.
Ward has forced Kovalev into the kind
of tactical confrontation
he doesn't really want to have,
but Kovalev has thrown
the more meaningful punches of the two.
- Ward trying to get inside Kovalev's power,
but that is dangerous, 'cause you have to avoid
those power shots on your way in.
- Probably less dangerous inside of it, though,
than right in punching range.
[bell dinging]
Kovalev trying to control him with his jab,
and sometimes he was able to do it.
[cheers and applause]
- Now, see, he's grabbing with the headlock, so you move.
The move on the inside was good.
Okay? You're showing different looks.
He's really nervous-- you get him off the face--
show him different looks, okay?
You hear me? - Yep.
- Okay.
You figured him out, right? - Yep.
- Okay. [whistle blows]
- He's trying to feint you.
Keep giving it back. Use that jab.
Nice and relaxed. You're very smart.
- [speaking Russian]
Keep using that jab, baby. He can't deal with that.
Be smart.
All right.
- Not much to say for Jackson.
He seems very happy with what Kovalev did.
- Yeah, here you see the guys exchange jabs, actually.
But Kovalev's jabs seem to have a lot more effect on Andre
then Andre's jab had on Kovalev.
And usually that happens when you see a guy
move up in weight.
[whistle blows]
- And Kovalev landed that jab
and one other jab, and that was basically
his work for the round.
And it may have been enough to win him the round.
- Well, Ward is moving up from 168 to 175 as a pro,
but keep in mind, he won his Olympic gold medal
in 2004 in Athens in a weight class,
the limit for which was 178 pounds.
So he has a deep background in fighting against
fighters this size, he just hasn't done it that recently.
And Harold Lederman unofficially
gives round 1 to Kovalev.
- Watch your feet! Watch your feet!
Stop, stop!
- Kovalev doing a good job nullifying Ward's attack
once Ward gets inside.
- Hey, that was pretty, uh, exceptional there
what he did, Max, it was, uh--
it was kind of a good move on Kovalev's part
because when Andre got in that pace
to where we usually see other fighters unable to punch,
he locked Andre up so Andre couldn't punch, either.
Good jab by Andre.
- Andre doing a lot of good things.
But he's--he's got to keep doing them.
[crowd clamoring]
Kovalev's power is the great equalizer.
- Use it, use it, use it. - Left hand lands for Kovalev.
And again.
Ward shaking his head, but Kovalev
is piercing his guard and landing hard shots!
Hard right hand for Kovalev!
Left jab lands again.
Ward is having trouble defending against Kovalev,
and we've never seen him have this kind of trouble before.
- Well, when the left jab lands like a straight right hand,
it's a problem.
- And that's something that we've never seen him
have to deal with before.
- Come on up. Go.
- So a small education going on early
as Ward learns the difference between Kovalev
and any other opponent he's faced.
Power, length.
- Some have likened this fight in its way to
Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Um...
the bigger puncher, Hearns, stalking the kind of
more dynamic, more multi-faceted fighter
in Sugar Ray, who had to wind up
coming back down on points
to stop Tommy Hearns.
both: Oh!
- Down goes Ward on a perfect right hand shot!
That's only the second time in Andre Ward's career
that he's been knocked down!
And never has he tasted thunder like that before.
- And never in a fight in which he was losing it
up to that point.
- Kovalev wants to finish!
He's gonna go for it right now!
And Ward needs to tackle him to blunt the assault!
- Let's go.
[loud tapping]
- Kovalev's accuracy...
and precision showing up and... [bell dinging]
Ward fights him off with a left hook at the end of the round.
- A tremendous second round for Sergey Kovalev.
And now it's an uphill fight for Andre Ward.
- I got him. Look at me.
Look!
Look at me! - I hear you.
- You're hesitating, okay?
All that walking to you.
You know what we're here for, you understand?
Do you know what we're here for?
You great.
Don't worry about a knockdown.
Don't even entertain it.
You understand?
- Here you see Kovalev throw the right hand.
Ward tried to counter with a straight right,
but he countered from the right side,
which is very dangerous, and Kovalev was able to
beat him to the punch because he started his punch first.
He knew that Ward was gonna try to stick the jab and counter,
and he just beat him to the punch.
And it really was a short right hand,
but it did land right on the button.
[whistle blows]
- And here's Natalia Kovalev at ringside,
with their two-year-old son, celebrating early.
But there's a long way to go.
- Yes, it is, Jim. [bell dinging]
- Maybe--I mean, there's a long way to go, maybe.
If Kovalev is able to land as easily as he has
in the first two rounds, particularly the second,
maybe there's not a long way to go.
Ward's got to find a way to make it a long way to go.
- In the second round, Kovalev landed 11 of 26 power shots.
Ward was 0 for 4.
And Ward is doing more tackling than punching so far.
- It's not a bad idea if you're Andre.
- This bullshit's got to stop. Just stop right now, okay?
I want to keep it clean. Keep it clean.
Tap up, let's go.
- Try to bully the bully a little bit.
- [laughs]
- And, uh, try to rough him up some way
without getting into exchanges,
which Ward is losing.
- Kovalev has very smart feet, Max.
And what I mean by that is, he's not allowing Andre
to fight him at that distance,
where everybody else usually allows Andre to fight it.
- And what else is showing up is Kovalev's activity.
He looks like the sharper fighter.
- He looks like the more confident fighter,
he looks like the stronger fighter,
and he's way more accurate with his punches.
- And by activity, I don't mean in this fight,
I mean in recent years. - Yes.
- He's constantly in the ring
and he's sharp as a result.
- Twelve fights over the course of the past five years.
Ward has had five.
Let's open the microphone that Virgil Hunter
is wearing in Ward's corner,
see if we can find out what Virgil
is trying to say to Ward.
- Ward feeling, it looks like...
as though he's gonna have to weather the storm
and rough Kovalev up.
- Take deep breaths! You can't just stand in front!
Quit standing in front so much!
Quit showing so much, it's just...
- No, no, let him out. - He keeps grabbing him, Byrd!
- Let him go with the headlock!
- Quit standing in front!
- Good jab. - And a shot from Ward!
Best punch so far for Andre Ward.
Snaps Kovalev's head with a left hook.
- It--it was, the difference again being
Kovalev can take that shot much better,
because Andre's not the kind of puncher that Sergey is.
A shot like that from Sergey
puts Andre on the canvas.
- Round is on the table.
Kovalev seemed to win the first two,
certainly won the second-- it was a two-point round.
Last 30 seconds of the round will determine
who wins this one.
- Yeah, Virgil Hunter trying to get Andre Ward
not to stand right there in front of Kovalev
and show him a still picture.
He wants Andre to go left or right,
and not be right there in front of him,
because that right hand and that jab
are very dangerous right down the pipe.
- Ward trying to wrestle with Kovalev
and Kovalev manages to throw in a few little taps to the head.
- I thought that was actually Sergey
wrestling with Ward in that instance.
- Got a bell coming.
[bell dinging] Bell!
- Andre showed championship heart,
resolve, and determination in that round.
But again, the tightrope he's walking
is a very treacherous one.
- Remember those short shots, okay?
Keep turning him in that circle, okay?
This is what the greatness is.
This is what it's all about.
You win now, but you gonna come back and stop him.
You gonna stop him.
You gonna stop him.
You believe what you here for, you understand?
Keep that jab working, don't reach,
show him different looks, okay?
- [speaking Russian]
- Gonna work behind that jab and feint, feint.
It works.
- [speaking Russian]
- He don't want to fight, baby, he don't want to fight you.
Keep using that jab, be smart.
Give me some water. Give me some water.
- Give me some water. - Get that mouthpiece in.
- Yes, yes, what is this? - Go, go, go! Mouthpiece!
- Okay. - Put the mouthpiece in!
- What is this?
- Put the mouthpiece in! - I got to rinse it for him.
- You saw the CompuBox numbers between round.
Kovalev basically doubling Ward
in terms of landed punches and thrown punches so far.
We go to round number 4.
You heard Virgil Hunter saying in Ward's ear,
"You're gonna stop him, you're gonna stop him."
Does that mean they've already given up
on winning a decision?
Probably not.
Harold, how do you have it through three?
- Okay, Jim, I got a 3-0, 30-26, Sergey Kovalev.
You know what, Jim, he's landed all the hard, effective shots.
He's landing the shots that you score rounds for.
In other words, Kovalev is landing the punches
that the judges should be seeing.
And that's why he won the first three rounds.
Andre Ward doing a lot of grabbing, backing up,
and I'm surprised, you don't see Andre Ward
back up that often, but he's backing up in this fight.
And you see that? He does a lot of grabbing.
He's holding a lot.
3-0 Sergey Kovalev.
- I can see what Virgil Hunter means
when he says, "you're gonna stop him,"
because he's making Kovalev earn everything.
But Kovalev's earning it.
And the power of the shots
is controlling the fight.
- Well, the thing about Andre Ward is,
he's a lot like Bernard Hopkins.
What they know how to do is,
they are very good at slowing the pace down,
and Floyd Mayweather's the best at it,
getting you to a point to where you're not sure
what's really going on.
Then they surprise you with a big shot.
And that's what Virgil is trying to foresee coming.
- And Ward is trying to dial in a left hook.
He's had a couple of quick opportunities
to land a left hook against Kovalev this round.
Hasn't really nailed him with the shot
the way he wants to yet, but that may be coming.
- And also, we don't know how Kovalev will respond
if Ward can show him some real adversity.
If Ward can make him think at moments
that this isn't gonna be easy, or maybe I have a chance
to lose this fight, what happens then?
- And the other good thing we know is,
we know that Ward is in very good condition,
because he was conditioned by the great Mackie Shilstone.
So his conditioning's not gonna fail him.
The only thing that could possibly fail him
would be his chin and his boxing skills.
- Right, we see that Ward already faced with adversity
is responding with championship mettle.
- I though that, earlier in the fight,
Kovalev would have the edge because of his punching power.
I thought as the fight grew on,
Ward would become in better shape
because of his conditioning and his way of boxing.
Now we'll see who can make the adjustments best
at this point in the fight.
- A lot of people expected that Andre Ward
would want to get inside of Kovalev's long arms
and fight him on the inside.
When he gets inside,
they seem to be tying up.
Just like that. - Well, he also--
- Max and I have already had one argument
about who's tying who up.
- Well, it's basically been Ward,
but there have been instances where Kovalev has initiated it.
Um, Ward seems to want to move away from that
Kovalev right hand right now, and outside the Kovalev jab,
and so he's circling counterclockwise,
which is not generally the way
a right-handed fighter will circle.
- What's happening inside--
- Kovalev is figuring it out and landing his jab.
- What's happening inside is that,
it's a chess match going on.
Ward wants to fight in there,
Kovalev doesn't want to allow him to fight in there,
so they're having a "who's the stronger fighter"
inside by clinching, pushing, driving the other guy back.
- Exactly, and Kovalev so far
seems to be winning the pushing match.
And there is Ward's mother.
Madeline Arvie Taylor.
She was not as much a part of Andre's life
as he would've wanted her to be when he was a young boy.
They have achieved a reunion in recent years,
and she's here tonight as she was at ringside
for his last two fights in Oakland.
- Right, so sometimes you step in,
you step over like you know how to do.
You start using those great legs like you have, right,
when you in close, okay?
And when you fire, fire with precision.
Set those traps, okay?
Keep that jab working, showing it to him,
and keeping him off balance-- the jab is tricky.
- He don't want to fight you. He trying to walk back.
Keep messing with him, keep, you know, touch him, touch him.
Go to the body. - Right, right, right.
- [speaking Russian]
- Here you see Kovalev's smart
and--smartness and timing
with the under-leaning hook.
He blocks it with that stiff jab
and throws Andre's hook off just a little bit,
and gave him enough time that the hook didn't land
flush on the chin.
That's the effectiveness of Kovalev's good, straight jab.
[bell dinging]
- Power punches--Kovalev has basically tripled Ward
through these first few rounds,
landing 22 power shots to 7 for Andre Ward
to this point in the fight.
- Andre Ward has not been in this position ever
as a professional.
Down on the cards, you have to imagine
having been hurt, knocked down,
and this is not Darnell Boone he's getting up against,
who's a tough fighter, this is a dominant world champion
who's pressing his advantage.
- Harold Lederman has not yet scored a round for Andre Ward.
The judges scoring the fight officially at ringside
are not accustomed to seeing Andre Ward lose
a string of rounds like this.
- I thought Andre could've won the last round.
- No, no, let him out! Let him out!
Let him out!
Here we go.
- Good body shot by Ward.
Good hook by Kovalev.
- Well, Kovalev able to just slice through Ward's guard
with straight punches, especially the jab.
- Ward tries to get inside, Kovalev pushes him away.
Kovalev very patient so far.
When he knocked Hopkins down in the first round,
he never got greedy, was perfectly content
to coast to a boxing win
the rest of the way. - Good jab.
- Ward lands a good, straight jab.
- And one mistake that Kovalev is making right now, Jim,
is he's following Ward around
instead of cutting the ring off.
Like right there, he's following him
instead of cutting the ring off.
- But he hasn't put doubt in Kovalev's mind.
He's landed some good punches,
he's done some things Kovalev hasn't liked,
but I haven't seen him put doubt in the aggressive
power puncher's mind, and it's tough for the boxer.
Especially when that puncher's landing shots to win
if he can't put that doubt there.
- Body shots in the clinch for Andre Ward.
And he tries to land upstairs in the clinch as well.
Harold Lederman made a good point before.
The punches that are easy to see landing,
that's Kovalev.
crowd: SOG! SOG!
- Those punches like that lead hook Ward just threw,
though, are getting closer and closer, Jim.
- Oh, he's dialing it in.
- And if he lands that lead left hook like that,
it's gonna be a bad outcome.
Good jab by Kovalev.
- Yeah, and the crowd is exhorting him on, "SOG."
But...
there for the first time, it seems that Ward's punch
affected Kovalev.
- Good, quick left jab and a right hand
over the top by Ward.
Kovalev coming back, trying to regain control with the jab.
- It's an edge-of-your-seat kind of fight
because you know, no matter what Andre does,
no matter how much good work he does,
one shot from Kovalev can change everything.
- Yeah, but same thing with Ward.
One shot from Ward could also change everything, Max.
- We just have yet to see that.
Although slowly, Ward is starting to really
assert himself in this round. [bell dinging]
- Achieving more offensive rhythm
than had been the case up to that point.
Andre Ward making a little bit better mark in the fifth round.
- He's coming into our zone now.
Everything's good-- he's coming to our zone.
Now remember on the inside, he put his hand around,
move that hand out the way, stay alert.
We have--right here, this is the sixth, okay?
We got seven more to go, okay?
You have what it takes.
You pick it up, roll your head out,
down is with you, and show that, kay?
We just don't throw a punch and then--
and--and throw it wide, keep it tight.
And you blast him, see?
Take that smirk off his face, okay?
- All right. - Huh?
Huh? - It's been ten seconds.
[whistle blows]
- Okay, go.
- And use them feints on him, Sergey.
He don't want to fight you, man.
[bell dinging]
- Round 6 of a scheduled 12.
First five seemed to have gone by pretty quickly.
- Good hook to the body by Ward.
- In case you're just joining us, Kovalev knocked Ward down
in the second round, got to Ward with his jab
in the first few rounds, Ward began to reach Kovalev
with a left hook, landed one right cross in the last round.
- Good jab to the body by Ward.
- No, no, no. No, no.
- See, that's--that's Kovalev holding Ward's left arm.
- Yeah, because this was where
Ward wants to fight. - Right arm, sorry.
- This is the place that Ward usually
gets guys at that they can't fight back,
and Kovalev is trying to stop that.
He's done his homework, Max.
He knows that this is the point where
he'll have the hardest time dealing with Ward.
So what he does is, he tries to tie Ward up to stop that.
A very smart move by Kovalev. - Let him go, let him go.
- Kovalev tried to catch Ward coming in with a right hand.
- Kovalev making it obvious there that Ward's the one
tying up by splaying his arms out.
"Look, I'm not holding."
- Right now. [chuckles]
I'm not surprised at all
that Ward hasn't turned southpaw in this fight,
because he realizes that turning southpaw,
he's very susceptible to that right-hand lead.
And the right hand has already put him down once,
so that's why I think he's smart enough to stay
in the orthodox stance.
- With, keeping in mind, that Kovalev...
- Oh, that was a good right hand by Kovalev.
- At any moment can do that and really hurt Ward,
I think Ward may have won two consecutive rounds,
and I think he's winning this one.
Oh, that's a good right hand by Kovalev.
- Yeah, it might've hurt his eardrum there,
or he could've just been putting it up for defense.
- I don't think Ward's winning this round.
But... you're the expert.
- I think...
I think the clean shots have been landed by Ward
in this round, even though he's
giving the impression at times--or Kovalev is--
that he's doing the hunting.
- He is hunting, Max, but what Ward is doing
is Ward is very smart.
He's backing back on the-- on the defensive,
but he's very explosive when he does, uh, attack like that.
- That was a good little right hand by Kovalev--
- Kovalev gets in another right hand.
He's had two good, clean right hands in this round.
- Yes, I agree.
- Very good right hands.
Oh.
- Near miss. Ward shaking his head.
- You--there's also the psychological impression
left by Kovalev, even a near miss.
You're like, "whoa."
That was almost the end for Ward,
and psychologically, I think it sways
observers to think that Kovalev is doing maybe a little better
than he's actually doing.
- He's landing plenty.
- Good body shot by Ward. [loud tapping]
- Another good body shot by Ward.
- Yes.
- And another one on the left side.
[bell dinging] - Time!
[cheers and applause]
- Ward lands inside.
Kovalev lands at distance.
- Keep working behind that jab for me.
Ward's jabbing, but he can't take the jab.
And the feints, okay?
- [speaking Russian]
- When you throw that right hand,
throw the hook for me.
Give him the hook.
Bam!
- Think he's wearing down?
Huh?
Okay.
Keep going behind your jab, Dre.
Okay?
All right.
And I need you to put the shots together.
You can do it--combinations, don't try to load up, okay?
Don't let him breathe and get off, okay?
When he's trying to rest, you got to make him work,
but keep your fundamentals and he'll rush it, okay?
I don't know where it is, this last round.
Don't let him even do that where the crowd gives a reaction.
Even though he didn't hit you, it makes it seem like he did.
When you go into your-- 'cause when you move away,
save that lead foot in the front, okay?
All right.
[whistle blows] You want to be great?
It's time to be great.
Be great.
- Here you see Kovalev landing
that looping right hand on Andre.
Well, right there was kind of a straight right
when Andre came in.
Right on the ear, but Andre didn't really have
a reaction to it.
But this second one that he lands right here on the ear--
boom--Andre pulls his hand right up to his ear,
right there, like it may have hurt,
injured the ear or hurt the eardrum.
I'm not sure if it was for defense
or if it really had an effect on Andre's ear at all--at all.
[bell dinging]
- Harold, how do you have it through six?
- Okay, Jim, I got it 59-54,
five rounds to one, Sergey Kovalev.
Jim, in my estimation,
he's landing the harder, cleaner shots,
and those are the shots that are doing damage,
and those are the shots that are winning the rounds.
Andre Ward doing a lot of holding,
a lot of running away--I mean, he's backing up constantly.
I don't know why.
If I were Andre Ward, I would take this fight
to Kovalev and beat him up,
but be as it may, that's how Andre wants to fight.
See, there he goes, backing up, backing up, backing up.
I don't think he can beat a big guy
like Sergey Kovalev backing up.
You got to take it to him.
Five rounds to one, Sergey Kovalev.
- And he has a knockdown point.
- Sure, just take the fight to Kovalev and beat him up.
- [laughs] Like it's that easy, huh?
- I mean, look, they're the same height--
technically they're listed at the same height--
and Ward is not a small light heavyweight at this point.
But it looks to me, just eyeballing it, Roy,
not just that Ward moved up, but that it's
a good big man versus a good little man.
Not in an exaggerated way,
but I do think that's a way you can state this.
- You can. It's a big puncher against
a good boxer who can punch, also.
- Good jab by Ward.
Pace has slowed a little bit here in round number 7.
- Kovalev just looks the bigger and the stronger of the two.
- That wide stance makes him definitely look
the stronger, Max, because--
- Oh! - Good quick jab by Ward.
Tries to follow it up with a right hand.
[cheers and applause]
- And another good jab by Ward.
- Another good shot by Ward.
And halfway through, he's certainly winning this round.
- And see, right here is where he wants to fight at, Max.
And this is where he knows Kovalev is not
really comfortable at.
That's why he wants to fight right here.
- Ward dug a couple good body shots--
- Like that right. Like that right, right there.
- That's exactly what Virgil Hunter was thinking of
when he was asking Ward,
"Do you think he's wearing down yet?
Do you think he's wearing down?"
Because that's the signal for Ward to go inside
and begin trying to dominate
with his two-fisted attack up close.
- Well, we are in the second half of the fight.
- And he's hitting--he's hit Kovalev with some very good
stiff jabs this round.
- The texture of the fight has changed significantly
in the last two minutes.
- Kovalev's very heavy-handed. - Whole different Andre Ward.
- Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
Both of you, stop that.
Stop that. Don't do that.
Okay, here we go.
- Robert Byrd is trying to referee with his words,
continually talking to the fighters,
trying to keep things on an even keel.
Ward is getting closer and getting inside Kovalev's arms.
And it's harder for Kovalev to do that kind of damage.
This time, he caught Ward coming in.
- And there's the tightrope Ward has to walk.
All the good work he's done in this round.
[loud tapping] A jab from Kovalev
you have to be careful about.
- Yup, everything. - Good right hand by Ward.
Kovalev wants to land one more shot before the round ends.
[bell dinging] - Time!
- And gets in a left hand.
[cheers and applause]
That was a very good round for Andre Ward,
and changed his position in the fight.
- Don't leave nothing to chance, now.
You've got him, you understand?
When this is clicking and that's hitting, you got him.
That power jab, when he comes to you,
step in with it and look at that target and bang, okay?
And bring--bring both feet with you, okay?
Down low where you can launch through your legs, okay?
Right when he step in, keep everything tight and crack.
Now, I believe you closed the gap.
We got to win every single round, you hear me?
You starting to put it together.
You great, man. This is what greatness is.
Robinson done got up. Leonard done got up.
Ali done got up! You got up!
Do it!
- Here you see Ward land a good pump, then a jab,
boom, right down the middle.
And this is what you call a feint.
There, again, a good feint, then a--boom--
another good jab right down the middle.
Then Kovalev says, "Hey, looks like this works.
Let me try it," and then he goes boom
with his own straight left hand down the middle.
Beautiful exchange of jabs by both fighters.
- Going into the second half of the fight,
the strategy seemed to be from Ward's cor--camp,
we--we're at-- Ward is a thoroughbred
and Kovalev is a front-runner.
Let's see what happens in the second half.
The question is, what if Kovalev
is also a thoroughbred?
And he's built that early lead.
- Ward out-landed Kovalev in the last round,
has come out throwing in this round.
His momentum's changed considerably.
- You see, now this is what Ward wants.
A little wrestling, a little body punching,
all of this is gonna help weaken Kovalev.
And that's what Ward wants.
This is the type of a fight
that Andre Ward wants to be in,
because this is where Andre Ward rules.
He dominates at a fight like this at this pace
and at this distance.
- And Kovalev likes being away from Ward at this distance,
where he can extend his arms
and land his long shots.
- See that--that's where Andre wants to be.
- Body. - Yes.
He loves to be in close
where you can't really hurt him,
but he can inflict pain and punishment on you.
- He's one of the most creative fighters ever in boxing
at finding angles to land punches inside
when you don't think there's room for him to do so.
Ward's body shots seem to be taking a toll now.
Mentioned that Kovalev was happy to go ahead
and seek the decision against Bernard Hopkins
in a fight in which he had knocked Hopkins down early.
He's never had a knockout past the eighth round.
[cheers and applause]
- Good hook by Andre.
Now Andre's starting to hit him a little bit more frequently
and a little bit more flushly.
- Kovalev going back to being more active.
Probably feeling some pressure to start winning rounds again.
Let the judges see what he can do.
- And Andre was pushing the issue more,
being more like Andre at that--at that close range.
- And in terms of the scores, Harold has given two rounds
to Kovalev that I thought could have been given to Ward.
I'm not saying they should have been, but if that's the case,
this may be very close on the scorecards right now.
- Well, it's obvious that these judges
really don't really give too much of a care
what you or Harold think. [laughs]
They proved that in the undercard.
- They certainly didn't. - [laughs]
- They certainly didn't in the
Darleys Perez/ Maurice Hooker fight.
- Sergey, don't do that.
Don't do that. Let's go.
- Good jab by Sergey.
- That's the timing he needs to master.
- And good jab back by Ward.
- And a right hand that he knifed to the body under--
again, Ward's doing some really good body work,
um, in these middle rounds.
- Really trying to beat-- wear Kovalev down
for the later part of the fight.
- Kovalev--Kovalev trying to wrestle free
and get distance to fire a big shot.
Ward gets away before he can do it.
- Stop, stop, let him out.
All right, here we go.
[bell dinging] Bell!
- That's Andre Ward's kind of fight.
- Boy, that's a great fighter you're watching,
to come back from those early rounds
and turn it into this kind of fight.
- Natalia Kovalev still celebrating at ringside.
[indistinct chatter]
- [speaking indistinctly]
- You think about how you gonna feel if you let this one go.
Think about it.
You got to be willing to do it. Trust!
That guy ain't got to you.
Then go and start beating this man down.
He's tired, they're missing, and he's tired.
You've been hitting him and you sticking.
On the inside, drop the thighs and keep sticking in here.
We don't go up to the top.
Just steel and win. [whistle blows]
You hear me? - Got you.
- Think about that feeling.
- It's nine, guys. Nine, nine. [bell dinging]
- Round 9.
- I know we don't give Kovalev a lot of--
well, we do give Kovalev a lot of credit,
but the thing that I think people don't give Kovalev
a lot of credit for is his great ability
to keep those feet spread so wide
and to use his feet-- his feet to get in and out
on an opponent at any time that he feels like it.
Some great footwork.
- Get off his neck. Don't do that.
- Hurt by a jab in the first round,
then dropped by a right hand, dominated early.
Andre Ward has turned this
into an even fight...
here in the ninth round.
If not on the scorecards, at least
on a round-by-round basis at this point.
- And at this point, we're coming to
a dangerous point-- point for Kovalev,
because now Ward is comfortable,
and that's what you don't want.
Any time Ward can get comfortable in a fight,
it makes it very difficult for the opposition.
- Kovalev just landed a good, clean combination,
now Ward comes back with a left hand.
- Class tells over time.
- Big left hand for Kovalev.
- Andre's championship pedigree is showing up,
but again, Kovalev's power can change at any time.
- Kovalev looks like he's weakening.
- Ward trying to get to the body inside.
Kovalev pushes him back into the ropes.
- And Kovalev looks like he's starting to weaken
a little bit, Jim.
- Those body shots, Roy.
- Yeah, I think they're taking a little bit out of him now.
- What's your evidence?
- Well, just the way that I see the punches coming.
They're not nearly as sharp or have--have the velocity on them
that they had on in the early rounds, and punches like that--
- Another hard right-hand body shot by Andre Ward.
- Yeah, his punches don't have the velocity on them
that they had earlier in the rounds.
- Those--those right hands that Andre knifes
that are hardly noticeable at times--
- And see, Andre's punches have gotten harder.
- Yes, Andre landed a hard right hand.
They both landed jabs-- Andre's was harder.
- Yup, under the armpit that Andre lands,
right around the heart-- they're debilitating Kovalev.
- Pull your arms out!
Pull your arms out. Let's go--there you go.
- This is the best place in the fight for Andre.
- Great straight right hand by Ward.
Andre Ward trying to close down the distance on the scorecards.
Kovalev comes back with a solid shot.
And a hard right hand by Kovalev.
- Andre feeling very confident right now.
- This is building toward being a great fight.
- Yes. - This is a great fight.
- You are--if Andre Ward is able to overcome
what he had to overcome early in this fight--
and there's still a long way to go--and somehow win,
you are watching greatness.
- You're watching greatness anyway, Max.
- That's right. - These are two great fighters.
Two great fighters.
[crowd cheering]
- You don't often get to see real greatness.
- The crowd is roaring after a left hand
put Kovalev's head under the ropes.
Kovalev wants to answer back before the round is over.
Could create an opportunity for Ward.
- Good combination by Kovalev. - Great combination...
[bell dinging] - Time!
- By Kovalev and a hard right hand by Ward.
[cheers and applause]
Crowd loves it.
[cheers and applause]
- He's tired. He's tired.
You cannot let one punch stop you!
Don't hesitate. You hear me?
Look at what you doing and hit those targets.
And then react, okay?
When you got him off balance,
you attack him 'cause that wears him down more.
With certainty.
With confidence.
Put 'em together.
This is ten.
We need these three rounds.
He cannot get another one.
He's getting tired, you make it go.
You have to go get it.
Don't sit back and get to where you have to think,
"Oh, I left it behind."
I'm not afraid to say he got to stop you
to make you lose this fight.
Make him do it.
[indistinct chatter]
- He's trying to wrestle with you now.
[whistle blows]
Andre Ward landed his high number in the fight,
17 punches in the ninth round, nine power shots, eight jabs.
[bell dings]
Kovalev landed back 11 times, but Ward has the momentum
in the fight now as we come to round number ten.
Harold, how do you have it on your card?
- Okay, Jim, I got an 87, 83, six rounds to three,
Sergey Kovalev.
Jim, I got to tell ya,
I just think that Andre Ward
can't give up any more rounds
if he wants to win this decision.
It looks like the fight's going the distance.
Andre's got momentum going for him,
he's--he's doing a lot better,
but sometimes you watch him
and he gets hit by real good shots,
and you can't take it away from Kovalev.
6-3, Sergey Kovalev.
- Harold, you and I are gonna have to
agree to disagree on the last round.
I thought Andre Ward won that last round.
And I don't know that this fight is going the distance.
I think anything can happen here.
- Yeah, and I agree with you, Max.
I don't know that this fight is going the distance,
I know that this is best time for Andre in the fight
because now he's comfortable
and he knows how to do things,
he knows the-- the speed at which
uh, Kovalev punches are coming at him.
So now he's-- he can get in that rhythm
that he loves to get in.
- Kovalev got in a hard counter shot.
Ward missed his right hand over the top.
So that moment went to Kovalev.
And each moment counts now as we go down the stretch.
- Well, that moment went to Ward.
- And Ward wins another one. Yep, absolutely.
- And that one, too. - And that moment went to Ward.
- And that moment went to Kovalev.
- And there was-- - And there's another one.
So they're trading back and forth at this point,
and they know the mental game that's going on.
And they know the stakes.
You heard Virgil Hunter say to Andre Ward,
"You've got to win the last three rounds."
- The only bad thing is that Ward's explosive punches
are much more explosive right now
than Kovalev's explosive punches.
- And yet, Kovalev has heavier hands.
- He does, but the punches-- the heavy hands
are what hurt Ward early.
But I don't know if that'll be enough
to hurt him at this point in the fight.
After all the body shots that he's admonished on, uh...
- On Kovalev. - Kovalev, yes.
- I think both fighters are focused on winning a decision.
Both fighters are focused on winning
as many of the exchanges as they can
down the stretch of the fight.
Hard right hand by Kovalev, left hook by Ward.
They keep trading big shots. - Yeah, they do.
- What a--what a tremendous fight this is
to see it contested on this level
with these shifts in momentum.
- And it's getting better and better.
- And only a great fighter can win this fight.
- Only a great fighter can fight this fight, Max.
- Who is the greater fighter tonight?
- That's the question.
Oh, good jab by both fighters.
- Thing about Kovalev is while you're showboating him
like a bolo punch, he's throwing the jab.
[loud tapping]
- Hard right hand by Kovalev.
- I thought Ward rode that back mostly, but it did land.
[bell dings] - Stop, stop. Stop, stop.
- And if Ward needed to win every round,
he may just have lost one that he couldn't have lost.
But both fighters had big moments in round 10.
- Breathe deep. Deep.
Huh? Breathe for me.
Put some ice down his crotch.
Put some water down his crotch.
Put some water down here.
He's busting up.
Dre. He's tired.
You cannot worry about now what's happening.
You have to go get the fight, you understand?
And seal the victory.
Win these last two big.
Give me deep breaths.
Look at him, Dre. Look at him.
- CompuBox numbers found Kovalev landing more
and throwing more than Ward in the tenth.
[whistle trills]
- Yeah, Kovalev missed Ward with that right hand--
- Yeah, I gave him credit for a landed punch,
but it didn't land. - Yeah, he didn't land that.
[bell dings]
- But Kovalev did reestablish his jab in an effective way
and that may have carried the round.
- Well, they both established good jabs that round.
That was a pretty even round to me
because both guys landed good jabs.
Nothing really spectacular landed,
but both of them landed some pretty powerful jabs.
- Harold Lederman gave the tenth to Kovalev.
He now has an insurmountable lead on the Lederman card
unless Ward can score knockdowns or knock him out.
The Lederman card is unofficial
and judges often disagree with it.
- I can strong--
I can see where the tenth goes to Kovalev,
but thought the ninth went to Ward
and I thought there were a couple others that could have.
- Once again, Kovalev following Ward
instead of cutting the ring off.
- Stop, stop, stop. Come up, come up, come up.
You okay? You all right?
Are you okay? All right, let's go.
- Seconds ticking by while Byrd talks to Kovalev.
Ward needs every second, or so it would appear.
- I think Virgil Hunter anticipated
that when Ward started making things
uncomfortable for Kovalev,
Kovalev would start to fold, but Kovalev has not folded.
He's responded like a champion. - Yes, he has.
- Ward landed a solid left hook there
that knocked Kovalev back.
- Kovalev has responded great, Max.
- Kovalev has shown championship heart so far,
no question, and so has Ward.
- Let him up, let him up, let him up!
- And part of that is, he didn't start getting wild
when Ward started having success.
He stuck to a game plan and went back to boxing
when he had to, Kovalev did.
It's a disciplined fight for a big puncher.
- Sergey Kovalev told us yesterday,
"My number one thought going into the fight
"is don't lose your mind.
"Don't get flustered.
Don't get frustrated. Keep coming."
And he's coming again right now.
- That right hand is keeping Andre honest.
We haven't seen Andre really go to that left hook upstairs.
- Good shot. - There it is!
- Good body shot with the left.
He lands the left hook upstairs.
Sergey Kovalev has a chin.
- That's always been Andre's money punch,
is the left hook upstairs.
- Oh, good shot.
Kovalev dead tired now.
Not cutting the ring off.
Dead tired--the body shots have him frustrated and tired.
He has to cut the ring off right there.
- He hasn't lost this round yet.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
- Yeah, frustrated and tired isn't good enough, Roy.
Andre has to capitalize on that.
- I'm not saying it's good enough.
I'm just saying,
but he is frustrated and tired this round.
- Yes, I agree.
- But in 15 seconds, there'll only be three minutes to go.
- Oh, good jab by Andre.
[loud tapping]
- Pretty good round for Andre Ward.
Kovalev keeps coming, though.
- Andre's landed the big, clean shots in this round.
[bell dings]
- Bell!
- Last round, baby. Be smart.
- Be careful.
- [speaking indistinctly]
- Yes.
Right hand, left hook, Sergey, please.
Good work.
- Dre. We need this one.
- You have to trust God and put those punches together.
And go out and beat this man down and close the show.
Don't let him, 'cause he walking too close,
step over those little moves, hands tight--
I don't care if he hits you there.
Stay on balance,
kind of like you was going up in the gym, you understand?
Dre, you gotta bring your mind into focus
and now you gotta go like a dog.
This is it!
Don't go home without it. - Okay.
- This is it, Dre. - I got you.
Get it! Get it, Dre! - Got you, I got you.
- Don't hesitate. - Okay, gentlemen, last round.
- Okay. - Yes, sir, yes, sir.
- All right, baby. - You gotta be a dog
and let them know who's the boss, that you come back.
Put him down!
'Cause you can with confidence.
Do it!
- Before the 14th round
in Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns...
[bell dings]
- Their first fight, Angelo Dundee told Sugar Ray Leonard,
"You're blowing it, son."
Leonard went out and stopped Tommy Hearns,
and that was Virgil Hunter's version of that.
- Oh, good hook by Ward.
- Ward's landed some colossal shots in the last four rounds,
but Kovalev is still landing too.
- He just--they just exchanged a good left hand right then.
Kovalev, the uppercut, and Ward, the left hook.
A good hook by Ward again. - Good left hook by Ward.
He's been money with the left hook in the last few rounds.
- Does Andre Ward believe he needs to risk
a knockout to win this fight?
That is a terrible risk to take against Kovalev,
but he may feel that way.
- Oh, good hook by Kovalev.
- Let him go! Let him go!
crowd: SOG! SOG!
SOG! SOG!
[crowd roars]
- Kovalev is not giving no ground here, son.
Ward is pushing him like a dog, like his coach told him to,
but Kovalev is not backing down.
He's accepting everything that Ward brings.
And he's showing that he's gallant enough
to fight back and try to return the favors.
- The difference is, Kovalev doesn't seem worried
about Ward's power.
And Ward knows he has to worry about Kovalev.
- Well, I think Kovalev is worried.
He's just not really showing it.
- Ward is landing-- - Good body shots by Kovalev!
- Deadly work.
- Ward is the body puncher, but Kovalev got in two solid shots
right there at a time when he most needs them.
I just wonder if Andre Ward is going to look back
and think he should have generated more activity
down the stretch of the fight.
- There you go.
- I know he is not accustomed
to fighting at a super fast pace.
- Oh, good body shot by Kovalev.
Oh! Really good body shot by Kovalev.
- We've had several good body shots in this round.
And Ward backs up.
- I think he knows that may have hurt Ward
a little bit.
Oh, that's low blow.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, keep 'em up, keep 'em up.
- And Byrd calls the low blow
and tells Kovalev to keep 'em up.
But the seconds are ticking away.
37 seconds to go.
- Good jab by Kovalev.
- And you wonder if the sand is running out of the hourglass
on Andre Ward's perfect professional career
and his incredible mark of not having lost
since he was an early teenager.
- I'm gonna be very interested to see these scores,
as it looks at this moment as though
we're gonna get to hear them.
- I was telling y'all, I'm glad to see two guys step up
and fight each other at the peak of their careers
and give us what the fans asked for.
They give us the best fight
that boxing has had in quite some time.
[bell dings]
- A tremendous fight.
- Two great fighters at their best
putting it all on the line.
They put it all on the line
when they signed to fight each other,
and they fought that way.
- And as we wait for the scorecards,
remember the X factors.
Kovalev's knockdown of Ward in the second round,
an American hero against a Russian fighter
in Las Vegas.
Michael Buffer has the paper in his hand.
[bell dings]
- Ladies and gentlemen, we go to the judges' scorecards
after 12 rounds of action.
John McKaie, Burt Clements, and Glenn Trowbridge
all scored the contest 114-113...
to the winner by unanimous decision
and new unified light heavyweight
champion of the world,
still undefeated,
Andre...
"SOG"...
Ward!
- Nearly a full half-year
since that decision was announced,
emotions are still feverish on both sides.
Ward and his supporters are incensed
that public feedback on the Internet continues
to run in favor of the notion
Kovalev was robbed, an assertion they dismiss
as unsophisticated or uninformed or just plain wrong.
Kovalev, who suggested he didn't get a fair shake
from American judges against an American opponent,
is headed back to Las Vegas, which is still in America,
to try to make his point again.
He indisputably accomplished something noteworthy
by knocking Ward down, but he may now think
repeating the feat will only be meaningful
if he can keep Ward down.
All in all, it's a spectacular setup for the rematch,
which takes place June 17, live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
In a great year for boxing, another great fight.
Don't miss it.
♪ ♪
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