ANDRE WARD ERASES DOUBTS IN REMATCH
Ward stops Sergey Kovalev in eighth round of rematch, keeps light heavy belt Ward extended unbeaten run to 32 fights; Kovalve suffers second loss Fight was close before Ward landed powerful right to Kovalev’s head
Andre Ward vowed he would leave no doubt this time around. He didn’t, turning the tables on a big puncher and stopping Sergey Kovalev in the eighth round Saturday night to win their light heavyweight title rematch.
The undefeated Ward turned the fight around with a big right hand that wobbled Kovalev, then swarmed all over him. Kovalev was in the neutral corner and Ward was landing shots to the body when the Russian sat on the ring rope and referee Tony Weeks signaled an end to the bout at 2:29 of the eighth.
“I knew this time it was going to be different,” Ward said.
In a lot of ways it was the same, until Ward — who was knocked down in the first fight — showed he was a big puncher, too, with a right hand that made Kovalev’s right leg wobble and signaled the beginning of the end to the bout.
The fight had been close, with Kovalev (30-2-1) winning the early rounds before Ward (32-0) began making adjustments and Kovalev began tiring. Both fighters complained of dirty tactics and Weeks spent a lot of his time breaking up clinches.
Ward won the first fight in November, coming back from a second round knockdown to get a controversial decision. The rematch seemed just as close until Ward landed the right hand that caused Kovalev’s legs to wobble.
“He’s a great fighter,” Ward said. “You’ve got to raise your game to the next level and thankfully that’s what we did tonight.”
Kovalev complained that Ward hit him with two low blows in the final exchange. /
I thought I was doing very good. I was better and he was better this fight. I didn’t feel like I was getting knocked down by the power of his punches. SERGEY KOVALEV