Kovalev vs Ward Results – Ward Edges Kovalev

Kovalev vs Ward Results – HBO pay-per-view was at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night for the much awaited light heavyweight showdown between WBA, WBO and IBF world champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1) and challenger Andre Ward (30-0).

The announcers were calling a full house at the ultra-modern T-Mobile, and Ward entered the ring solemnly while Kovalev was smiling and seemed to be enjoying himself.

Kovalec scored the knockdown early.

Kovalev established his power in the first round, and by the second round he had knocked Ward down. Ward smiled as he stood and he settled in to work on a game plan that extended the fight. By the middle rounds Ward was in the fight as he was working the body and Kovalev had started to slow down. As the rounds wore on, a battle of attrition ensued and Ward and Kovalev both exchanged momentum throughout the later stages of the fight. The question going to the cards was whether Ward had done enough to close the lead Kovalev had established. Kovalev never did appear to cede ground, meeting Ward in the exchanges until the end. The judges had the fight by the closest of margins for Ward, 114-113 on all three cards.

The pay-per-view got underway with middleweight action as Curtis Stevens defended his WBC Continental Americas title against James De La Rosa. The powerful Stevens came out loading up on huge punches, and De La Rosa hit the canvas in the opening round. Stevens appeared to hurt his left hand in the fourth round and his punch count dropped. The game De La Rosa took advantage and the fight got really tight as Stevens was deducted a point in Round 8 for a low blow. In the end, the judges had it for Stevens (98-90, 96-92 twice) in a fight that appeared closer to this observer.

De La Rosa and Stevens settled into a measured pace.

Next up on the PPV was Oleksandr Gvozdyk’s NABF light heavyweight defense against the experienced Isaac Chilemba. A methodical fight developed and Chilemba proved to be the test that Gvozdyk needed, but the Russian broke Chilemba down over the eight rounds it lasted. Roy Jones Jr, who was in Chilemba’s corner asked for the stop after eight rounds as Chilemba had suffered a broken hand.

Gvozdyk outboxed Chilemba over the eight completed rounds.

The final fight before the main event saw the NABO lightweight belt on the line between defending champion Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker and Darleys Perez of Columbia.  Perez came in and established himself from the beginning. He hit Hooker all night and made Hooker miss his meaningful punches. In a shocker, the judges had it 97-93, 93-97 and 95-95 for a draw. Robert Hoyle was the judge that scored it 97-93 for Hooker, a travesty.

Perez solved Hooker early.

The evening of fights got underway at 4 pm via livestream as three of the evening’s undercard fights were made available on HBO’s “Freeview.”

2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields and amateur rival Franchon Crews were bombs away in their 4-round fight. Crews did not back up and she took a lot of shots to get her own in. In the end, Shields’ superior technique and hand speed gave her the unanimous decision win, 40-36 on all three cards.

Claressa Shields in lights after her debut win over the rugged Franchon Crews.

Tyler McCreary defeated Vincent Jennings by a slim majority decision over six rounds and Sonny Frederickson outpointed Gabriel Duluc over eight rounds.

In dark matches, heavyweight Darmani Rock defeated Brice Ritani Coe by UD in a 4-round contest, middleweight Bakhram Murtazaliev stopped Botirsher Obidov in the second round of their scheduled right rounder, and middleweight Melirim Nursultanov defeated Henry Beckford by UD in a 6-round match.

Check back Sunday for more in-depth coverage of the fights right here at TSS.

Kovalev vs Ward Results

Below are the complete and official results from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Saturday, November 19th, 2016 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

175 LBS 12 RDS: Andre Ward  def Sergey Kovalev by UD (114-113,114-113,114-113)
175 LBS 10 RDS: Oleksandr Gvozdyk def Isaa Chilemba by RTD after 8 RDS.
140 LBS 10 RDS: Maurice Hooker draw with Darlys Perez (97-93,93-97 and 95-95)
160 LBS 8 RDS: Bakhram Murtazaliev def Botirsher Obidov by TKO in RD 2 @2:52.
140 LBS 8 RDS: Sonny Frederickson def Gabriel Duluc by UD (78-74, 78-74, 77-75)
130 LBS 6 RDS: Tyler McCreary def Vincent Jennings by MD (59-55, 58-56, 57-57)
HVYWT 4 RDS: Darmani Rock def Brice Ritani Coe by UD (40-36,40-36,40-35)
168 LBS 4×2 RDS: Claressa Shields def Franchon Crews by UD (40-36,40-46,40-36)
160 LBS 4 RDS: Meirim Nursultanov def Henry Beckford by UD  (60-54 60-54 60-54)

Kovalev vs Ward Results / Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.