Big Fight Review: Andre Ward Vs Sergey Kovalev 2: Controversy As Ward Beats Kovalev In Battle of the Belt

Photo: CDN News

By Peter Silkov

Andre Ward (32-0, 16koes) and Sergey Kovalev (30-2, 25koes) battled last night, June 17,  for Ward's WBA, WBO, and IBF World light-heavyweight belts, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.   Yet, it was Kovalev’s own belt-line, which was to become the focus of attention by the end of the contest. What had been brewing up nicely into a intriguing and competitive fight, fought at a good pace, ended suddenly, in a welter of controversy, leaving both fans and each fighter deprived of a conclusive and satisfying conclusion to this bitter 175 pound feud.

While it lasted, Ward vs Kovalev 2 was a better fight than their first encounter last November, with both men throwing more punches, and the action being far more energetic than the tense chess match we saw the first time round.

Kovalev, taking the role of challenger this time, started fast, and got his jab going early to good effect. Ward for his part also started much better than he did in the first fight, and seemed more inclined to fire punches, than he did in their first encounter.  There was less holding, and generally the fight was much better on the eye from the start.

As in their first match, Kovalev took the role of the aggressor, while Ward looked to employ his slippery boxing skills to dodge his opponent's attacks, and come back with his own counters.

Photo: Fight Hype

Again, as in their November clash, the action was close and at times, scoring could be decided by whose work you appreciated the best. Kovalev looked to have won the first 3 rounds pretty clearly with his high work rate and some good accuracy from his jab. Ward again came into the fight the longer it went on.  By the 4th round, he was landing some good counters, yet Kovalev still held the edge with work rate. 

By the 7th round the match was fascinatingly poised, with neither fighter having achieved a clear advantage. The action was physical, with both men taking turns to go to the body, and Ward showing the better defensive skills, while Kovalev was the more active offensively. 

However, the fight took a dramatic, and controversial turn in the 8th round. Early in the 8th round, a borderline blow to Kovalev’s beltline, had the challenger wincing, and claiming a low blow.  Referee Tony Weeks ignored Kovalev’s claim, as he had some previous claims of low blows earlier in the fight. After the action was waved on, Ward landed a hard right to the chin of the still unhappy Kovalev, visibly shaking him.  As he looked to recover his composure, Kovalev was bundled by Ward onto the ropes, where Ward proceeded to land three successive heavy blows that seemed to be quite a way below Kovalev’s beltline.  As Kovalev doubled over in obvious pain, referee Tony Weeks hastily got between the two boxers and called a halt to the fight.

The resulting controversy was immediate. Video of the finish shows that Ward's last blow was indisputably low, and that the previous two punches were highly dubious.  With this in mind, referee Weeks should have stopped the actions and administered a warning to Ward for the low blow or blows. Yet, even discounting the area where the blows might have landed upon Kovalev, the finish seemed highly premature.  Kovalev had not been down and was not taking the kind of punishment that would seem to be a threat to his health (unless you take into consideration the possible damage caused by punches in the balls.)

Photo: Washington Post

Amid much after fight controversy, the overall effect of the premature stoppage is that both fighters have been deprived of a satisfactory ending.While he was awarded the victory, Ward's triumph is once more shrouded in controversy, as was his poin'ts win over Kovalev last November. As for Kovalev, the stoppage deprived him of a victory that might have been his, had he been given his rightful chance to ride out the 8th round. Low blows should not win a fight, and on this occasion, that is what they have done. Ward may well have boxed his way to victory in the end had the fight been allowed to run its natural course. Unfortunately, no one will ever know this for sure, and so once more, these two men have fought to an unsatisfactory conclusion.

At the time of the ‘stoppage’ the three judges all had the fight close, with two scoring it 67 to 66 in favour of Ward, and the other judge having it 68-65 in favour of Kovalev. Once again boxing shot itself in the foot, with a match that started out as a great example of a genuine world title fight, between two world outstanding class boxers, descending into a myriad of controversy and suspicion. Once more the failure of the Nevada commission to supply either neutral judges, or a neutral referee for such an important and divisive contest, has to be called into question. Especially when the controversy always seems to adversely effect the ‘away’ fighter.

Photo: Metro News

In the fights aftermath, a stunned and devastated Kovalev said that he wants an instant rematch with Ward. The chances of this however seem exceedingly slim. It is unlikely that Ward will ever allow himself to be lured again into the same ring as Sergey Kovalev, and ‘The Krusher’ may find his future career path severely hampered from here.  

The truth is that Kovalev needs to take a hard look at the people surrounding him, and working for him in the run up to his fights with Ward, and decide if he needs to make some hard decisions in order to get his career back on track. If rumours concerning his purses are to be believed, Kovalev has been left with the short straw in both of his big matches with Ward, and has gone from being an exciting multi-belted world champion, to a ex-champion and deposed challenger, at a cut price rate.

Kovalev deserved better.

Kovalev’s camp is due to file a protest concerning the fights conclusion on Monday, but their chances of a positive outcome to this protest are probably about the same as Sergey’s chances of getting another match with Ward. 
 
In what was a night of controversy and chaos, the main supporting fight to Ward vs Kovalev ended in farce is when Guillermo Rigondeaux (18-0, 12koes) retained his WBA world super-bantamweight title, by knocking out his challenger after the bell to end the 1st round.  Rigondeaux had compete control of the short fight right from the start, as he showed some brilliant defensive skills to avoid the lanky Moises Flores (25-1, 17koes)  eager attacks, making his challenger look clumsy and awkward.  As the round approached its end, Guillermo started to throw punches of his own, with a dynamic accuracy. A brief exchange of punches between the two men ended with Rigondeaux landing a left-hook clearly after the bell, and Flores going down flat upon his back. After much deliberation by a dazzling array of officials and the referee, it was finally decided that the final punch was not intentional, and so ‘The Jackal’ was awarded the victory. It was another bittersweet outing for Rigondeaux. 

Photo: Bad Left Hook

As for Flores, his chance at the big time was over almost before it began, and he is probably still trying to figure out what actually happened to him.

Afterwards there was talk of Rigondeaux having showdowns with the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko and Roman Gonzalez.  While the Lomachenko match would be highly interesting, it is hard to see why the much smaller ‘Chocolatito’ should move up another two divisions to face Rigondeaux, especially when he has more than enough worthy opponents to face at his current weight of super-flyweight.

If anything those with ‘Chocolatito’s’ interests at heart might do well to persuade him to move back down to the flyweight division, where he seemed more comfortable and effective than where he is now.

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The Boxing Glove Big Fight Preview: Ward vs Kovalev II: Repeat Or Revenge

By Peter Silkov

In what is undoubtedly one of this years most eagerly anticipated fights, and one of boxing's most intriguing rematches for some time, Andre Ward (31-0, 15koes) meets Segey Kovalev (30-1-1, 26koes) on June 17^th, in an effort to prove who is the premier boxer at 175 pounds. This is Ward's first defence of the WBA, IBF, and WBO world light-heavyweight titles that he took from Kovalev last November, after being given a decision, that many think he didn’t deserve. In their first fight, ‘the Krusher’ looked to have won the first 6 rounds pretty clearly (including scoring a 2^nd round knockdown) with Ward coming more into the fight in the last half of the contest, but not doing enough to win a decision, especially with Kovalev having strong 10^th and 12^th rounds.

Photo: HBO

 After the fight, a poll of the media found that out of 63 sources, 46 scored the fight for Kovalev, 16 for Ward, and 1 scored it a draw. It was a match that saw Kovalev score the better more solid punches, while Ward looked to stall and frustrate ‘The Krusher.’ Much of Ward's work was centred around not letting Kovalev work and then countering with some light punches of his own. While it is true that Ward did show some good boxing skills at times, he never seemed to dominate at any part of the contest. In addition to this, Ward's excessive holding, which started after he was floored in the second, marred what was otherwise a good fight, and went a long way to breaking up Kovalev's rhythm as the fight went on. In the end it can be said that, if Ward indeed deserved to win the fight (which this writer doesn’t feel he did), it was more due to what he didn’t allow Kovalev to do, rather than what he actually did himself.

Kovalev has said himself that he was over trained for the first fight, and was fighting on an empty tank after the 5^th round. This might well be one of the reasons why he seemed unable to stop Wards spoiling tactics as the fight went past the halfway mark.

 The rematch in seven days time promises to be a fascinating fight. With both men saying that they will do a better job this time, it could well be one of those rematches, which surpass the original. Certainly ‘The Krusher’ will be looking to exert far more pressure upon Ward in this fight than in their first contest. Despite his noted power, Kovalev is more a boxer than an out and out slugger, but in his first encounter with Ward he may well have made the mistake of being too patient, and boxing too much, when more high intensity pressure was what was really

needed. After he knocked Ward down in the 2^nd round, Kovalev thought that he had plenty of time to catch Ward again, but ofcourse this didn’t happen. Perhaps partly due to the stamina problems which he has alluded too since. This time Kovalev will be looking to capitalise very quickly if he has Ward hurt at any time. If it is true that Kovalev was overtrained in the first fight, then this could be very bad news for Ward, who had his hands full with ‘the Krusher’ in November. If Kovalev is stronger and fitter this time round then Ward himself will have to up his game quite considerably if he is to retain his title.

For the defending champion, this fight offers a chance to put the record straight and silence the doubters. There are still many who feel that Ward is not a genuine champion as he gained the championship through a dubious decision. For a man who is hailed by some as the best boxer in the world ‘pound for pound’ the controversy surrounding November's match is an embarrassment and annoyance.

Photo: The Independent

The run up to this rematch has seen an increase in the bad blood between Ward and Kovalev, and has included the exchange of various insults and innuendoes on both sides. This is a fight that both men are determined not to lose, perhaps even more so than in their first meeting.

One worry for Kovalev might be that like the first fight in November, the judges, and referee are all from America. With the fight once more hosted in Las Vegas (only this time at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, rather than the T-Mobile Arena) so once more, Ward will have a distinct home advantage. While one would not like to question the integrity of the officials concerned in this rematch, it is curious that such a big world title fight, between two fighters of such opposite nations, is not balanced by neutral judges. Certainly it is hoped that referee, Tony Weeks, manages Ward's penchant for holding far better than referee, Robert Byrd, did in November.

There are strong indications that this rematch could surpass the first fight for excitement and spectacle. If Kovalev is much improved and fitter than last November he will force Ward to fight harder than he did in the first fight. A more active Kovalev will be much harder to contain than in the first fight, and Ward will be forced to be more active himsel,f and rely less upon his spoiling tactics. The big question for Ward is... can he fight better than he did in November? Ward himself will try to make the fight a carbon copy of their first encounter. Like it or not, if the fight goes the distance, and is close and competitive, then Ward will be a heavy favourite to get the nod of the judges once more. Another close and controversial decision is very possible. ‘The Krusher’ has to try and take things into his own hands and make himself a clear winner. He certainly seems to have the power to hurt Ward, but does he have the power to stop or knockout Ward.

Much depends upon who can improve most from the first fight.

I think this is a fight, which Kovalev needs to win by stoppage, as I just don’t see him gaining a decision over Ward in Las Vegas. Hopefully however, my cynicism is wrong, and if the fight goes the full 12 rounds, then we will see a fair point's verdict, given to whomever it is that deserves it. 

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Sergey Kovalev vs. Isaac Chilemba: The Krusher Dominates

By Peter Silkov

Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26koes) retained his WBO, WBA, and IBF, world light-heavyweight championship against Isaac Chilemba (24-4-2, 10koes) today, July 11, at the DIVS Palace of Sports, in Ekaterinburg, Russia.  It was one of ‘The Krusher’s’ more awkward defences against an opponent who spent most of the fight on the retreat.  Chilemba is an elusive counter puncher, who can slip, spoil, and generally frustrate his opponents, and he did just this against the champion for the most part of 12 rounds.  Yet, Chilemba did little offensive work of his own against the always-pressing Kovalev.

The fight followed the same pattern for most of its 12 rounds, with Kovalev the aggressor against the defensive minded challenger.  For the most part, Kovalev showed great patience against an adversary who was constantly looking to avoid any heavy fistic engagements.  Chilemba’s strategy seemed clear, to try and catch Sergey on the counter. Although he landed at times with his fast hands, Chilemba’s counters were too infrequent to make a dent on the champion.

While the champion was always the aggressor, he was taking his time early on, and some of the early rounds were close, as the fight resembled a technical chess match.  This changed however in the 7th round when Kovalev went up a gear and floored Chilemba heavily.  To his credit, the challenger lasted the round, despite being under a heavy assault by ‘The Krusher.’

From then on, Kovalev was pretty dominant, and he had Chilemba hurt again in the 8th and 10 rounds. Chilemba is strong and durable and seemed determined to hang onto his record of never having been stopped during his career.  In the 12th and final round Kovalev seemed to be doing his best to score a stoppage, but Chilemba fought back, and the two engaged in the best exchanges of the fight in the closing minutes.

Kovalev won by a unanimous point’s verdict, with scores of 117-110, 116-111, and 118-109.  The Boxing Glove had ‘The Krusher’ winning by 10 rounds to 2, with Chilemba sneaking the 4th and 6th rounds with his crafty counter-punches.

This was a memorable night for Sergey in many ways as it was his first appearance in a Russian ring since 2011, when he was involved the tragic fight with Roman Simakov that resulted in Simakov’s death.  In what was a brave move by Kovalev, he chose to reappear in front of his home fans in the very same arena where he had fought Simakov 4 and a half years ago.

There were times during his fight with Chilemba when Sergey seemed to be a little distracted and even nervous, and if these emotions were connected to his memories of Simakov, it would hardly be surprising.  In his post fight interview Kovalev paid tribute to the memory of Simakov.  At that moment he seemed suddenly to be the most relaxed he had been all night, perhaps he felt that at last a burden had been lifted from him, at least a little bit.

‘The Krusher’ will now face the highly regarded Andre Ward in November.  At first glance, Chilemba may be seen to have exposed some flaws in the champion, by frustrating him at times and forcing him to go the distance.  Ward will have to be much more positive than Chilemba was today if he is to beat Kovalev. It is that need to be positive, which will mean that Kovalev will have more opportunities to land his bombs, and even a defensive master such as Ward will give Kovalev more opportunities to land his bombs than Isaac Chilemba did.

In the end, the 12-round that Kovalev traveled today against Chilemba are just what he needed in the run up to his show down with ‘The Son of God.’

Watch the fight:

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Sergey Kovalev Vs. Isaac Chilemba: No Easy Night for The Krusher

By Peter Silkov

Today is a time when most boxing fans are feeling more than a little cynical about the state of their sport with its never ending politics, which seems determined to deprive them of seeing the best contests being made between the best fighters, even when the fighters in question wish to make the fights.  Then, we have some boxers today who seemingly do not want to make the kind of matches that the fans want, and do not want to meet their most dangerous rivals.  Yet, there are exceptions to this. Take for instance the WBA, WBO and IBF World light-heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26koes.) Here we have a world champion who is lined up in November to defend his titles against Andre Ward, considered by many to be one of boxing’s finest fighters, pound-for-pound, in the world.  It is a clash that many are hoping will be the biggest fight of 2016; a year that has so far been painfully lacking a ’superfight’ of any kind.

As is the way with modern boxing, it wasn’t an easy fight to make at the beginning. Certainly Ward took some coaxing before he agreed to sign on the dotted line and part of the deal was that Ward would fit in a number of ’warm up’ fights before meeting Kovalev.  Finally the deal has been made, and on November 19, Kovalev will defend his world titles against Andre Ward at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, about 18 months after negotiations for the fight first began.

For Kovalev it is a huge fight.  Although he is the champion, he is meeting a fighter who is regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound boxer of his generation. A victory for Kovalev will take him a step closer to genuine ’greatness’ himself. This is the kind of clash, which the great champions of the past thrived on.  

The only problem for Kovalev is the wait until the fight with Ward.  With such an important career-defining fight coming up, most champions would be content to wait it out, and not risk anything in any kind of ’warm up’ or ’keep busy’ fight in the mean time.  Many champions today are content to have one or two fights a year, especially if those fights are ‘big‘ fights.  But, Kovalev is a throwback to the champions of the past, both in his fighting style, attitude in the ring, a desire to be a busy fighter, and an active champion. 

Instead of waiting it out, and simply relaxing for a few months before facing Ward this winter, Kovalev has opted to fight. Rather than just take a keep busy non-title fight or a soft tough voluntary defence, ‘The Krusher’ will be defending his world title belts against a tough and tricky opponent who will be doing his very best to spoil ‘The Krusher’s’ future plans. 

On Monday, July 11, Kovalev will defend his titles against Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2, 10koes) at the DIVS, Arena, Ekaterinburg, and Russia. Rather than being simple ‘keeps busy’ fight, this is a real live defence for Kovalev.

Chilemba is a skilful and crafty counter puncher; capable of making anyone look bad, and giving the very best at his weight a tricky night.  The South African turned professional in 2005, but throughout his career, has often found it hard to get fights due to his difficult and slippery style.

In 2013 he fought Britain’s Tony Bellew twice, and was very unlucky to only get a draw in the first fight, and lost a close decision in their second fight.  Since these fights, Chilemba has won 4 out of 5 contests, with his only defeat coming in his last fight on November 28, 2015, when he lost on points to unbeaten, Eleider Alvarez, which was seen by many as yet another robbery against Chilemba.

Chilemba has never been stopped in his career, and has speed, technique, and the ability to frustrate.  One thing that Chilemba does lack is a knockout punch, but he has the skills and ring guile to make this an interesting fight, and perhaps a dangerous one if Sergey turns up with his mind partly upon the Ward fight.  Many champions of the past have been tripped up in such a way, when looking past their most immediate fight, to another fight in the future. 

It’s not too difficult to see why Kovalev would choose to take on a fighter like Chilemba, just before he faces Ward.  While no one would claim that Chilemba is on the same kind of level as Ward, he does nevertheless have a similarly elusive and awkward counter punching style that is akin to Ward’s.  In this way, Chilemba will make an excellent prelude for how Kovalev will deal with Ward’s counter punching skills.

Kovalev has already dealt with one master counter puncher, in the form of ‘The Alien’ Bernard Hopkins, whom he beat on points, in what was close to being a shut out match in November 2014.  He is likely to fight Chilemba the same way as he fought Hopkins, with constant pressure, but not just from power punches, but with heavy use of his jab and underrated technical skills.

Like Hopkins did, Chilemba (and Andre Ward in the near future) will find out that Sergey Kovalev is not simply a dynamite punching slugger, he is also a very technically astute boxer when he needs to be. He has an excellent jab, and patience, which should help him avoid falling into the kind of traps that a counter punter like him relies upon.

Kovalev should be able to win this fight by using his underrated technical skills alongside his much-vaunted punching power.  He may well become the first man to stop the strong-chinned Chilemba, which in itself will be an impressive performance. 
Failing a stoppage or a knockout victory from Kovalev, a point’s win would be a workmanlike win for ’The Krusher’ and may well be what he needs before taking on Andre Ward.

Yet Monday’s defence is important for Kovalev for yet another reason, beyond his opponent Chilemba.  It marks the first time that Kovalev will be fighting in his homeland of Russia since December 5, 2011.   And his last appearance in a Russian ring is a day that will be forever embedded upon Kovalev’s mind. His opponent that day, Roman Simakov, fell into a coma after being stopped in the 7th round, and died of his injuries three days later.

It is one of those fights that you watch and wonder why no one in Simakov’s corner, the referee, or the ring doctor, thought to stop the fight earlier.  Kovalev, though noticeably cruder than he is now, was winning the fight from the beginning, and constantly landing his heavy shots to Simakov’s largely unprotected head.  Simakov was viewed as a rising prospect, with a record of (19-1-1.) He had no answer to Kovalev’s overwhelming power and strength, except his own strength and courage that allowed him to continue to take punches that he shouldn’t have been allowed to keep taking. He was finally rendered helpless in the 7th round and the fight was finally stopped.  By then it was already too late.

In a perverse twist, the aftermath of Simakov’s death found Kovalev being blamed for the tragedy, rather than Simakov's own corner or the doctor or referee, all of whom could have stopped the fight sooner.

Usually when tragedies like this strike in boxing you hear about the families of the fighter who has passed away not wishing to lay any blame upon his opponent.  Unfortunately in this case, Simakov’s Father not only blamed Sergey for his son’s death, but also sought to have charges brought against him.  Even after an official investigation, in which Kovalev and his team cooperated fully, including submitting the gloves, which Sergey wore on the night of the fight, Simakov’s family is still understood to be bitter and angry with Kovalev.

Until now, Kovalev has never talked publicly about this tragedy that, for a time, made him question his future in the sport.  Eventually Kovalev came to the realization that he had to carry on following his path of being a boxer, after having devoted his life to since the age of 11 to boxing.  But, the tragedy remains a dark scar that he will always carry.

Perhaps after blocking this tragedy away for the past 4 and a half years, Sergey Kovalev has come to the decision that it is something that he now needs to come face to face with again.  When he returns to a Russian boxing ring on Monday against Isaac Chilemba, it will be the same ring and in the same DIVS Arena, where he fought Roman Simakov on that tragic night in December 2011.

Fighters are a tough breed and Sergey Kovalev is among the toughest of them.  He is a throw back to the fighters of the past who had the hunger that can only be understood by someone who has grown up in the harsh reality of real poverty.

When he returns to the DIVS arena this Monday, Sergey Kovalev will not simply be looking to defend his world titles successfully against Isaac Chilemba, or keeping busy before his much anticipated November showdown with Andre Ward, he will be hoping to make peace with the past.

Roman Simakov’s parents are believed to still live very near to the DIVS arena, and Sergey has spoken about his wish to see them, something that did not happen in the acrimonious aftermath of Simakov’s death.

Asked what he would say to Simakov’s family if he does come face to face with them, Sergey said “I don’t know,” With his voice betraying the strength of emotions that he is usually able to keep at bay. “I won’t [ask] them to come to the arena, because it’s not a good memory. I’m not going to do that. But I’d like to see them. I don’t know what I can say to them. Just hello, and I’m sorry.”

Sergey Kovalev Interview about upcoming fight:

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com