Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev battle in Las Vegas
*Boxing has had it’s share of great fighters in the light heavyweight division. Guys like the great John Henry Lewis, the “Old Mongoose” Archie Moore, and who could forget Bob Foster?
These were just a few of those tough and skillful fighters who really ruled the division, and I failed to mention the great Matthew Saad Muhammad, Eddie Mustafah Muhammad, Michael Spinks, Roy Jones Jr., and I could keep going on with this folks but I think it’s time to talk about what happened at the T-Mobile Arena Saturday night in Las Vegas.
We saw one of the greatest boxing events to take place this year when Andre “SOG” Ward stepped into the ring against one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport, Sergey Kovalev for the whole ball of wax that is all the light heavyweight title belts that were in his his possession (IBF, WBO, AND WBA).
This turned out to be a real fight, folks when they came out to the middle of the ring in the opening bell, and it didn’t take long for Ward to feel the power of Kovalev as he got dropped in the middle of the second round with a solid right hand and although he got right back up, referee Robert Byrd gave him a standing eight count.
And after he was able to get his mind and soul back on track, he slowly and methodically got his groove back.
Folks, if you were to score this fight like you would a football game here’s how you would call it. Kovalev gets a touchdown on the first quarter (with that knockdown) then scores a field goal in the second quarter. With two minutes left in the first half Ward scores a field goal to go into half time.
As the second half begins Ward slowly but surely begins to pick Kovalev apart as he starts to fade away going into the fourth quarter. Ward dominates the rest of the game landing wicked shots to the body of Kovalev with jabs and hooks to the head.
Ward makes an incredible comeback and literally owns the second half of the fight. And at the end of twelve hard fought rounds, all three judges scores the bout the same 114-113 in favor of the new unified light heavyweight champion of the world Andre “SOG” Ward.
As you can imagine folks, there were quite a number of people of other ethnic groups that were fuming at their collars or for lack of a better term, hot as fish grease at the results. But in opinion of this writer, there’s no question that Ward deserved the win because he fought hard for it. And to be quite honest with you, it could have gone either way. There is a clause in the contract for a rematch, but when will it happen, only God and Andre Ward’s manager the one and only James Prince knows.
I think what makes sense for Kovalev is not to wait around too long for that and challenge Adonis “Superman” Stevenson who holds the WBC light heavyweight title. And if he can beat him, it’ll make the rematch with Ward an even bigger money fight because then it will be also a title unification bout as well. As I always say, we’ll see what happens.
Clarrisa Shield Vs. Franchon Crews
Olympic gold medalist Clarrisa Shields made her pro debut Saturday night and won against a rough and determined Franchon Crews. This girl who hails out of Flint, Michigan can really fight folks, and showed everyone present that she can go up against the best that’s out there by going four rounds against a well seasoned veteran in Crews. She was quoted afterwards saying:
” It feels so good to have just made my pro debut. This is what I’ve been training for. I’m faster and I hit harder. And I’m the better fighter. But Crews brought 100% and I respect her for that. I hope to fight next in January or February.”
One final note, Andre Ward stepped up in weight to fight Kovalev just like Kell Brooke did with Golovkin. Michael Spinks stepped up in weight to fight Larry Holmes. Doing so is no easy task folks, so people need to take careful note of this.
There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Andre”SOG” Ward.
“When the tide goes out, that’s when you’ll find out who’s been swimming naked”-Warren Buffett
Mohammed Mubarak‘s Ringside Update can also be read in the Pace News and he can be reached at [email protected] for your comments. He is an artist as well and you may go to mubarakart.com and qmubarak06 on instagram and view his works.
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