By Carlos Boogs
WBA, WBO, IBF light heavyweight champion Andre Ward (31-0, 15KOs) wants Sergey Kovalev (30-1, 26KOs) to admit that he didn't win their matchup from last month.
At the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Ward won a close twelve round unanimous decision over Kovalev to capture the three titles at 175-pounds.
All three of the official judges scored it for Ward by a point, 114-113. Ward was down in the second round of the contest.
Kovalev is very upset with the loss and believes he was robbed on the cards. He had a contractual clause for an immediate rematch, which he exercised. The two sides have yet to begin the official negotiations.
"It was a close fight I'll give him that. I think what happened was, this guy Kovalev has had such a reputation for being this monster that they thought he was gonna hit me and I was gonna stay down. He did hit me and I went down, but I got up and as the smaller man I took the fight to him and I feel like I did what I needed to do to close out the show in the last six, seven, eight rounds," Ward told Fox Sports Live.
"The judges got it right. It's just disappointing... I know that he and his team are disappointed right after the fight and emotions are still high. But for a guy, three or four weeks later to still not give you credit and still make excuses - it's just not a good look for him. I'm kind of tired of hearing the guy's voice. We had an ten week build-up to the fight. I need a break from his face and the things that he's saying.
"It was a close fight that went my way and at some point he has to own up to it."
Ward watched a clip of Kovalev's appearance on Fox Sports Live, where the Russian boxer felt he was robbed on the cards and stated "maybe it's because I'm not American."
"Seriously, I don't think it's right what he's saying. Take me out of the equation. This guy obviously comes from Russia. He comes here, he has a very tough story, he's made money, he's made a living. This is a guy who's said plenty of times in the build-up to our fight ''I love America. I live here, I fight here and they embrace me and I want to make my name here.' It's not good when things don't go your way, but then to go rip the hand that's feeding you.... I just think it's not a good look for him."