By Keith Idec

LAS VEGAS – Andre Ward has accomplished plenty during his 12-year professional boxing career.

Perhaps nothing makes him more proud than what he did during the second round of his grueling fight Saturday night against Sergey Kovalev. Ward got off the canvas in the second round following the first knockdown he suffered in 11 years, regained his composure and eventually neutralized Kovalev’s vaunted right hand to take control during the second half of an extremely competitive light heavyweight title fight at T-Mobile Arena.

The 32-year-old Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) won a unanimous decision to take Kovalev’s IBF, WBA and WBO 175-pound championships. All three judges – Reno, Nevada’s Burt Clements, New York’s John McKaie and Las Vegas’ Glenn Trowbridge – scored the fight 114-113 for Ward, who dealt Kovalev his first defeat (30-1-1, 26 KOs).

The 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Hayward, California, hadn’t been dropped during a fight since Darnell Boone floored him during their November 2005 fight in Portland, Oregon.

“Obviously, I didn’t envision getting off the canvas,” Ward said during the post-fight press conference. “But you know, I’ve been around this sport so long, you know, I’ve watched this sport for so many years. These types of things happen. And, of course, someone like myself, who wins a lot of his fights going away, sometimes you could get spoiled. You know?

“But I told my wife in the locker room, I said, ‘There’s obviously a part of your pride that gets dashed, and you feel a certain way about it. But, man, I got up tonight. I smiled at the guy who’s the biggest puncher in the division. I went up in weight to fight for his belts. And then I went and took the fight to him, and closed the show.’ So I’m proud of myself.”

Ward admitted that the early knockdown altered his original game plan because it caused him to lose a two-point round.

“The urgency probably caused me to step on the gas a little bit more,” Ward said, “and just feel like I needed every round. So it did change [my game plan] a little bit.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.