By Cliff Rold

Sometimes a fight can be closely contested, closely decided, and still be decidedly wrong.

Light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev dominated most of the first half of the fight. Former super middleweight champion Andre Ward made a heck of a comeback in the second half. He rebounded from what looked like a one-sided beating to compete on even terms down the stretch. 

In the end, a critical piece of three-minute real estate appears to have been the difference in the outcome and that’s the place where ire about the verdict should reside. Many of the rounds in the second half were close. Round ten was not. It was a clear Kovalev round.

All three official judges gave that round to Ward.

Ward won the fight by a margin of one point across the board.

Let the rematch chatter begin.  

Let’s go the report card.

Grades

Pre-Fight: Speed – Kovalev B+; Ward A/Post: Same

Pre-Fight: Power – Kovalev A; Ward B/Post: Same

Pre-Fight: Defense – Kovalev B+; Ward A/Post: B+; B+

Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Kovalev A+; Ward A+/Post: Same

It wasn’t always a great action fight but the level of boxing on display Saturday was worth the price of admission. It was the sort of fight that busted some narrative myths about both men and validated each in the high esteem where they’re held.

Those who assumed Kovalev couldn’t hold his own technically were wrong. He boxed beautifully in spots, establishing his jab and countering the counter puncher. Ward was expected to have the advantage at mid-to-short range; he did. However, Kovalev held his own in the clinches, initiated his fair share, and did good work with the free hand. He was never as befuddled as a Mikkel Kessler or even Chad Dawson.

This wasn’t skill versus power. It was skill versus skill.

It was also a contest that tested character. What Ward was doing early wasn’t working. He adjusted. He could never quite take away Kovalev’s jab but he did find a way to mitigate the right hand in the second half. He didn’t really improve his chances in the fight by being a fancy dan. Ward went hard nosed and fought. Ward had real mustard on his left hook, used his typically solid body attack, and won exchanges with a dangerous man. His performance in rounds 9, 11, and 12 showed Ward at his best.

It still didn’t look like quite enough. Those who feel different, well…it was a tough fight. They’re no more right or wrong than anyone else. They fell on the right side of the ledger this time around.

While he had a superlative fifth, it’s hard to find another clear round in the first half for Ward. He was rocked in the first with a jab and noticeably stunned twice in the sixth with rights to the ear. He was dropped in the second on a shot Kovalev will look back on and wonder what might have been. Kovalev landed a good shot but he didn’t quite turn it all the way over.

However, there was still more Kovalev could have done. He slowed down Ward in the twelfth for a spell with some hard hooks to the body. Kovalev started jabbing to the body early and has shown a good left to the ribs in the past. His success finding the head of Ward, his establishment of the jab, may have made him a little too focused upstairs.

When you lose by a point across the board, even if the judges got it wrong, a fighter can still find something they missed.

The Russian is still understandably frustrated. When you throw more, land more, and land the harder shots for more of the night, walking out without the three belts you walked in with isn’t going to be consoled by showing the world that your skill set was underrated by too many.

The good news for fight fans is that lingering questions will get asked, and answered. If reports are correct, Kovalev is entitled to a rematch in his next fight. He deserves it and this pairing is no less 50-50 than it was the first time around. Ward’s second half surge may have some feeling like he can pick up where he left off.

He still has to figure out what to do with Kovalev early in a fight.

Would Kovalev pace himself more in a return or open up even more? Will Ward’s left hook emerge earlier and more often? Does Ward do more with the right hand in the return?

Let’s find out. These two got together in their prime and gave us a world-class fight. Now each has a genuine world-class rival.

And we still don’t know, don’t really know, who the better man is.

Let’s find out.      

Report Card and Staff Picks 2016: 38-13

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com