By Vadmin Pushkin
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is not convinced that a rematch will happen between light heavyweights Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev.
Last month at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Ward (31-0, 15KOs) survived a knockdown in the second round to win a close twelve round unanimous decision over Kovalev (30-1-1, 26KOs) to capture the WBA, IBF, WBO world titles.
All three of the official judges saw it 114-113 for Ward. Many saw the scoring as controversial. Many of the rounds were close in nature and ringside observers had scorecards that went all over the place.
There is a rematch clause in the contract. Kovalev has already exercised his right to an immediate return bout. His promoter, Main Events, want the rematch to take place by April of next year.
Because there was little action in the contest and the pay-per-view buyrate was lower than expected with a figure that barely cracked 160,000 - Roach has serious doubts about a second fight taking place next year.
Roach is friends with both fighters and refused to predict the outcome when he was questioned during several pre-fight interviews. He now admits that he viewed Kovalev as a solid favorite to win by knockout and has no idea why Kovalev faded in the second half.
"I don't know if the rematch between Kovalev and Ward will happen because a lot of people weren't happy with the fight. I'm not sure if it's going to take place, although it would be the fair thing to do. Logically you would think that it will happen, but it's not always the case. A lot of stuff here depends on the money," Roach said.
"I have seen this fight, and I'm friends with Kovalev and I'm friends with Ward. Before the fight, I was convinced that Kovalev was the favorite. I thought that he would win in nine rounds, and I don't know why it didn't happened."
