LAS VEGAS — For a while, it looked like Andre Ward didn’t belong in the ring with Sergey Kovalev. But by the time their 12-round bout at T-Mobile Arena ended, Ward had completed one of the more remarkable comebacks in recent boxing history.
Dropped in the second round by a powerful right hand from Kovalev, Ward dominated the second half of the fight to capture a unanimous decision and win the WBO, IBF and WBA light heavyweight titles from Kovalev before a crowd of 13,310. All three judges scored the bout 114-113, as did The Post.
Ward, the gold medal winner in Athens, remained unbeaten in 31 fights, while Kovalev suffered his first loss in dropping to 30-1-1. Expect a rematch. Kovalev thought he did enough to win, as did many in the arena.
“That was the wrong decision,” Kovalev’s promoter, Kathy Duva, said. “He was ahead on points. I thought he won the last round and probably the first six. I don’t know how that turns into a decision for Ward.”
Ward’s performance can’t be ridiculed. He was hammered early in the fight when Kovalev was faster and stronger. But the challenger began landing combinations with regularity over the second half of the bout and knocked Kovalev out of rhythm.
“This is a beautiful thing,” Ward said. “We did it. It’s a lot of hardware. It’s surreal. This is what we set out to do. I’m a lifetime world champion in two different weight classes. Man, it’s amazing.”
It was only the third time since 1994 two undefeated fighters in the top five of the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound list were matched against each other. Ward, who had cleaned out the 168-pound division, entered a 2-to-1 favorite in what most believed was a 50-50 fight. The winner would be considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.
It figured to be a test of Kovalev’s power against Ward’s ability to neutralize his opponent and frustrate Kovalev. Kovalev was the dominant fighter early. He landed a quick left hand midway through the first round that got Ward’s attention.
It was the first taste of the champion’s power and prompted Ward to clench anytime Kovalev seemed ready to attack.
In the second round, Kovalev got aggressive, stalking Ward while giving himself enough punching room. A right cross by the Russian landed flush as Ward was closing in, dropping Ward to his knees for the only knockdown of the fight.
Ward got up, was clearly hurt and barely survived the round. The challenger spent the third round on the defensive, hoping to get inside and land something that would turn momentum in his direction. When Ward tried to make it a wrestling match, Kovalev did his own brand of grappling, pushing Ward into the ropes.
Ward landed a stinging left hand in the fifth round, his first hard shot of the night. But it only seemed to energize Kovalev, who continued to fire his right hand behind a left jab.
Ward began his comeback in the seventh round, landing three lefts that Kovalev didn’t defend. Ward gained more ground in the ninth, when he began to land short combinations that finally stopped Kovalev from advancing.
Ward seemed back in the fight by the 11th, still needing to sweep the championships rounds to have any chance to earn a victory. His left jab was starting to land, and Kovalev, who couldn’t miss early in the fight, struggled to connect.
The intensity was thick in the 12th round with the fight on the line. Ward seemed to rally in the final 30 seconds with a hook to the body and another left that connected on the break. It was just enough to pull out the win.
“This is a good feeling,” Virgil Hunter, Ward’s trainer, said. “We were a little careless with that knockdown in the second round. But we landed the cleaner punches. Kovalev was aggressive but not effective. That’s why we won.”