Much disputed, debated and demeaned too, boxing’s pound-for-pound list remains the definitive way to single out the best boxers in the world.
Making the selection for 2016 requires serious deliberation, as changes must be made. 2016 is only the second year in approximately 11 years of boxing that Floyd Mayweather is not at the top of boxing’s pound-for-pound list.
2016’s boxing year was okay, if not great. We saw some excellent fights – see Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter, Orlando Salido-Francisco Vargas, Jamie Conlan-Anthony Nelson – and there is still a little over a month to go before the end of the year. But some experts, Oscar De La Hoya for example, has not been happy with how the sport played out this year, even calling 2016 “one of the worst years in boxing history.”
Those fans who agree that 2016 was a disappointment can look ahead to a potentially great 2017 for the sport. Already we have confirmed fights to get excited about, including Keith Thurman-Danny Garcia, David Haye-Tony Bellew and more, and also a strongly pencilled in Wladimir Klitschko-Anthony Joshua fight. And with the continued rise of future stars such as Vasyl Lomachenko, Artur Beterbiev, Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk and others set to feature in further big fights, 2017 could really be a big fistic year.
Considered to be one of the best super lightweights in recent history, Kostya Tszyu (31-2-0) rarely makes himself available to comment on, or be interviewed for anything boxing related. But when he does pick up the microphone, it is not difficult to remember him as being one of the more outspoken, smart, and most importantly honest people in boxing.
Going into this past Saturday’s big light-heavyweight title fight showdown plenty of people were saying the winner between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev would be deserving of being placed atop the mythical but always hotly debated pound-for-pound rankings. Ward, as we all know, won – at least officially – and we cannot go back on things now.
So is Ward, who was a dominant super-middleweight for a number of years and is now a king at light-heavyweight, the best boxer, pound-for-pound on the planet? On paper, yes, he probably is, although a number of people may choose to rate Kovalev higher than “S.O.G” due to the fact that they felt, and feel, “Krusher” won on Saturday, only to be “robbed.”
Convention wisdom dictated that Sergey Kovalev vs Andre Ward could only go one of two ways, either a Kovalev KO or a Ward decision. As a nearly 2 to 1 favorite, most people assumed that a Ward decision was the most likely scenario. Early in the fight it looked as if Kovalev was well on his way to the upset, punctuated by a fierce knockdown of Ward in the second round. The tide gradually turned and by the fifth round they were fighting on even terms, with Ward appearing to take the majority of the middle rounds. The championship rounds looked to be split, depending on your preference for Kovalev’s more powerful punches, or Ward’s pinpoint ones.
The highly anticipated match-up between undefeated light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev and undefeated former super middleweight world champion Andre Ward did not fail to live up to expectations. The two pound for pound elites battled for pound for pound supremacy in a back and forth fight which brought out the best of both fighters. After being dropped early by a devastating left-right combo from the champion, Andre Ward persevered and rallied back to secure the victory in this close and competitive affair. The official judges all scored the bout in favor of Andre Ward by the same score of 114-113.
The only thing fans are in agreement on regarding last night’s exciting fight between Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward (the winner’s name goes first) is there simply has to be a rematch. The razor-thin unanimous decision awarded to Ward instantly became a topic of huge contention, even before either fighter had left the ring in Las Vegas – some even calling the verdict a “robbery,” some saying it is one of the worst they have ever seen.
There was a rematch clause inserted ahead of last night’s bout, so it seems there is a good chance a return fight will happen and soon. Kathy Duva, promoter of Kovalev, is calling for an immediate return. Kovalev, who says he never lost more than three rounds, is not guilty of having sour grapes; he genuinely believes he won the fight. Many millions of fight fans firmly agree with the now former light-heavyweight champ.
Sad affair saturday night at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. Expectations were high. Fans hoped for a classic matchup. What they got was an attempted mugging and resulting robbery. To call Andre Ward’s efforts scientific would be ill-judged, which is what happened with the decision in Ward’s favor.
One simple way to tell who won the fight is to look at each fighter’s face. Andre Ward’s was red, lumpy and swollen. The Krusher’s face was relatively unmarked.
In front of a packed house at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and live on HBO Pay-Per-View, Andre “S.O.G.” Ward (31-0, 15 KOs)* won a close unanimous decision victory over Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) to steal the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Titles in a decision that most ringside media thought went the wrong way.
Both fighters were feeling each other out in the first two rounds. The Krusher continued his come-forward attack and knocked Andre down in the second. Ward managed to get up quickly and took several hard shots from Sergey before the bell rang to end the second round. The next several rounds included heavy shots from both fighters and some wrestling-style moments. The majority of the rounds were hard-fought and close. Many writers had the decision going to the other way but all three judges scored the bout 114-113 in favor of Ward.
Tonight, fans around the globe will tune in to what could very well go down as the “Fight of the Year” when American Gold Medalist, Andre Ward (30-0, 15KO’s) takes on Russian Sergey Kovalev (30-0, 26KO’s). 60 victories and no defeats between these two shining stars, although at the end of the night, one of them will face an element of the sport they’ve never quite been a part of. That element? The agony of defeat! As we prepare for this showdown, we take a look at Keys to Victory, Four to Explore, and an Official Prediction: