Ward lifts 175LBS belts from Kovalev by UD in HBO PPV headliner from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events

The headliner of the night for the ‘Pound for Pound’ HBO PPV lived up to the exciting billing and exceeded it as light heavyweight ruler Sergey Kovalev (30-1-1) put his belts on the line and undefeated streak against Super Six Tournament winner, former 168lbs champion and fellow unbeaten fighter, Andre Ward (31-0). The drama build to a fever pitch and in the end someone’s ‘O’ had to go and that was ‘Krusher’ Kovalev’s who lost his titles by scores of 114-113 all across the board.

The triumph for Andre Ward didn’t come easy however, seeing as how Sergey Kovalev hurt Ward early in the match with his money punch; an overhand right that visibly staggered the Californian who needed to tie up and use a clinch to keep his composure in those opening minutes. He wasn’t as lucky in the next round as Kovalev raked him with a picture perfect right hand that landed flush sending Ward to the canvas in the middle of Round 2. Like a true champion he got up quickly but was on unsteady legs the remainder of the stanza as well as some of the 3rd. For whatever reason, the Oakland representative chose to walk backwards and to his left allowing the Russian bomber to land his right hand with allot more ease.

Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Kovalev also made it a dirty fight by trying to toss and turn his foe the next couple of rounds at close quarters, the clinch was a messy, merky pond one in which to swim in yet Ward who was initially viewed as the smaller man had no problem holding his own in the pocket when some wrestling tactics were applied via underhooks. The shift in momentum was clearest at the halfway mark with ‎Ward taking over late in rounds 5 and 6, implementing his solid jab and getting to the punch first. In round 7 both men traded hard shots on one another. Ward with a crisp lead left and Kovalev with a step in straight shot of his own, showing that not only can the two warriors take a punch but also give one drawing big ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from the 13,310 in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Then the unexpected happened.

Andre Ward was the harder puncher on the inside, on the outside and his incredible cardio and stamina took him to the next level as he drove Kovalev back, across the ring or back to the center of the squared circle with little resistance sneaking in a short left hook or two. Kovalev’s punch output lowered as Ward’s increased and not only that but it was more accurate. He led with the hook and popped his foe, he stabbed with the jab and dictated the pace. Kovalev of course always had that game changer in his right hand but he was breathing with his mouth open in the championship rounds and making the horrible mistake of following Ward as opposed to cutting off the ring and looked a little tired. Peppered in the second half were some ‘Krusher’ Kovalev rounds but when he needed to step on the gas it was the Oakland raider whose ship ‎sailed into the sunset, closing strong and slipping those last-minute bombs from the Russian power hitter and looping a hook or shooting a jab to punctuate his skill.

Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Once the judges’ score cards were read the Andre Ward faithful erupted in happiness and cheer as the Bay Area representative turned back the formally undefeated champ and took his titles.

Kovalev will likely aim to exercise his automatic rematch clause and his promoter, Kathy Duva, was emphatic about it. Luckily for all fans Ward was not opposed to a rematch but did disclose that it would be allot more clear cut hinting that there wouldn’t be such a close outcome when the two ‘Pound for Pound’ combatants crossed paths once again.
‘MIGHTY MO’ HOOKER AND PEREZ FIGHT TO A DRAW

Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Texas native Maurice ‘Mighty Mo’ Hooker‎ (21-0-3) and Colombia’s Darleys Perez (33-2-2) went to work for 10 rounds applying the best of their craft and what it is they live for to be rewarded with an eyebrow raising draw verdict.

Both men had their moments, both men landed big shots and both connected when needed to punctuate the round. Nonetheless, maybe their equality in assertiveness over 10 stanzas and ring control due to countless shifts in momentum justified the scores of 97-93 for the NABO junior welterweight champion ‎ who retains ; Hooker and the 97-93 for Perez with one judge giving them 95-95 to go home with.

It was a very entertaining and provided fight fans with as much controversy as it did action. Maybe a draw isn’t so bad because a good fight is always worth watching again.
GVOZDYK STAYS UNBEATEN WITH TKO STOPPAGE OF CHILEMBA IN 8TH

Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Oleksandr Gvozdyk (11-0) vs. Isaac Chilemba (24-5-2) took 4 rounds to heat up after being a very technical and calculated chess match for those first 12 minutes. Towards the end of the 4th stanza Gvozdyk got Chilemba along the ropes and let his hands go rattling off 10-12 unanswered shots in a pace better suited for their NABF light heavyweight championship match. From the 5th round and up the two 175-pound fighters picked up the action by trading at close quarters but with the Ukraine native beating his man to the punch and being allot more effective. For some reason or another the South African fighter covered up and tried to roll with the punches but limited his output towards the middle of the match.

Chilemba constantly gave up ground to his foe, specially in the 6th round, letting himself get backed up as Gvozdyk snapped away his punches sneaking in a couple combinations. With Chilemba working off of his back foot or gracing his back along the ropes he carelessly enabled Gvozdyk to muster allot of confidence and steal the 6th and 7th rounds without any problem. The Ukraine representative stepped in with his jab, pawed away, then landed a clean left hook or stepped in with jabs to the body then head commanding a lopsided lead in the fight.

Before the beginning of Round 9, Chilemba’s corner asked referee Jay Nady to call a stop to the bout because their man had suffered a broken left hand.

Oleksandr Gvozdyk defeats Isaac Chilemba ‎via TKO at the end of Round 8 to remain unbeaten and retain his NABF light heavyweight title.

STEVENS EASILY DECISIONS DE LA ROSA OVER 10 ROUNDS

Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Opening up the main card on HBO Pay-Per-View from inside the T-Mobile Arena was a bit of a grudge match in Curtis ‘Cerebral Assassin’ Stevens (29-5) vs. ‘King’ James De La Rosa ‎(23-5) for Stevens’ WBC Continental Americas 160lbs championship. The rift between the two came to fruition during an intense stare down at the weigh-in where Stevens rubbed his belly while staring at his foe in what would be interpreted as him being ‘fed’ De La Rosa. ‘King’ De La Rosa didn’t care for that assumption at all, nodding his head in displeasure and turning his back on his man Friday at the MGM Grand during the face-off. Unfortunately, that intensity did not translate over into the actual physical battle for more than 9 minutes. There, both men gave as good as they got by landing some clean counters and straight shots. Early in the bout Stevens walked his man along the ropes, threw a straight right then followed up with a perfect left hook to the neck-ear area of De La Rosa which landed clean in Round 3. The perfect shot sent the Texas native falling backwards along the ropes for the only knock down of the match. Those rounds however had the most action as both men came forward throwing combinations and the fight seem to sizzle, sadly it would die out after that.

De La Rosa decided to spend the next portion of the match trying to counter his smaller foe and catch him coming in with check hooks. Stevens caught on to that immediately sporting a low stance and gliding in and out the pocket using great upper body movement and a hunched over guard that was even lower but once he let go of his hands he masterfully dipped out of the pocket making his opponent miss wide. That became the story of the battle with the exception of a few close exchanges but they immediately turned into clinches and the pace returned to its mediocore pace. ‎Ironically, ‘King’ James neglected to use his jab as much or take notice of his height advantage opting to fight Stevens fight as the rounds trickled away.

In the 8th round, referee Russell Mora called time out and deducted a point from Stevens after warning him a few rounds prior for pushing the head down and leaning on his man when he came in. Nonetheless, following the foul the two returned to their counter-punch heavy affair that lacked the intensity of the first 15 minutes or even the weigh-in stare for that matter. Stevens landed better and more often and mixed in some combinations when needed to bank round after round. For the final two stanzas ‘King’ talked more and taunted his foe than he actually boxed behind a lazy jab and wide stance as Stevens pressed forward, closed the distance and shoe shined him along the ropes in the 10th and final round to close the show strong. ‎

Curtis Stevens defeats James De La Rosa via Unanimous Decision to retain his WBC Continental Americas title. Scores were 98-90, 96-92 and 96-92‎.

HBO SPORTS^® PRESENTS THE REPLAY OF

THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED WORLD LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE SHOWDOWN

SERGEY KOVALEV VS. ANDRE WARD

SATURDAY, NOV. 26

HBO Sports serves up on Thanksgiving weekend the exclusive replay of the highly anticipated world  light heavyweight title showdown between undefeated pound-for-pound performers Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING:® SERGEY KOVALEV VS. ANDRE WARD is seen SATURDAY, NOV. 26 at 10:35 p.m. (ET/PT). The HBO Sports team, which was ringside at the T-Mobile Arena, called the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates: Nov. 27 (9:15 a.m.) and 28 (12:50 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Nov. 29 (1:00 a.m.)

HBO Signature: Nov. 27 (5:30 p.m.)

Two of boxing’s elite met in the square ring at the spectacular T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in the most anticipated fight of 2016.

In addition to the replay of Kovalev vs. Ward, HBO Sports will present next Saturday night the live fight from Las Vegas as 130-pound warriors Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters trade punches in their can’t miss ring encounter.

® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.