If there was any doubt about Andre Ward being the best light heavyweight, and possibly the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, Ward erased those doubts with a TKO win over Sergey Kovalev.
In a rematch to one of the most controversial world title fights of 2016, Ward and Kovalev had another battle in Las Vegas for the unified light heavyweight championship. Ward stopped Kovalev late in the eighth round of the fight.
Below is the finish written in the Ward vs. Kovalev 2 live coverage article.
Round 8: Kovalev starts off with a big flurry of short body punches. Kovalev lands a hard uppercut to Ward and is landing much cleaner and better shots than in the last few rounds. Ward hurts Kovalev with a left hand and Ward is throwing a number of combos to the body has Kovalev wobbled up. Ward has Kovalev in the corner and the fight is stopped! Ward is still the champion.
Official Result: Andre Ward defeated Sergey Kovalev via TKO, round 8, 2:29, to retain the Unified WBA/WBO/IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship
Kovalev said he doesn't know what happened and can't explain why he was stopped by the referee. He did say he was hit below the belt numerous times by Ward and Ward was warned twice over low blows.
"I feel good, I should be continuing now," Kovalev said.
At the time of the finish, Ward was winning the fight on the official judges' scorecards, leading in two of the three cards (67-66, 67-66, 68-65).
Ward is still the unified WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight champion, but said he would not be against moving up to cruiserweight or even heavyweight.
Check out the Fightful Boxing podcast with Carlos Toro and Steven Muehlhausen where they discuss the fight, as well as the rest of the pay-per-view, at this link.