Andre Ward's unanimous decision over Sergey Kovalev last month still has people scratching their heads over the decision, even Kovalev himself.
Kovalev has remained adamant about the judges not picking the correct winner and said many in the boxing world believe Kovalev is the winner. Ward, on the other hand, doesn't see it like that and, in an interview with Fox Sports Live, admitted the fight was a close one, but still believes he was the winner.
“It was a unanimous decision,” Ward said. “It was a close fight, I’ll give him that. I think what happened was this guy kind of has had such a reputation for being a monster that they thought he was going to hit me and I was going to stay down. He did hit me, and I went down and I got up. As the smaller man, I took the fight to him, and I feel like I did what I had to do to close out the show the last 6, 7, 8 rounds. The judges got it right. He’s just disappointed. I know a guy is disappointed, him and his team right after the fight; emotions are still high. For a guy 3, 4 weeks later still not give you credit and still make excuses; it’s not a good look for him. If Kovalev won by 4 to 5 rounds, and I knew in my heart of hearts that this guy beat me, I got the kind of character where I’m going to tell him right after the fight, ‘Bro, I think you got the decision.’ He earned this. It just didn’t happen. It was a close fight that went my way, and I think at some point and I think at some point he’s got to own up to it. I’ve been in the game a long time, 12 years in the profession.”
Ward won in all three judges' scorecards by a score of 114-113 while Fightful had Kovalev winning the fight 114-113. In winning the fight, Ward won the undisputed WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight titles. Ward said after the fight he is open to a rematch. As of this writing, no rematch or any other fights have been scheduled for either boxer.
Credit to Boxingnews24.com for the transcription.
