Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward, one of boxing's most anticipated fights of the year did not produce the pay-per-view buys many expected.
The HBO broadcast, which saw Ward defeat Kovalev via unanimous decision, made roughly 160,000 buys according to Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole. Just to compare, Manny Pacquiao's return to the ring against Jessie Vargas earlier this month did about 300,000 buys without the need for HBO or Showtime to broadcast the fight.
The fight was the first time either man had headlined a pay-per-view in their career. Ward became the unified light heavyweight champion after being knocked down early in the fight and coming back and winning virtually every round in the second half of the fight. All three judges awarded Ward the winner on the scorecards with a score of 114-113.
Other fights in the main card included a controversial tie between Darleys Perez and Maurice Hooker, Oleksandr Gvozdyk defeating Isaac Chilemba via referee technical decision after 8 rounds and Curtis Stevens beating James de la Rosa via unanimous decision.
After the fight, Kovalev stated that he wants a rematch and Ward did say that he would give him a rematch in the future. Ward also has spoken about moving up to heavyweight, but has said that it would need to be the right opponent and situation before such a move is possible.
