By Jeff Aranow: Andre Ward’s rematch with Sergey Kovalev did poor numbers on HBO PPV for their June 17 rematch at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports News, the Ward vs. Kovalev 2 rematch did 125,000 buys on HBO pay-per-view.
By Jeff Aranow: Former light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) is reportedly interested in adding the help of Andre Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter, according to Fighthype. Hunter recently offered to train Kovalev following his 8th round knockout defeat in his rematch with Ward on June 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Arizona Boxing News & Notes with Don Smith:
Editor’s Note : Our delay in reporting on the ward/Kovalev fight came as a result of my serious battle with dehydration that resulted in my being hospitalized for several days. Thank you for your get well cards and letters and I particularly want to thank the well trained staff at Abrazo Hospital in Phoenix for treating me. It was touch and go for a few days; please, make sure you hydrate properly.
By Jeff Aranow: British promoter Eddie Hearn thinks the promotion of the Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev 2 fight last Saturday night could have taken advantage of a lot of different things to make it a much bigger fight than it turned out to be. Hearn thought the fight should have brought in twice the PPV numbers that the previous Ward vs. Kovalev fight pulled in last November.
By Jeff Aranow: Andre Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter is offering former light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev a helping hand to get him back to the top of his game following his second consecutive defeat against Ward. Kovalev was stopped in the 8th round by Ward on June 17th after getting hit with 3 straight hard body shots that folded him in half.
By Donavan Leonard: Sergey Kovalev wore a cap to the final press conference with the word “WAR” emblazoned across the front. Unfortunately for Kovalev, he did not appear to understand the full meaning of the word the following night in the ring with Andre Ward. As has been well documented, Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) retained his titles with an 8th round TKO victory over Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs). Unfortunately, the discussions have been more about the low blows, the ineptitude of the referee, and the quick stoppage than about the performance of Ward.
By Chris Williams: Former light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev showed some humility in admitting that Andre “SOG” Ward was the better in their rematch last Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s good that Kovalev, 34, is coming out and being a good sport. The last thing boxing needs is another sour loser. It’s time for Kovalev to move on now. He tried his best, but he wasn’t good enough to beat Ward. Kovalev needs to take his career in another direction. If you can’t beat a fighter on two attempts, then you need to move on. The last thing Kovalev needs right now is a third straight loss to Ward.
By Jeff Aranow: Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) successfully defended his IBF, WBA and WBO light heavyweight titles last Saturday night in stopping Sergey Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) with a perfectly placed low blow in the 8th round at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ward is now kicking around the idea of fighting at cruiserweight or heavyweight for his next fight.
By Joshua Blessman: Over this past weekend, Andre “SOG” Ward (32-0, 16 Kos) was declared victorious over Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) in a controversial finish. This was their second meeting in the ring, with Ward winning the first fight by a very slim margin, only 1 point on all three judges’ score cards. Two huge issues have emerged in the second fight, whether or not the punch that led to Ward’s TKO stoppage of Kovalev was an illegal low blow under the unified rules of boxing and whether Tony Weeks, the referee of the bout, failed to make the correct call.
By John Calderon: 22-year veteran referee Tony Weeks has suffered the brunt of a tremendous backlash from the boxing public over last Saturday night’s rematch between IBF/WBA/WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Andre “Son of God” Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) and former Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs).