Last November, Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev engaged in one of the most important boxing matchups in recent years. Ward got off to a slow start, highlighted by a second-round knockdown at the heavy hands of the man called “Krusher.” However, the skillful Ward peeled his backside off the canvas and out-boxed his opponent over 12 rounds to win a unanimous, but highly-contested decision. Ward earned the pound-for-pound crown. Kovalev earned the first ‘L’ of his career.
This summer, Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KO) will get a chance at his own comeback story. The highly-anticipated rematch is official. ‘Ward vs Kovalev II: No Excuses’ will take place on June 17 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
For true fight fans, it is a welcome announcement. Ward and Kovalev are ranked #1 and #2 on The Ring’s latest pound for pound list. With all due respect to Roman Gonzalez, Terence Crawford and Gennady Golovkin, these are the best two fighters in the world.
Both fighters have something to prove. Kovalev (and his fans) felt he was cheated in the first fight. He felt that his relentless pressure and the knockdown should have given him more than enough points to earn a decision.
Ward (31-0-0, 15 KO) believes the so-called controversy of the first fight has robbed him of the respect he deserves as the world’s top pound for pound pugilist. Ward posted a photo on Instagram, with a message directed to his opponent.
“I’m going to keep it short and sweet, you got what you asked for, now you have to see me JUNE 17TH. This time leave the excuses at home. #SOG #EARNED #NOEXCUSES#WARDKOVALEV”
In an interview with The Undefeated, Ward said, ““Somebody’s will is going to get broken in this one, and I’m not planning on it being mine.”
Though the fighters are unquestionably elite talents in the ring, neither are household names to mainstream sports fans. The first fight sold just over 160K pay per view buys on HBO. However, HBO has again elected to put the rematch on PPV. Hopefully the network, promoters and fighters will come up with a better PPV strategy this time around. A fight of this magnitude deserves to be seen by the masses.
Kudos to Ward, Kovalev and HBO for making this fight happen – again.
Voters hand out red flag on soccer stadium
Voters in the City of St. Louis rejected a ballot proposal that would’ve allocated $60 million tax dollars towards a new downtown MLS stadium. As much as I’d love to see a MLS team in St. Louis, city voters made the right call.
Time and time again, taxpayers are asked to foot the bill for fancy new sports venues despite overwhelming evidence that it makes very little financial sense. This is especially true in St. Louis, as the city has a population of less than 320K. Had the City and County come together for a plan, it might have been a little more fiscally responsible. However, it seems there’s a bigger chance that Stan Kroenke will bring Arsenal from England to St. Louis to play in the The Dome (aka zero chance) than there is of getting the City and County to play nice.
Whether or not the vote actually kills St. Louis’ soccer dreams remains to be seen. The MLS released a statement calling the election result “a significant setback for the city’s expansion opportunity.”
Surely, the prospective ownership group could raise an additional $60 million in private funding to bring the stadium to live, but at this point it appears unlikely.
Even if St. Louis is passed over for an expansion team, soccer fans should not fret. In a few years, some team’s six-year-old stadium will be determined to be too old and run down and the owners will scour the country for a city desperate enough to pony up the dough to build them a new one. The MLS should keep STL in its rolodex.
Refs ruin National Championship
Maybe NCAA officials are jealous of the amount of coverage that government whistleblowers have gotten in recent months. Otherwise, how can anyone explain the poor performance of the officiating crew in Monday’s National Championship game between North Carolina and Gonzaga? The whistle-happy refs called an astounding 27 fouls in the second half of Monday night’s game.
People talked about the sloppiness of the second-half play, but the officials made it impossible for either team to get into rhythm. The four man crew somehow managed to routinely miss obvious calls and yet find phantom ones.
The biggest show of ineptitude occurred when officials took three minutes to review a play in which Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski was fouled by UNC’s Joel Berry. They somehow emerged with a decision that Karnowski, the man who was fouled, deserved a Flagrant 1 foul for making inadvertent contact with the man who fouled him, while falling to the ground. It’s one of the most absurd calls I’ve even seen, especially considering it wasn’t made on-the-fly, but after a lengthy review.
Next season the NCAA should hold a separate Referee’s National Championship so the zebras can have their own outlet to seek attention. Maybe then we’ll get a title game where they focus on getting the calls right instead of trying to shine themselves so they can be selected for Americas Next Top Referee.
Dear refs: Please, play your position. It’s in the background. Signed, Everybody.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch @IshmaelSistrunk
