Brook’s backers made the point that Shawn Porter, who Kell beat, was far more formidable than anyone Spence had fought to date. They also pointed to a possible chink in Errol’s armor: his chin. There have been rumors that Spence gets hurt more, and more often, in sparring than his team would like.
Paulie Malignaggi referenced that issue, when he told a Sky Sports audience, “Errol is a terrific body puncher with solid hand speed, and he knows how to open you up. But he’s untested at this level. The question mark is what happens when Brook hits him, because he hasn’t been hit a lot. He hasn’t fought anybody like Kell and hasn’t been hit a lot by the level of opposition that he’s fought. Kell doesn’t just hit. He really hits. And he hits with sharp power.”
But Spence is very good. He’s a southpaw, which makes him even harder to beat. And Brook came into the fight with considerable wear and tear on his body.
In September 2014, Brook suffered serious leg and arm wounds after being attacked by a man with a machete. His thirty-seven pro fights included the aforementioned wars against Golovkin and Porter. And equally problematic, Kell, who has long been a “big” welterweight, fought Golovkin at 160 pounds. There was a question as to how his body would react to shrinking down to 147 pounds again.
Brook-Spence was contested in Sheffield in the wake of the May 22 terrorist bombing in Manchester that took twenty-two lives and injured scores more. Security for the bout was tight.
In boxing, the better fighter usually wins. Spence was the better fighter.
Spence fought a bit tentatively in round one as Brook advanced behind an aggressive jab. In the second stanza, Errol began moving forward, but was still reluctant to let his hands go. That changed in round three, when Spence started fighting more confidently. There was spirited back-and-forth action in rounds four through seven, with Errol getting the better of it and going effectively to the body. His punches strayed low often enough that referee Howard Foster could have made an issue of it but didn’t.
After seven rounds, Brook’s left eye was closing, and he looked like a tired fighter. At that point, Spence pressed the action. By round nine, Brook was fighting to survive, and Spence was fighting to knock him out. “When you can’t see, there’s nothing you can do,” Brook said afterward, referencing the damage (later diagnosed as a broken orbital bone) inflicted around his eye.
Forty seconds into round ten, an accumulation of punches put Brook on the canvas, the consequence of what might have been a decision to regroup by taking a knee. Kell fought back valiantly toward the end of the stanza, landing his best blows of the night. Then, midway through round eleven, Brook sought sanctuary on the canvas again, kneeling and signaling to Foster that he no longer wished to fight.
Spence was ahead on the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage by a 97–92, 96–93, 95–94 margin. According to Compu-Box, he had a 246-to-136 advantage in punches landed. And Errol showed a chin. Brook hit him often enough but couldn’t change the flow of the bout.
After his victory, Spence said he wants to fight WBC-WBA 147-pound champion Keith Thurman next: “I’ve been calling Keith Thurman out for a long time. So Keith Thurman, come on. Come out.”
However, Thurman hasn’t sounded like a man who’s anxious for that particular fight. Not now, anyway. Earlier this year, Keith was asked about fighting Spence, and replied, “I’m tired about being asked this fucking question. I see greatness in him. Has he been fully tested yet? No. Four years ago, I was Errol Spence and everybody, including Floyd, was ducking me. Build it up and I’ll fight him.”
At the moment, it’s academic. Thurman will be out of action until the beginning of 2018 because of recent elbow surgery. And Shawn Porter (who Keith has already beaten once) has been designated by the WBC as his mandatory challenger.
In an ideal world, Spence would fight Porter next with the winner to face Thurman. Porter would pressure Spence in ways that Brook couldn’t. But the ideal rarely happens in boxing.
Meanwhile, let it be noted that Brook came to America to take the title from Porter, and Spence went to England to get it back.
England is a time-honored place for a coronation.
Ward–Kovalev II: Andre Ward Makes a Statement
Don Turner has trained fighters for decades and notes, “It’s a lot easier to outbox a guy if you can hurt him.”
In an earlier era, the June 17, 2017, rematch between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev would have been a can’t-miss promotion: two of the best fighters in the world reprising a 2016 encounter that ended in controversy with Ward prevailing on the judges’ scorecards by a razor-thin margin. But this is 2017. Instead of galvanizing boxing fans, Ward-Kovalev II was symbolic of boxing’s problems.
There was a rematch clause in the contract for Kovalev–Ward I, but Team Ward balked at moving forward with the sequel. Andre seemed ambivalent. And Roc Nation Sports (his promoter) stood to lose several million dollars on the promotion because of its contract with Ward. Meanwhile, Kovalev and Main Events (Sergey’s promoter) desperately wanted the rematch; Kovalev for competitive and monetary reasons, Main Events as a financial imperative.
In the end, the fact that the Kovalev–Ward I contract contained a binding rematch clause was dispositive of the issue. But to get Ward-Kovalev II off the ground, Main Events CEO Kathy Duva ceded control of the venture to Roc Nation.
“They wanted to control the promotion,” Duva said. “They wanted to set the tone. They specifically used those words. They were going to do things the Roc way. So this is the Roc way.”
Kovalev–Ward I was one of the most anticipated fights of 2016. The rematch was close to stillborn.
Roc Nation Sports was founded by Shawn Corey Carter a.k.a. Jay Z in 2013 and has made inroads in numerous sports, most notably with the signing of NBA star Kevin Durant and the NFL’s Dez Bryant. But in two and a half years, it has failed to show that it can promote boxing at a world-class level without losing money.
There are a lot of moving pieces that have to be assembled into a well-oiled machine for a big fight to be properly promoted. Roc Nation has yet to show that it has mastered this discipline. It’s two flagship fighters—Miguel Cotto and Andre Ward—have been cash drains for the company because of unrealistically large guaranteed purses. Cotto and Roc Nation Sports parted ways earlier this year. Industry insiders wouldn’t be surprised if Roc Nation left boxing shortly.
Michael Yormark (president and chief of branding and strategy) is Roc Nation Sports’s most visible management figure. But many crucial decisions in areas where Roc Nation’s boxing program is intertwined with the company’s larger mission are heavily influenced by Desiree Perez.
Perez has been criticized as having an abrasive management style reminiscent of the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. As reported by the New York Daily News, she was arrested in New York in 1994 for possession with intent to distribute thirty-five kilograms of cocaine. Federal authorities charged that she was part of a major drug-distribution ring, and she faced spending well over a decade in prison. But she cooperated with authorities and, after pleading no contest to criminal charges, served fourteen months in prison followed by ten years’ probation. Thereafter, she turned her life around and has become one of the most trusted members of Jay Z’s inner circle.
Regardless of who is making the decisions at Roc Nation Sports, Ward-Kovalev II struggled financially from the start. And before long, the atmosphere turned toxic.
Kovalev was already bitter about the judges’ decision in Kovalev–Ward I.
“I had no emotions,” Sergey said of the moment when the verdict was announced. “I was empty. I was just killed by decision. I couldn’t change something. I just understood that I was robbed, and I don’t have any more belts now. I just have one goal: to beat Andre Ward and beat all shit from him because he doesn’t deserve the belt and the status of a champion. I lost respect for him, the way he acts. I don’t like him. I want to punish him because he puts his nose really up. I know only one thi
ng: I want to destroy him. I want to punish him and get my belts back.”
Ward took the high road in response, saying, “It’s a climate right now where there’s a lot of talking. Guys don’t do what they say they’re going to do. They don’t perform, and then they find excuses on why they didn’t perform. There’s only a handful of guys in history that talked and then backed it up. We don’t have a lot of that today. It’s not a video game. It’s real life, and you’ve got to live it out.
“Anytime there’s a close decision you’re going to have opinions either way,” Ward noted. “I’ve never refuted the fact that it was a close decision. I respect Kovalev as a champion. I won’t call him a former champion. He’s the real deal.”
But then Andre tarnished his good-guy image by leaving town early and blowing off an edition of Face-Off that was scheduled to be recorded by HBO in Las Vegas on May 7, one day after Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. That didn’t hurt Andre financially because Roc Nation had guaranteed him an oversized $6,500,000 purse for the fight. But it hurt Kovalev, Main Events, and Roc Nation, all of whom were dependent on pay-per-view buys as their primary revenue stream from Ward-Kovalev II.
Things deteriorated further from there.
Prior to Kovalev–Ward I, Team Ward had tried to sow discord in the Kovalev camp by floating the idea that Sergey was being underpaid by Main Events. In truth, based on the economic realities of the fight, Andre was being overpaid by Roc Nation, which has never been able to balance its boxing economic balance sheet.
In the build-up to Ward-Kovalev II, the Ward camp sought to drive a wedge between Sergey and his trainer, John David Jackson. Both James Prince (Ward’s manager) and Josh Dubin (Andre’s lawyer) claimed that Jackson had reached out to them about the possibility of working with Ward and Virgil Hunter in preparation for the rematch. “We thought about it strongly,” Prince said. “That’s why we were conversating with him, because we felt that he could be somewhat of an asset. But at the end of the day, it was an asset that we really didn’t need.”
Meanwhile, there seemed to be even more enmity between Main Events and Roc Nation than between the fighters. In an interview posted on Twitter, Michael Yormark declared, “They’ve done nothing to promote this fight. Kathy [Duva] really has done nothing. Sergey has done nothing. Let’s be honest. Sergey has no following. Main Events has had him for five, six years. What have they done with him? Nobody knows who he is. He has no following. He can’t sell tickets. He can’t sell pay-per-view.”
The problem with these attacks was that the promotional message was all wrong. It was focusing on personal insults rather than the merits of what was expected to be a very good fight.
Kovalev had started strong in Kovalev–Ward I, knocking Ward down in the second round before fading late.
“I’ve never had to come from behind like that in a professional fight,” Ward said afterward. “I don’t want to be there, and I don’t feel like I should be there. But you prepare for those moments long before fight night.”
In addition to questioning the judges’ decision in Kovalev–Ward I, many people (this writer included) felt that referee Robert Byrd had interpreted the rules in a way that allowed Andre to lead with his head and grapple rather than box for much of the fight. However, Sergey put that issue to rest during the kick-off press tour for Ward-Kovalev II when he said, “The referee was good. I have no problems with the referee in the fight.”
Kovalev also said the reason he faded late in Kovalev–Ward I was that he’d overtrained for the bout. But that seemed like rationalization. And in any event, Ward contributed significantly to making Sergey tired.
“I’m not here to prove anything although, obviously, my goal is to win in a more definitive fashion,” Ward said as Ward-Kovalev II approached. “It’s my job to pick up where we left off. There’s adjustments that need to be made. But at the end of the day, I just have to be me and being myself is going to be enough. I fought this man for twelve rounds. There’s nothing scary about him. He didn’t knock me down in the ninth or tenth round and have me holding on to survive. He knocked me down in the second round, and I came back from it. Everybody wants to talk about the knockdown. Did you see the next ten rounds? June 17 won’t be any different except I’ll start a little earlier.”
The fight was contested at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Kovalev’s “grand arrival” at Mandalay Bay was not so grand. Meeting with the media, Sergey declared, “Ward and his team are liars. He said that he gave me this rematch as a present for the boxing fans. Don’t lie. It was in the contract that you must give me this or you retire. When I see his face, I want to punch it. I am very happy for this opportunity to smash his face. I don’t like this guy.”
At the final pre-fight press conference on Thursday, Kovalev spoke and then left the dais with the rest of his team before Ward was introduced.
Most promotions grow larger in the public consciousness as a fight approaches. Ward-Kovalev II seemed to shrink as the hour of reckoning neared.
Ward was a 7-to-5 betting favorite. Many media personnel who thought Sergey won the first fight were picking Andre in the rematch.
It was assumed that the bout would be interesting but not necessarily entertaining. That was the kiss of death. Few fans wanted to see rounds four through twelve of Kovalev–Ward I all over again. But the expectation was, that’s what they would get.
“The first fight,” Bart Barry wrote, “ended in a way that anticipates a predictable result the next time, no matter how many mean sentences the combatants speak about one another. Kovalev’s best chance of beating Ward happened ten rounds ago. Every moment since then has made a Kovalev victory less probable. As this fight nears, interest dwindles.”
Roc Nation did a good job of selling sponsorships. But pay-per-view buys were tracking at a dismally low level. Kovalev–Ward I had generated roughly 165,000 buys, which was a disappointing number. A source close to the promotion of Ward-Kovalev II says that, initially, Roc Nation maintained in marketing strategy sessions that, with proper promotion, Ward-Kovalev II could engender as many as three hundred thousand buys. In the end, the rematch fell short of the pay-per-view numbers for their first fight.
On Wednesday of fight week, tickets for Ward-Kovalev II were posted on Groupon at a thirty-two percent discount with an additional discount of fifteen dollars per order. Papering the house with “freebies” and selling tickets at discount is not uncommon in boxing. But usually, it’s quietly done. Selling tickets on Groupon is a public announcement that anyone who paid full price is a sucker.
Also on Wednesday of fight week, Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor was announced. That further marginalized Ward-Kovalev II in terms of media coverage and conversation among fans. On the morning of the Ward-Kovalev rematch, the New York Times sports section devoted most of its front page and much of page four to Mayweather–McGregor. The Times wouldn’t have devoted that space to Ward-Kovalev II under any circumstances. But it symbolized the latter bout’s plight.
Ward and Kovalev each weighed in at 175 pounds.
Kovalev was the aggressor in round one and did enough to win the stanza since Ward was in stay-away-from-me mode. In rounds two and three, Sergey continued moving forward. But Andre blunted his aggression with movement, kept Kovalev from getting off the way he wanted to, tied him up when Sergey got inside, and landed occasional punches that were hard enough to get Kovalev’s attention. Ward also began letting his hands go more (including a hook that landed below the belt and earned a warning from referee Tony Weeks).
By round five, Kovalev appeared to be tiring. He was still the aggressor, but it had become ineffective aggression. He was losing his edge and seemed frustrated by his inability to land cleanly on Ward. More significantly, in a precursor of things to come, Ward landed two hurting body shots at the two-minute mark of round five. That was followed by a left hook up top in round six that was better than anything Kovalev had landed so far.
&n
bsp; By round seven, Kovalev seemed to be just going through the motions and Andre was becoming dominant. One minute into round eight, three body blows (at least one of them low) doubled Kovalev over and sent him back against the ropes. More body shots softened him up further. A straight right hand staggered him badly. Now Sergey was struggling to survive. There were more body shots, two of them flagrantly low . . . And referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight.
Ward was ahead 67–66 on two of the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage and trailed 68–65 on the third.
Controversy followed.
Paulie Malignaggi was at ringside covering the fight for SKY-TV and said afterward, “I thought the stoppage was terrible. It wasn’t like he was hurt to the point where you had to stop the fight. You see guys get that hurt a lot of times in fights and you don’t even think about stopping the fight. Ward was hurting Kovalev to the body. But give the fight the proper ending. What’s going on? What was with that stoppage? All of a sudden, he stopped the fight. I wasn’t even sure what he was doing. I thought maybe he was calling a low blow. The last thing on my mind was that he was stopping the fight.”
Kathy Duva asked Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett for an immediate video review of the blows that led to the stoppage, which is legal under Nevada law. But Bennett declined and later explained, “The only way we can look at an instant replay is under one condition: when a punch or kick terminates the bout and the referee isn’t sure whether it’s a legal or illegal blow. I asked Tony Weeks, ‘Do you want to look at the instant replay?’ And he said, ’No. I’m satisfied they were on the beltline.’”
Kovalev didn’t object immediately when the fight was stopped. But grasping the full reality of the situation, he soon proclaimed, “He hit with four low blows. The ref didn’t call them. I felt I could have continued. This is bullshit.”
Main Events quickly sent out a press release headlined “Sergey Kovalev TKO’d by Low Blows.” And Duva declared, “I’m still having a hard time processing what I just witnessed. I saw someone who should have been disqualified get his hand held up. Sergey got hit with three low blows, four actually, in the last round. We’ll file a protest on Monday.”
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