Dear Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev, Please Don't Make Us Wait for a Rematch
Hey, guys. Welcome to the day after.
I know you're tired and sore, so I'll try to type quietly.
First things first, congratulations to you both.
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What you managed to deliver Saturday night, at least when it comes to boxing, was pretty rare: a high-level championship event that not only lived up to all the run-up hype but also exceeded it.
It's like a World Series going seven games. A Super Bowl coming down to the last possession. A golfing major still up for grabs on the 18th green. The drama that's often promised but rarely delivered.
So regardless of the result, that's something worth celebrating.
And it's something worth doing again.
Yeah, I know. It's difficult to even fathom the idea of yet another two-month training ordeal, sacrificing your time, your family and your comfort while the aches from the last one are still throbbing.
But once you pop a couple of Tylenol and readjust the heating pads, give it some thought.
Because it's precisely what boxing needs from the two of you.
A buzz. A great fight. A reason to keep paying attention.
In a combat sports space now home to the likes of Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, it's gradually become more about sizzle and less about steak. But what you guys provided at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was an old-school reminder of just how good a superbly cooked meal can be.
Just imagine. Press conferences with no tossed chairs. Ring walks with no throat slashes. And a full 36-minute spectacle in which the combatants find success, deal with adversity and handle themselves like professionals from bell to bell, leaving fans and social media diners full to bursting.
How could either of you not want to give another taste?
All that said, there are bad reviews out there, too.
More than one person who heard Michael Buffer's narrow post-midnight victory declaration instantly recoiled and knee-jerkily responded by tossing out words like "robbery" and "injustice." HBO's own ringside scoring guru had it five points in the opposite direction, and it's no surprise, Sergey, that you yourself implied it was American bias—not Andre—that beat you.
I disagree. But I get it.
I scored it exactly the same as the judges—114-113 for Ward—and acknowledged several rounds were close enough to have gone the other direction. Shade a few of them toward the guy whose single shots were more damaging, and a one-point call going one way turns into a two- or three-point call in the other.
It's part of what makes boxing great. And it's also part of what makes it maddening.
So, given the huge stakes and the obvious disappointment, Sergey, you'd not be out of line if you grumpily took your Krusher-logoed ball and went home.
But I hope you won't.
As for you, Andre, I can understand why you'd not want to immediately rush into a rematch.
You just climbed the biggest mountain of your career and found the summit full of noisy rancor amid the revelry, which quite naturally would make you ponder other trips—plenty rewarding and far less threatening—before revisiting this one.
But I hope you will.
Even though one of you feels cheated and the other unappreciated, it's my guess you'll realize neither of you can generate the same level of attention flying solo.
No matter whom you fight, Sergey, the match wouldn't have significance without title belts. And regardless of whom you engage, Andre, you'll not be able to have a full-throated claim to 175-pound supremacy until the issues that rose from Saturday's scorecards are completely and decisively resolved.
That's why it needs to happen sooner, not later.
For your sake. And for boxing's sake.
Now please, go ahead and sign it so we can all move on to the next controversy.
Sincerely yours,
Lyle
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