Boxing Betting Preview: Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev Light Heavyweight Odds

Boxing fans will get a mid-year treat on Saturday night in Las Vegas when light heavyweight champion Andre Ward (31-0) defends his IBF, WBA and WBO titles against the man he took them from, Sergey Kovalev (30-1-1).

Ward closed as a slight favorite in the first fight and is listed as the -160 betting favorite (wager $160 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark to keep his belts, while Kovalev is a +130 underdog (bet $100 to win $130) on the boxing odds.

The 33-year-old Ward won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics at light heavyweight and has earned nearly half of his 31 professional wins by knockout (15). He won the first meeting with the Russian in November via unanimous decision, as all three judges scored the championship bout 114-113 in his favor.

Ward had fought as a super middleweight until 2015, compiling an impressive 28-0 mark en route to multiple titles.

Kovalev took the WBO light heavyweight title in 2013 when he scored a fourth-round TKO win over Nathan Cleverly in Wales. He defended that belt three times before accomplishing the feat a fourth time while adding the WBA and IBF titles in a unanimous-decision win against Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City three years ago.

The 34-year-old made four successful title defenses of all three belts before losing to Ward.

Despite getting knocked down in the second round of the first fight, many boxing experts believe Ward will have an edge in the rematch because he has proved to make the proper adjustments.

Some argue Kovalev did enough to keep his belts and should have won the decision, although he clearly faded as the bout went on, especially in the later rounds. Regardless, it was a close matchup and figures to be again on Saturday.

It is worth noting that Kovalev is much more of a knockout artist with 26 of his 30 wins decided that way.

Ward had been knocked down only once before Kovalev floored him, so it will be interesting to see how the strategies of both fighters play out in the rematch. The Russian may need another knockdown to impress the judges and get back his belts.