Ward vs Kovalev results: Curtis Stevens claws out decision win

Curtis Stevens had to battle through an apparent left hand injury suffered in the fourth round, but he managed to scratch out a decision win tonight over James de la Rosa, winning on scores of 96-92, 96-92, and 98-90. BLH had it even at 94-94, which was the same as Harold Lederman’s card for HBO.

Stevens (29-5, 21 KO) did have some significant punch stat advantages. He landed 32% (148/457) of his total punches, and a robust 45% (117/259) of his power shots. de la Rosa (23-5, 13 KO) landed a paltry 18% (123/672) of his total punches, but as you can see did outwork Stevens, who was inactive in the middle rounds especially. de la Rosa was 57 of 183 (31%) on power shots.

The scoring was perhaps a little wide — particularly the 98-90 card — but Stevens did have an argument, and given the injury suffered early, after three pretty fun rounds, including a first round knockdown of de la Rosa, he did an admirable job just hanging in with the fight. One can’t help but think it likely would have looked different had Stevens not been a one-handed fighter down the stretch, but that’s boxing sometimes.