All you need to know ahead of Andre Ward v Sergey Kovalev II including the latest odds, fighter quotes, records, undercard running order and when and where to watch on TV.
World light-heavyweight champion Andre Ward puts his three belts on the line in an eagerly-anticipated rematch against Russia's Sergey Kovalev at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas tonight (early hours Sunday June 18 UK time).
The pair, who are ranked one and two in the Ring Magazine's pound-for-pound rankings, met last November, with Ward taking the WBA, IBF and WBO titles off the then unified king via a highly-contentious unanimous points decision having recovered strongly after being knocked down by Kovalev in the second round.
Unbeaten Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) is the marginal favourite to triumph once again but his opponent (30-1-1, 26 KOs) was fuming with the verdict of the first bout and is adamant he'll win back the belts on Saturday night - and effectively set up a triology in the process.
Here's everything you need to know including the full fight card running order, latest Sky Bet odds, fighter records, details of how to watch on TV and our expert predictions.
Ward v Kovalev II contents
1. Full fight card & times
2. Where to watch on TV
3. Latest Sky Bet odds
4. Tale of the tape
5. What the fighters say
6. Ward & Kovalev records
7. Big fight news
Ward v Kovalev II: Full fight card & times
Date: Saturday June 27, 2017 (Sunday UK time)
Venue: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
UK TV Start Time: 0200 BST, Sky Sports 1
Main event time: Around 0500 BST
Starting with the headline event, in descending order. Running order and odds subject to change. Fights 12 rounds unless stated.
Andrew Ward (4/6) v Sergey Kovalev II (5/4)
(WBA, IBF, WBO, Ring Magazine light-heavyweight titles)
Guillermo Rigondeaux (1/9) v Moises Flores (5/1)
(WBA & IBO super bantamweight titles)
Luis Arias v Arif Magomedov
(Middleweight, 10 rounds)
Dmitry Bivol (1/33) v Cedric Agnew (10/1)
(Light heavyweight, 10 rounds)
Tramaine Williams v Christopher Martin
(Featherweight, 8 rounds)
The following are the pre-live fights
Fabiano Pena v Vaughn Alexander
(Middleweight, 8 rounds)
Junor Younan v Zoltan Sera
(Super middleweight, 6 rounds)
Enriko Gogokhia v Jonathan Steele
(Welterweight, 6 rounds)
Bakhram Murtazaliev v Alex Sandro Duarte
(Middleweight, 6 rounds)
John Bauza v Tyrome Jones
(Super lightweight, 4 rounds)
What TV channel is Ward v Kovalev II on and when does it start?
Although this superfight is pay-per-view in the USA, British boxing fans will be able to watch it live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 0200 BST on Sunday (June 18).
The main event is expected to take place around 2100 local time, which will mean you need to get up very early on Sunday morning (0500 BST) or drink plenty of coffee if you plan to watch the full bill overnight.
Ward v Kovalev II: Latest odds
Odds correct at 1100 BST on 15/06/2017
PRICE BOOST: Sergey Kovalev to win by KO/TKO or DQ at 4/1 from 9/4
Andre Ward is the marginal odds-on 4/6 favourite with Sky Bet to win the fight, with Sergey Kovalev priced at 5/4 and an unlikely draw is 20/1.
Kovalev, who is out for revenge after controversially losing all three of his belts to Ward last November, has a high career knockout percentage and you can back him at 4/1 (Price Boosted from 9/4) to win via stoppage.
Ward was knocked down in their previous bout before coming back strongly to triumph on points and he's priced at 6/1 to win by any method after hitting the canvas again.
The American has won eight of his last 10 fights on points - including his 2011 victory over Carl Froch - so he's 10/11 to make that nine out of 11 and 8/1 to win via KO/TKO or DQ.
Sky Bet will give you 1/3 if you just want to bet on the fight going the distance and 9/4 that it doesn't.
Ward to win between rounds 1-3 in the regular grouped round market is 40/1, rounds 4-6 28/1, rounds 7-9 25/1 and rounds 10-12 33/1. There's other group round markets to check out, including Kovalev to win between rounds 1-4 at 11/1, rounds 10/1 and rounds 9-12 16/1.
There's also a whole range of RequestABet specials with Sky Bet including:
Neither fighter to be knocked down - 4/6
Ward to be knocked down in the first three rounds - 10/1
Both fighters to be knocked down - 25/1
Ward to win by split decision - 9/2
Kovalev to win by unanimous decision - 10/1
Ward v Kovalev II: Tale of the Tape
Ward - Kovalev
33 - Age - 34
31 - Fights - 32
31 - Won - 30
15 - KOs - 26
48% - KO % - 81%
0 - Drawn - 1
0 - Lost - 1
230 - Rounds - 126
6' 0" - Height - 6' 0"
Orthodox - Stance - Orthodox
71" - Reach - 72.5"
Ward v Kovalev: What the fighters say
Andre Ward
"I am done with all the canvas stuff. I have gotten up and it is his turn to touch the canvas now. He needs to see what that feels like.He landed a good shot, but it is amazing to me that people will talk about the knockdown and then just stop there. They won't talk about what happened after.
"They won't ask him 'why didn't you finish him, if you are this big puncher?' They haven't asked him those kinds of questions, over the years, and it has done him a disservice. He feels like when he hits a rough spot in his career, he can't answer a certain question. Everybody is going to give him a soft landing spot."
"It's not the first close fight in boxing. It was a nip-and-tuck type of fight. People are going to have opinions about it, but this is the beauty of our sport. We can run it back, and that is what we are getting ready to do. In my heart, I felt like I battled back and did enough to win. I closed out the last round, which is what won me the fight on two of the three judges' scorecards.
"We are getting ready to run it back and he is going to get a better version. He said he is going to be a better version this time around, so it's going to be a great fight and that's what I want. Let's see if he can back up the tough talk.
"We've all got something to prove. I am not resting on my laurels. We took care of business and once the rematch was imminent, the work started."He is not the only person that is hungry, he is not the only person that has something to defend.
"It's not about talking, you have to show people, and that is what we plan to do on June 17. I expect a hard, tough fight and I predict a tremendous victory. I've got to have it and I want to do it in a better fashion this time."
Sergey Kovalev
"He (Ward) is for me a paper champion, because he didn't deserve any belts in the light heavyweight division. I hope it was not my last knockdown. I will try to repeat it much more often in the rematch.
"We don't like each other, of course, because we are fighters and right now we are fighting for the belts. I want to get my belts back and he wants to defend them. But he is a paper champion, he will not defend these titles because they are really my belts."
"Andre Ward is a good fighter. He was best at super-middleweight and it is not easy to stop him when you want.
"I tried to finish him in the second round after knocking him down but I didn't rush it and thought I could do it later but, in the fifth round, I lost my energy.
"Last time, I lost my belts by a wrong decision. But I don't think it will be a wrong decision (on Saturday) because there will be other judges who don't make mistakes... I hope!"
Ward & Kovalev: Fight records
ANDRE WARD
Here below is a full record of Andre Ward's (30-0, 15 KOs) professional boxing career.
Sergey Kovalev, November 2016 - WON UD
Alexander Brand, August 2016 - WON UD
Sullivan Barrera, March 2016 - WON UD
Paul Smith, June 2015 - WON TKO (rd 9)
Edwin Rodriguez, November 2013 - WON UD
Chad Dawson, September 2012 - WON TKO (rd 10)
Carl Froch, December 2011 - WON UD
Arthur Abraham, May 2011 - WON UD
Sako Bika, November 2010 - WON UD
Allan Green, June 2010 - WON UD
Mikkel Kessler, November 2009 - WON TD
Shelby Pudwill, September 2009 - WON KO (rd 3)
Edison Miranda, May 2009 - WON UD
Henry Buchanen, February 2009 - WON UD
Esteban Camou, December 2008 - WON TKO (rd 3)
Jerson Ravelo, June 2008 - WON TKO (rd 8)
Rubin Williams, March 2008 - WON TKO (rd 7)
Roger Cantrell, November 2007 - WON TKO (rd 5)
Francisco Diaz, July 2007 - WON TKO (rd 3)
Dhafir Smith, May 2007 - WON TKO (rd 6)
Julio Jean, March 2007 - WON TKO (rd 3)
Derrick Findley, November 2006 - WON UD
Andy Kolle, April 2006 - WON RTD (rd 6)
Kendall Gould, February 2006 - WON UD
Darnell Boone, November 2005 - WON UD
Glenn LaPlante, October 2005 - WON KO (rd 1)
Christopher Holt, August 2005 - WON RTD (rd 3)
Ben Aragon, June 2005 - WON TKO (rd 3)
Roy Ashworth, April 2005 - WON DQ (rd 3)
Kenny Kost, February 2005 - WON UD
Chris Molina, December 2004 - WON TKO (rd 2)
SERGEY KOVALEV
Here below is a full record of Sergey Kovalev's (30-1-1, 26 KOs) professional boxing career.
Andre Ward, November 2016 - LOST UD
Isaac Chilemba, July 2016 - WON UD
Jean Pascal, January 2016 - WON RTD (rd 7)
Nadjib Mohammedi, July 2015 - WON KO (rd 3)
Jean Pascal, March 2015 - WON TKO (rd 8)
Bernard Hopkins, November 2014 - WON UD
Blake Caparello, August 2014 - WON TKO (rd 2)
Cedric Agnew, March 2014 - WON TKO (rd 7)
Ismayl Sillah, November 2013 - WON KO (rd 2)
Nathan Cleverly, August 2013 - WON TKO (rd 4)
Cornelius White, June 2013 - WON TKO (rd 3)
Gabriel Campillo, September 2013 - WON KO (rd 3)
Lionell Thompson, September 2012 - WON TKO (rd 3)
Darnell Boone, June 2012 - WON TKO (rd 2)
Roman Simakov, December 2011 - WON TKO (rd 7)
Grover Young, August 2011 - DRAW
Douglas Otieno Okola, July 2011 - WON KO (rd 2)
Terrence Woods, May 2011 - WON KO (rd 3)
Julius Fogle, April 2011 - WON KO (rd 2)
William Johnson, March 2011 - WON TKO (rd 2)
Karen Avetisyan, December 2010 - WON UD
Dallas Vargas, November 2010 - WON TKO (rd 2)
Darnell Boone, October 2010 - WON SD
Kia Daniels, September 2010 - WON KO (rd 1)
Harley Kilfian, June 2010 - WON TKO (rd 2)
Nathan Bedwell, March 2010 - WON TKO (rd 1)
Francois Ambang, March 2010 - WON KO (rd 2)
Micky Stackhouse, October 2009 - WON TKO (rd 2)
Ayodeji Fadeyi, September 2009 - WON RTD (rd 1)
Michael Birthmark, August 2009 - WON RTD (rd 1)
Darryl Johnson, August 2009 - WON TKO (rd 1)
Daniel Chavez, July 2009 - WON TKO (rd 1)
Latest news
'Kovalev is going down' Andre Ward says it will be Sergey Kovalev who hits the deck when the pair square off in Saturday night's rematch. Click here for full story
Kovalev: Belts are mine Sergey Kovalev says he is the rightful owner of the world championship belts which he lost to Andre Ward. Click here for full story
