[1] The bout was held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and was televised on HBO Pay-per-view.

The previous two were 1990's Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor bout and 1999's matchup between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad.

[3] At the end of 12 rounds, Ward won a razer thin unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 114-113 in his favor.

"[8] Despite being knocked down for just the second time in his career, Ward denied ever being hurt by Kovalev and felt his own effectiveness at midrange and on the inside "made all the difference" in the fight.

"[12] George Willis of the New York Post praised the fight for living up to expectations, rejected claims the decision amounted to a "robbery," and noted that all three judges "had virtually the same scores...from the best seats in the house.

Sports echoed those sentiments, writing the fight was a "a thrilling war" in which boxing fans "got their money's worth" and that "it wasn't daylight robbery, at all" despite his personal scorecard favoring Kovalev by a point.

[16] The champion Kovalev received a minimum purse of $2 million and stood to earn a percentage of the profits from his promoter, Main Events.

[17] Kovalev–Ward was broadcast on HBO pay-per-view in the United States and generated 165,000 buys, a number seen as "disappointing" for a fight of its magnitude.