I gotta give it up to Kovalev as well, he's way sharper than I gave him credit for. He also showed heart too, because once the tide started to turn, I really thought Andre might stop him. He was taking some good body shots but kept his composure, I expected him to get wild looking for one big punch. They were both very disciplined through adversity.
I will say though, in rematch, I think Ward beats him convincingly, assuming he can avoid that fire. Kovalev almost drown in that deep water, more pressure and a smarter approach to getting inside would make it a Ward style fight for a longer period of time, and it's tough to beat him at that game...