Andre Ward must now be rated as the undisputed pound-for-pound king of world boxing. Sky Sports make the argument…
It doesn't feel right for Andre Ward to be celebrated as the best boxer in the world, his critics will say. He is a harsh character, which can sometimes make it difficult to passionately support him, who doesn't produce enough knock-outs and, according to Sergey Kovalev, won their last fight due to a "wrong decision".
Those accusations can be vehemently argued for but none change the truth that, in outpointing Kovalev on all three of the judges' scorecards, Ward has a name in his win column that trumps any other boxer in the world.
The pound-for-pound ranking is fantasy that perfectly sums up the chaos that ensues inside the ropes. The discussion and delirium that the question evokes is similar only to the intrigue behind the official scoring of a closely-fought boxing match, such as Ward vs Kovalev I, because both revolve around perception. Do you prefer power punches or jabs? Bodywork or footwork? The big guy or the little'un?
So it remains easy to bat away Ward's most recent accomplishment and offer up the evidence that Terence Crawford, Gennady Golovkin or whoever you prefer is a better fighter. But when the issue is rooted solely in facts, Ward's rivals can no longer hold a candle to the unbeaten American's record.
How should a boxer be judged, if not by the quality of opponents that they have beaten? Ward and Kovalev's first meeting was the first time two truly elite competitors have fought at their peak in recent memory. It was unanimously agreed beforehand that whoever maintained their unbeaten record should receive due credit as the pound-for-pound king, but the manner of Ward's victory has harshly deprived him of his coronation.
Ward is now a two-weight world champion at super-middleweight and light-heavyweight, plus an Olympic gold medallist, but the magnitude of his 31-0 record far outweighs the glittering array of prizes that he has collected. The real value in Ward, as he underlined by beating Kovalev, is the quality of opponents that couldn't work him out.
Carl Froch was an established world champion yet, reflecting on his 2011 loss to Ward, claimed his rival is now "pretty much unbeatable". Mikkel Kessler, Froch's great rival, was outfought by Ward eight years ago. Arthur Abraham, until recently, was a rugged WBO champion who beat his fair share of British challengers but didn't get near Ward. The list of known names continues with Sakio Bika and Chad Dawson, and now concludes with the feather in Ward's cap - the wrecking ball, Kovalev.
Ward's rivals in anybody's pound-for-pound list haven't enjoyed so long at the top, while protecting an unbeaten record in two divisions, against such respectable opposition.
Golovkin (37-0), of course, can name Kell Brook or Danny Jacobs as his best win. Roman Gonzalez (46-1) is sublime but recently lost his perfect record. Terence Crawford (31-0) and Vasyl Lomachenko (8-1) are fascinating talents who may, one day, be regarded as the best. Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez? He can't be considered until he conquers the same risk against Golovkin that Ward took against Kovalev.
So why hasn't the red carpet been rolled out for Ward to stroll into the pound-for-pound palace once owned by Floyd Mayweather? After a period of ambiguity since Mayweather's retirement, there was a natural hope for his successor to be an explosive puncher and, thus, end the era where 12-round decisions nullified knock-outs.
Kovalev or Golovkin would have fulfilled such optimism, smashing it apart with their fists, but Ward's style means he is the throwback to Mayweather's methods of staging tactical chess matches rather than fan-friendly fire-fights.
Yet the irony is that both Americans, unlike plenty of their peers across generations, have given boxing fans the dream fights that the sport lives and dies by. Mayweather, admittedly belatedly, won the 'Fight of the Century' against Manny Pacquiao and now Ward has won his own version.
Like his compatriot, Ward's results should make the pound-for-pound debate redundant. There will always be naysayers, forming the allure that the fight game feasts upon, but for the first time since Mayweather, it's increasingly difficult to look past Ward as boxing's No 1.
Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev II is live on Sky Sports 1 HD at 2am on Sunday morning.