When Andre Ward easily outpointed Carl Froch to unify super middleweight titles last Saturday in the final of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, he did so with a left hand that was broken in two places, an MRI exam revealed Thursday.

After Ward defeated Froch, he disclosed that he had injured his left hand in one of his final sparring sessions about a week before the fight.

Then Ward said he badly hurt the hand again in the sixth round of the fight. He won in large part because he relied so heavily on his left hook, which he repeatedly landed to Froch's head.

After the initial injury, Ward had an X-ray, in which no breaks were detected. But an MRI in his hometown of Oakland, Calif., on Thursday revealed multiple fractures in the third and fifth metacarpal bones.

Ward (25-0, 13 KOs) initially injured his hand a little more than a week before the fight against England's Froch (28-2, 20 KOs).

"The X-ray came back negative. I just knew it hurt like nobody's business," Ward said. "We had to go (through) with the fight. I was extremely concerned the whole week of the fight, but I knew I couldn't pull out. It was inevitable that it would get banged up again in the fight and that is my lead hand. I felt it all through the fight, but I bit down. I continued to do what I had to do.

"Early on the adrenaline was working. But in the sixth round, when I hit him on top of the head, that is when I really hit a wall in terms of the pain. But I had no choice. We got through it."

Ward, 27, will be in a cast for two weeks and then go through rehabilitation. His next fight date is not set, but he won't return until at least next spring.

"I should be fine," said Ward, who tweeted photos of his hands, and of his left in a cast. "We're looking at April or May. I don't think this is going to be major setback."

Ward, a 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist, went through Showtime's 26-month tournament undefeated, winning a world title. He was never seriously challenged, including by Froch in the final at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

"After he looked at the MRI, the doctor said his hand was broken before the fight," promoter Dan Goossen said. "He said he could tell by the fracture that it had happened a couple of weeks ago, not in the fight. Obviously, he went into the fight thinking it wasn't fractured because the X-rays alone were not be able to detect the fracture.