It was an ugly fight no doubt about it but that is what it looks like when the bigger guy is the bully in the ring. Wlad fought smart, Povetkin was still able to cause a few issues, but all that did was make the fight ugly it didn't help Povetkin win rounds or anything.

Evander Holyfield used tactics to make fights ugly on the regular because it benefitted his style, ditto Bernard Hopkins, ditto Mike Tyson. Only with the smaller statured fighters as a fan you EXPECT to see them make things ugly so they have a better chance of winning. When Lennox Lewis would grab on to an opponent and make a fight ugly in order to best utilize his style he typically won.

If the ref doesn't call it, it's not a foul. If the ref allows the clinching and holding, then a fighter is naturally going to push the envelope with those tactics if they feel it helps their cause. Referees can positively or negatively effect a fight for the fans and for the boxers. It's very important to know what type of ref you're dealing with in a fight, some are lenient, some are strict, and some are fucking clueless. This ref was very lenient, he let a lot go, but he did eventually deduct a point from Wlad in the 11th after the fight was well out of reach for Povetkin (on points).

Had Wlad been warned for excessive holding and had a point deducted earlier in the fight I believe the action may have been a little smoother, but in the end I don't think what the ref called or did not call helped or hurt Povetkin as he was getting hammered, down once in the 2nd, 3 times in the 7th...Povetkin just didn't have enough to beat Wlad simple as that.