In what other sport would this be even CLOSE to being acceptable??

[TitoFan]

SRR, I appreciate the fervor behind your many and lengthy arguments. I read your opinions... now I will post mine.
(I tried to quote your post, but it was too long).

No, I don't believe the challenger has to "separate the head" of the champion in order to lift his title. But in the eyes of many knowledgeable boxing observers, the challenger does have to clearly win the fight in order for the title to change hands. Which is why when it's a draw, the title stays put. Most ringside observers, alas not the ones that count, saw Kovalev winning the fight. Many said the very least Kovalev deserved was a draw, if not the outright win. Boxing is a matter of appreciation, which is why your lengthy and wordy opinion is just that... an opinion. No better and no worse than anyone else's. Your many insinuations that those who don't agree don't know shit about boxing notwithstanding.

You ask why Kovalev wasn't able to hurt Ward after the 2nd round. Ward, to his credit, adjusted. He used his boxing skills to avoid getting hit flush like he did in the 2nd round. Does any of this mean that Ward dominated the fight after the 2nd round? No. It means exactly what was said... that Kovalev apparently didn't hurt Ward badly after the 2nd round. If we're talking hurt, let's also mention that at NO TIME during the fight did Ward hurt Kovalev. It's worth mentioning, since we're talking about hurt.

You ask whether Kovalev was in control when he was eating all those jabs. Not to be sarcastic or anything... but did you happen to turn away every time that Ward was the one eating jabs? Just asking, since it is painfully obvious from your humongously long post that you only saw Ward's offense, and not Kovalev's. No... Kovalev didn't cut off the ring in the classic way. You probably not only saw it, but also heard RJJ talking about it. So let's deduct points from Kovalev for not doing that. For merely following Ward in a straight line. Because that's obviously part of boxing scoring, right? I'm sorry... but your condescending tone falls on deaf ears when you make comments like that. When did Kovalev ever pin Ward on the ropes and throw 2 or 3 punches and hurt him? Never. Know why? Because that's not part of Kovalev's fight style. He prefers the outside. When Ward lunged forward and grappled with him, Kovalev responded by grappling back, and pushing Ward back against the ropes. But did Ward ever hurt Kovalev in the same situation? Through your rose-colored glasses, I'm sure you saw Kovalev wince in pain whenever Ward wrestled him into the ropes. But to everyone else, that did not happen.

Ward's work after the 2nd round was (cough)..... "clean and consistent"? Now your paper-thin arguments are REALLY starting to fall apart. Call Ward's work anything you want, but DO NOT call it "clean." Grappling, clutching and mauling is hardly "clean" work. You follow that up by laughably claiming that Kovalev's chasing Ward around the ring actually "supports the idea that Ward won." You may have started off ok...... but by now your one-sided fanboyhood is falling apart at the seams. Word of advice: Don't hurt yourself overanalyzing, ok? But it gets "better" later on. First, there's the crying about Ward being smaller and weaker than Kovalev. Excuse me while I bring out the violins. Does any of THIS have anything to do with the scoring? I'm asking, since you're such the eminence about boxing and the rest of us are mere plebes.

I'm gonna have a break in the action here to say the following: I backed up my OPINION with a round-by-round description. You backed up YOUR opinion with a lot of clever hyperbole (chowing down on grey matter, FFS) and insinuations about boxing knowledge or lack thereof. Rather than your 10,000-word diatribe on the matter, why don't you do your own round-by-round assessment and save us some reading.

Anyway, back to your old testament. So Ward got up after Round 2, and "outboxed his opponent", using "lateral movement, upper body/head movement, and simple, fundamental parries." Meanwhile, Kovalev was standing still like a sack of potatoes, without landing a single punch..... and was totally outboxed throughout the rest of the fight, for the world to see. Right. And Hillary Clinton really won the election.

But here's the tremendous doozy from you: "And in those later rounds, Kovalev gave up." Brilliant. What WOULD we do here without your incisive points of view... your accurate insights into the hearts and minds of the fighters. We're lucky to have you. (wink, wink). You are without equal. You managed to look at Kovalev's eyes and recognize that the big man had given up. Wow. That must be why he stopped throwing in the 2nd half of the fight. Damn....

Here's the bottom line, sport. More people than not thought Kovalev won. So proceed to accuse all of them (us) of not knowing shit about boxing, because obviously you're the only one that really knows. But do me a favor. Take those rose-colored glasses off, and watch the fight again. No, of course you can't. You'll see the same things you saw the first time.