I think people get so caught up in the scoring of a fight that they miss what's happening to the fighters in the fight. You can win rounds and take the worst of it. Some examples

Chavez vs Taylor. Taylor was winning the rounds. But yyou'd have be blind to not see Taylor was taking a beating.

Brook vs Spence. Brook was winning the rounds but Spence was doing the lasting work that was breaking him down.

Toney vs Jirov. Close fight but it was clear Toney was breaking him down.

You can list example after example like this. Kovalev started off sharper. But after 6 rounds I think everyone could see if there was going to be a stoppage it was Ward that was going to stop Kovalev. Kovalev was getting weaker and more ragged every round. It wasn't from the low blow in the 2nd, the 3rd was Kovalevs best round probably. It wasn't from the low blows at the end. It was because of the legit body shots. The hard left hooks that were beginning to land. Even live I was saying "it' strange, Kovalev is landing more but Ward is landing the harder punches. Seems backwards"

It sucks how it ended but Ward had broken him down. Take the low blows away and we have a 9th or 10th round KO instead of an 8th round TKO.

I actually feel a little bad for Kovalev because, as Roy said after the fight, the Eastern European fighters have 28 years of pro experience. They are very skilled in the amateur style but they haven't caught up on the pro tricks. If you think the guy is hitting you low you hit them low back. Like Hatton did to Tszyu. It's not Kovalevs fault where he was born. But if he had grown up in a country that had a long professional history he would know this.

But in the end low blows were part of the ending, not part of the outcome. The outcome was decided when he began to gas out. And it was far too early.