Ward/Kovalev 2...who wins?

[hmmfe]

That's being GENEROUS to Ward. Ward was smacking Kov repeatedly in the balls. Being more realistic, a halt should have been called, Ward warned, and five minute time be called. A harsher man would say dock a point from Ward as it wasn't the first time he had done that. Instead the ref stopped the fight and ruled it a stoppage. It was bollocks.

Kovalev has outboxed Ward twice now and yet look at HBO salivating over Ward. It's topsy turvy land.

I agree with the first part. If the referee was on top of it, that is what should have happened - a warning and a few minutes to recover if Kovalev needed it. I honestly thought most of the "low" blows were on the belt line and good. There were a few below the belt, though. Certainly, the last one before the stoppage was unintentionally low. A small bit of the blame for the stoppage is Kovalev's - bad strategy to drop your hands and complain at that moment. It would have been better to drop to a knee and then plead your case. All in all, a bit unlucky for Kovalev.

Regarding being out boxed, Kovalev definitely was doing that in the first 4-5 rounds of the first fight but certainly not afterwards (at worst it was even). The second fight saw Kovalev's jab working well for parts of a few rounds. Otherwise, Ward was in firm control of the direction and outcome of the fight.

For me, the difference in this fight came down to one fighter having purpose and the other one not so much. It's telling that Ward was looking for the KO more so than Kovalev.

If Ward does not find big fights elsewhere, I'm guessing Kovalev gets one more chance after a few impressive wins. Kovalev should get to Adonis before Ward does.

[Gandalf]

If the punches were low Kov took it like a bitch.

Millions of dollers on the line and he coward like a girl, he barely moaned about it as the stoppage happened.

Case and point, he was happy the fight was ended and decided that his victory was going to be his ability to claim low blows

That's was his whole win in that moment.

You can moan all you want guys but in that 25 seconds of being chased after that right hand landed he accepted that "low blows" was his argument. He was in trouble and we could all see that he was in danger... low blows or not, even before the "low blows" Ward was all over him and he folded.

He is a warrior and he trained everyday for months, a punch in the balls is hard to take yes but they wear full protective gear, almost everyone takes a shot that may be considered low IN EVERY fight you've ever watched. It's not like the shots where massively low, even after watching 10 replys (and wanting Kov to win ) they didnt seem obviously low.

Fair victory.

Think about those two bolded statements for a moment and watch the slow motion video I posted above. The punch was VERY low and it was an absurd 'victory'. Not only are you bad at scoring fights, but you talk gibberish.

Losing a round pretty badly is just that. Ward had a couple in the first fight and you don't stop it based on that.

Ward was still losing on many cards even with a 10-8 round, but as the evidence shows, there shouldn't have even been a KD and should in fact have been a Ward deduction thus solidifying Kovalevs lead with an even round 8.

To stop a fight like that? A big no, no, no.

[palmerq]

post fight conference is pretty funny, I find teh angry russian fellow quite amusing

[Ron Swanson]

Fighters will speak the truth, Terrence Crawford when did you know the fight was over "when he started complaining"
https://youtu.be/Z7lIPi0BtUc

[powerpuncher]

The more I think about it, the more impressed I am with Ward. You can't blame a fighter when the ref doesn't call the low blow. Almost all were belt line that Kovalev was complaining about. He broke Kovalev. That's really all there is to it.

[Gandalf]

The more I think about it, the more impressed I am with Ward. You can't blame a fighter when the ref doesn't call the low blow. Almost all were belt line that Kovalev was complaining about. He broke Kovalev. That's really all there is to it.

Many a man would be broken with that low blow. In fact it would do wonders for global overpopulation if every man was hit in the balls like that. It could be a new eugenics program. Look at the way Kov doubled over and tried to cover his manhood. It was the first thing on his mind in that moment. Watching it live I thought maybe he was hurt, but on reflection I don't think he was that badly hurt. Retreating, getting through the round sure, but he was weathering the storm. Ward has no output, so Kovalev would have weathered it.

[erics44]

i wanted kov to win

and im absolutely on with the idea that he had to knock him out to get a draw

but you cant argue with the stoppage, he looked like he wanted out

[erics44]

does kov need a new promoter?

[Master]

Kov should have taken a knee or just fallen to the ground rolling around if he was hurt from the low blows. He should have got the rest and recovered and as soon as the ref asked them to resume punched Ward straight in the nuts and say two can play at this game.

You hit me low, I hit you low. If the ref is not going to stop it, I will.

[Manju]

I find teh angry russian fellow quite amusing

Hey, there's no reason to bring Donald Trump into this conversation!

[erics44]

Kov should have taken a knee or just fallen to the ground rolling around if he was hurt from the low blows. He should have got the rest and recovered and as soon as the ref asked them to resume punched Ward straight in the nuts and say two can play at this game.

You hit me low, I hit you low. If the ref is not going to stop it, I will.

I totally agree, when he was hit low he should have rammed one in himself

he just kind of wilted tho

its like when ward uses his head, which he was doing on Saturday, why don't his opponents stick their head in too

[Memphis]

Only just watched the fight today, a bit of an odd one. I thought Kovalev pretty much controlled the first 6 rounds. Ward wanted to wrestle any time Kovalev got anywhere near him, Wards output was pretty shit. Kovalev fell apart rapidly, there were a lot of low blows thrown by Ward but he also sprinkled on top some brilliant body punching. That right hand took Kovalev's legs from him, and maybe his heart. Given all that we see I thought finish was pretty shit. They were repeated low blows, it's not even up for debate as far as Im concerned, they were cynical, just like the ones he threw earlier. For Kovalev's part I didn't see any real complaining about low blows. He backed off for sure and suggested they were low, but he was almost giving Weeks a reason to say no foul, carry on. He did himself no favours on the stoppage either. He should have taken a knee, rolled around in agony, something. Instead he sat there like a lame duck giving Weeks no choice.

I know a lot of people have given Ward a whole heap of credit for the win and I guess it's earned, he did beat a World class fighter for the second time so respect where it's due. But I didnt get as excited about anything Ward did as some people have.

In a week where every man and his dog were discussing the circus that is Mayweather V McGregor, at least we had the 'real' fight to look forward to to hold up the good name of boxing. I was left feeling a little underwhelmed if Im honest.

[sanatogen]

Don Turner give a walk-on interview about the fight

[Fenster]

I saw/heard comments about Don Turner calling Kovalev "just a puncher" after the loss... clearly, from that video, the old fossil was answering a question trying to explain why Loma is P4P no.1 not Ward.

Funking joke world constantly hanging people for comments taken out of context.

[sanatogen]

The interviewer appeared to try and setup DT to say that Ward is great. DT wasn't having it