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

[Primo Carnera]

I watched the fight sober , this morning and on my own, like I always like to do when I'm watching big fights.
I scored the fight that Ward won by 2,maybe 3 rounds, the only debate was whether I have round 1 as 10-9 Ward or a 10-10 round.
I'm a little surprised at how many people saw it differently and very surprised at how Fat Dan and HBO Had it.
I'm a bit ignorant as to who is connected to which channel in the States, but :
a. Which channel does Ward do work for? And
b. Which channel does Kovalev usually fight on?
That may or may not have a bearing on how they saw it.
I just thought that the way Ward negated Kovalev's power after the knockdown for 10 whole rounds was very clever and disciplined boxing. He was nicking rounds with quality jabs and cleaner connecting shots and creeping away.
Kov was stronger and definitely more powerful , and if it had been a toe to toe tear up in the centre of the ring, then Kovalev would've KO'd him for sure.
But this is Boxing, the sweet science, and there's more to it than just that.
And the fact that Kovalev is a pretty skilful fighter himself and he doesn't get much credit for a that, made it all the more impressive that Ward imposed his fight on Kovalev.
Different people look for different things in a fight , so I could definitely see the decision go the other way, but I don't think you can say this was a robbery.

[Silkeyjoe]

We all need to watch it again and mark each round.

Either way, Ward stepped up to the weight, got knocked down and still won the fight..perhaps we all missed something..I will watch it again after work and see if the judges took into account the inside body work and elusiveness of Ward to pinch the win.

I havent seen the fight yet so I wont comment on the scorecards but most of the smart boxing lads I follow on twitter scored a close fight with Ward narrowly winning.

I think Wards a great fighter but really dont like him. He just rubs me up the wrong way. Irregardless you have to say fair play for stepping up and taking the hardest fight available for him. Its refreshing to see and hopefully we see a rematch next year. If more fighters did this boxing would be in a much better place.

[Silkeyjoe]

I watched the fight sober , this morning and on my own, like I always like to do when I'm watching big fights.
I scored the fight that Ward won by 2,maybe 3 rounds, the only debate was whether I have round 1 as 10-9 Ward or a 10-10 round.
I'm a little surprised at how many people saw it differently and very surprised at how Fat Dan and HBO Had it.
I'm a bit ignorant as to who is connected to which channel in the States, but :
a. Which channel does Ward do work for? And
b. Which channel does Kovalev usually fight on?
That may or may not have a bearing on how they saw it.
I just thought that the way Ward negated Kovalev's power after the knockdown for 10 whole rounds was very clever and disciplined boxing. He was nicking rounds with quality jabs and cleaner connecting shots and creeping away.
Kov was stronger and definitely more powerful , and if it had been a toe to toe tear up in the centre of the ring, then Kovalev would've KO'd him for sure.
But this is Boxing, the sweet science, and there's more to it than just that.
And the fact that Kovalev is a pretty skilful fighter himself and he doesn't get much credit for a that, made it all the more impressive that Ward imposed his fight on Kovalev.
Different people look for different things in a fight , so I could definitely see the decision go the other way, but I don't think you can say this was a robbery.

Exactly but whats interesting is all judges gave it close to Ward. Very unusual to see all 3 judges like the same work. Il be watching the fight later and will post my round by round scores for what its worth.

[Vendettos]

I had it 7-5 for Kovalev, and with the KD that's 115-111. I could even see it being 6-6 with Kovalev getting the 114-113 nod.

But I'm going to have to go back and watch it again to see where Ward won 7 rounds, because I really wasn't expecting that at all.

Watch how Ward picks him off and works the body from rounds 7 to 12.

Also watch how much Kov misses

The bodywork that Ward put in was what pulled the fight that much closer for me, I can accept the decision either way.
If all 3 judges would have gave it to Kov at 114-113 would you think that was unfair? I know earlier on you said you gave it to Ward by about 5 points didn't you?

Had it been 114-113 to Kov I'd have accepted it as a lot of the rounds were close.

I just preferred what Ward did, Kov didn't connect much.

The British commentators on the show (along with Mallignaggi) all scored for Ward.

Paulie at one point around round 11 said "How many actual meaningful punches do you remember Kov landing?"

That was my thoughts on the fight, there wasn't many.

@Batman

[Batman]

I had it 7-5 for Kovalev, and with the KD that's 115-111. I could even see it being 6-6 with Kovalev getting the 114-113 nod.

But I'm going to have to go back and watch it again to see where Ward won 7 rounds, because I really wasn't expecting that at all.

Watch how Ward picks him off and works the body from rounds 7 to 12.

Also watch how much Kov misses

The bodywork that Ward put in was what pulled the fight that much closer for me, I can accept the decision either way.
If all 3 judges would have gave it to Kov at 114-113 would you think that was unfair? I know earlier on you said you gave it to Ward by about 5 points didn't you?

Had it been 114-113 to Kov I'd have accepted it as a lot of the rounds were close.

I just preferred what Ward did, Kov didn't connect much.

The British commentators on the show (along with Mallignaggi) all scored for Ward.

Paulie at one point around round 11 said "How many actual meaningful punches do you remember Kov landing?"

That was my thoughts on the fight, there wasn't many.

@Batman

Ha Paulie was busting a nut by the end of the fight, he gets pretty emotional when commentating

[Vendettos]

I had it 7-5 for Kovalev, and with the KD that's 115-111. I could even see it being 6-6 with Kovalev getting the 114-113 nod.

But I'm going to have to go back and watch it again to see where Ward won 7 rounds, because I really wasn't expecting that at all.

Watch how Ward picks him off and works the body from rounds 7 to 12.

Also watch how much Kov misses

The bodywork that Ward put in was what pulled the fight that much closer for me, I can accept the decision either way.
If all 3 judges would have gave it to Kov at 114-113 would you think that was unfair? I know earlier on you said you gave it to Ward by about 5 points didn't you?

Had it been 114-113 to Kov I'd have accepted it as a lot of the rounds were close.

I just preferred what Ward did, Kov didn't connect much.

The British commentators on the show (along with Mallignaggi) all scored for Ward.

Paulie at one point around round 11 said "How many actual meaningful punches do you remember Kov landing?"

That was my thoughts on the fight, there wasn't many.

@Batman

Ha Paulie was busting a nut by the end of the fight, he gets pretty emotional when commentating

He picked a comfy Kov win and scored a win for Ward.

He is a much better commentator than fighter, he has analysis of situations almost as good as Atlas lol.

[TitoFan]

Watched it again, but with the sound off (thanks for the YouTube, Batman).
The robbery is even more obvious than ever.

Round 1: Hard Kov jab rattles Ward. Not much else. 10-9 Kov
Round 2: Knockdown. 10-8 Kov
Round 3: Not much actually connected from either side, but gave the edge to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 4: Ward does precious little except for meaningless pawing. 10-9 Kov
Round 5: Close round, but gave edge to Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 6: Clear round for Kov. Ward going backwards and grappling (I hate grappling). 10-9 Kov
Round 7: Could call this one even, but I'll generously give it to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 8: They BOTH did a lot of missing, not just Kov. 10-9 Ward
Round 9: 10-9 Kov
Round 10: Ward bolo'ed..... Kov jabbed him in the face. Clear round for Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 11: One of the better rounds of the fight. Good exchanges. Ward lefts and Kov rights. 10-9 Ward
Round 12: Close round, but 10-9 Kov

116-111 Kovalev


Several things.

Ward missed just as much as Kov.
I absolutely HATE Ward's style with a passion. Grappling is Ward's style. To Kov's credit, he was drawn into it, but refused to be pushed around.
Kov was the aggressor all night long. He was the defending champion. How the hell do you lose three belts like that?

It's official.... it was highway robbery, and HBO are accomplices.

[Vendettos]

Watched it again, but with the sound off (thanks for the YouTube, Batman).
The robbery is even more obvious than ever.

Round 1: Hard Kov jab rattles Ward. Not much else. 10-9 Kov
Round 2: Knockdown. 10-8 Kov
Round 3: Not much actually connected from either side, but gave the edge to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 4: Ward does precious little except for meaningless pawing. 10-9 Kov
Round 5: Close round, but gave edge to Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 6: Clear round for Kov. Ward going backwards and grappling (I hate grappling). 10-9 Kov
Round 7: Could call this one even, but I'll generously give it to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 8: They BOTH did a lot of missing, not just Kov. 10-9 Ward
Round 9: 10-9 Kov
Round 10: Ward bolo'ed..... Kov jabbed him in the face. Clear round for Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 11: One of the better rounds of the fight. Good exchanges. Ward lefts and Kov rights. 10-9 Ward
Round 12: Close round, but 10-9 Kov

116-111 Kovalev


Several things.

Ward missed just as much as Kov.
I absolutely HATE Ward's style with a passion. Grappling is Ward's style. To Kov's credit, he was drawn into it, but refused to be pushed around.
Kov was the aggressor all night long. He was the defending champion. How the hell do you lose three belts like that?

It's official.... it was highway robbery, and HBO are accomplices.

Let's be fair, a lot of people scored it to ward as well, most of them wider than the judges scorecards.

I had the same score the other way.

No robbery, ward won.. simple.

[TitoFan]

Watched it again, but with the sound off (thanks for the YouTube, Batman).
The robbery is even more obvious than ever.

Round 1: Hard Kov jab rattles Ward. Not much else. 10-9 Kov
Round 2: Knockdown. 10-8 Kov
Round 3: Not much actually connected from either side, but gave the edge to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 4: Ward does precious little except for meaningless pawing. 10-9 Kov
Round 5: Close round, but gave edge to Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 6: Clear round for Kov. Ward going backwards and grappling (I hate grappling). 10-9 Kov
Round 7: Could call this one even, but I'll generously give it to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 8: They BOTH did a lot of missing, not just Kov. 10-9 Ward
Round 9: 10-9 Kov
Round 10: Ward bolo'ed..... Kov jabbed him in the face. Clear round for Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 11: One of the better rounds of the fight. Good exchanges. Ward lefts and Kov rights. 10-9 Ward
Round 12: Close round, but 10-9 Kov

116-111 Kovalev


Several things.

Ward missed just as much as Kov.
I absolutely HATE Ward's style with a passion. Grappling is Ward's style. To Kov's credit, he was drawn into it, but refused to be pushed around.
Kov was the aggressor all night long. He was the defending champion. How the hell do you lose three belts like that?

It's official.... it was highway robbery, and HBO are accomplices.

Let's be fair, a lot of people scored it to ward as well, most of them wider than the judges scorecards.

I had the same score the other way.

No robbery, ward won.. simple.

Simply giving Ward the last 6 rounds is taking the easy way out. It's saying... "Oh, Ward is coming back. Let's just give him every round he survives."
That's not what scoring is supposed to be about.

[Vendettos]

Watched it again, but with the sound off (thanks for the YouTube, Batman).
The robbery is even more obvious than ever.

Round 1: Hard Kov jab rattles Ward. Not much else. 10-9 Kov
Round 2: Knockdown. 10-8 Kov
Round 3: Not much actually connected from either side, but gave the edge to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 4: Ward does precious little except for meaningless pawing. 10-9 Kov
Round 5: Close round, but gave edge to Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 6: Clear round for Kov. Ward going backwards and grappling (I hate grappling). 10-9 Kov
Round 7: Could call this one even, but I'll generously give it to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 8: They BOTH did a lot of missing, not just Kov. 10-9 Ward
Round 9: 10-9 Kov
Round 10: Ward bolo'ed..... Kov jabbed him in the face. Clear round for Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 11: One of the better rounds of the fight. Good exchanges. Ward lefts and Kov rights. 10-9 Ward
Round 12: Close round, but 10-9 Kov

116-111 Kovalev


Several things.

Ward missed just as much as Kov.
I absolutely HATE Ward's style with a passion. Grappling is Ward's style. To Kov's credit, he was drawn into it, but refused to be pushed around.
Kov was the aggressor all night long. He was the defending champion. How the hell do you lose three belts like that?

It's official.... it was highway robbery, and HBO are accomplices.

Let's be fair, a lot of people scored it to ward as well, most of them wider than the judges scorecards.

I had the same score the other way.

No robbery, ward won.. simple.

Simply giving Ward the last 6 rounds is taking the easy way out. It's saying... "Oh, Ward is coming back. Let's just give him every round he survives."
That's not what scoring is supposed to be about.

But that's what I (and the judges, and lots of pundits) saw.

I'm like you mate I hate ward and his huggy ass style and if anything I was going in biased toward kov.

I said earlier rounds 3 4 5 and 6 decided the fight for me, had Kov stayed on him and took those rounds he had the fight on my card.

I think 1 round either eay in this fight is fair.

It's nowhere near the robbery people are saying it is.

Kov said "of course, American judges in America with an american fighter"

Well if memory serves Hopkins wasn't given even a share of a round so he can't use that.

[TitoFan]

Watched it again, but with the sound off (thanks for the YouTube, Batman).
The robbery is even more obvious than ever.

Round 1: Hard Kov jab rattles Ward. Not much else. 10-9 Kov
Round 2: Knockdown. 10-8 Kov
Round 3: Not much actually connected from either side, but gave the edge to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 4: Ward does precious little except for meaningless pawing. 10-9 Kov
Round 5: Close round, but gave edge to Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 6: Clear round for Kov. Ward going backwards and grappling (I hate grappling). 10-9 Kov
Round 7: Could call this one even, but I'll generously give it to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 8: They BOTH did a lot of missing, not just Kov. 10-9 Ward
Round 9: 10-9 Kov
Round 10: Ward bolo'ed..... Kov jabbed him in the face. Clear round for Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 11: One of the better rounds of the fight. Good exchanges. Ward lefts and Kov rights. 10-9 Ward
Round 12: Close round, but 10-9 Kov

116-111 Kovalev


Several things.

Ward missed just as much as Kov.
I absolutely HATE Ward's style with a passion. Grappling is Ward's style. To Kov's credit, he was drawn into it, but refused to be pushed around.
Kov was the aggressor all night long. He was the defending champion. How the hell do you lose three belts like that?

It's official.... it was highway robbery, and HBO are accomplices.

Let's be fair, a lot of people scored it to ward as well, most of them wider than the judges scorecards.

I had the same score the other way.

No robbery, ward won.. simple.

Simply giving Ward the last 6 rounds is taking the easy way out. It's saying... "Oh, Ward is coming back. Let's just give him every round he survives."
That's not what scoring is supposed to be about.

But that's what I (and the judges, and lots of pundits) saw.

I'm like you mate I hate ward and his huggy ass style and if anything I was going in biased toward kov.

I said earlier rounds 3 4 5 and 6 decided the fight for me, had Kov stayed on him and took those rounds he had the fight on my card.

I think 1 round either eay in this fight is fair.

It's nowhere near the robbery people are saying it is.

Kov said "of course, American judges in America with an american fighter"

Well if memory serves Hopkins wasn't given even a share of a round so he can't use that.

Hopkins is disliked by many fans, and is not as popular as the self-proclaimed S.O.G.
Besides, Hopkins was all of 49 years old, with no need to protect his record with a robbery of a decision.

Also in those rounds you mention.
Ok let's say Kov should've been on Ward more.
How about the reverse?
How about Ward needing to go out there and TAKE the belts away from Kovalev?
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Of those four rounds you mention, I see no way anyone can give Ward round 6.
All he did was run backwards and grapple.
The others were closer, but I gave them to the defending champion who was the aggressor (and still gave Ward round 3).

[Batman]

Watched it again, but with the sound off (thanks for the YouTube, Batman).
The robbery is even more obvious than ever.

Round 1: Hard Kov jab rattles Ward. Not much else. 10-9 Kov
Round 2: Knockdown. 10-8 Kov
Round 3: Not much actually connected from either side, but gave the edge to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 4: Ward does precious little except for meaningless pawing. 10-9 Kov
Round 5: Close round, but gave edge to Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 6: Clear round for Kov. Ward going backwards and grappling (I hate grappling). 10-9 Kov
Round 7: Could call this one even, but I'll generously give it to Ward. 10-9 Ward
Round 8: They BOTH did a lot of missing, not just Kov. 10-9 Ward
Round 9: 10-9 Kov
Round 10: Ward bolo'ed..... Kov jabbed him in the face. Clear round for Kov. 10-9 Kov
Round 11: One of the better rounds of the fight. Good exchanges. Ward lefts and Kov rights. 10-9 Ward
Round 12: Close round, but 10-9 Kov

116-111 Kovalev


Several things.

Ward missed just as much as Kov.
I absolutely HATE Ward's style with a passion. Grappling is Ward's style. To Kov's credit, he was drawn into it, but refused to be pushed around.
Kov was the aggressor all night long. He was the defending champion. How the hell do you lose three belts like that?

It's official.... it was highway robbery, and HBO are accomplices.

Let's be fair, a lot of people scored it to ward as well, most of them wider than the judges scorecards.

I had the same score the other way.

No robbery, ward won.. simple.

Simply giving Ward the last 6 rounds is taking the easy way out. It's saying... "Oh, Ward is coming back. Let's just give him every round he survives."
That's not what scoring is supposed to be about.

But that's what I (and the judges, and lots of pundits) saw.

I'm like you mate I hate ward and his huggy ass style and if anything I was going in biased toward kov.

I said earlier rounds 3 4 5 and 6 decided the fight for me, had Kov stayed on him and took those rounds he had the fight on my card.

I think 1 round either eay in this fight is fair.

It's nowhere near the robbery people are saying it is.

Kov said "of course, American judges in America with an american fighter"

Well if memory serves Hopkins wasn't given even a share of a round so he can't use that.

On the flip side this is a much bigger fight than Hopkins was and there is a lot more money to be made from it

[Vendettos]

Fair play to you both.

I wouldn't care who won either way.

I just scored it for Ward.

Close fight and I'm not annoyed that people are upset Kov lost

I'm just annoyed that peeps are shouting massive robbery.

It just wasn't.

[TitoFan]

Fair play to you both.

I wouldn't care who won either way.

I just scored it for Ward.

Close fight and I'm not annoyed that people are upset Kov lost

I'm just annoyed that peeps are shouting massive robbery.

It just wasn't.

Here's what I think it is, Vend.

Had this been a regular fight, with no nationalistic overtones, or an American S.O.G. with an undefeated record..... it may not have been so bad. Still the wrong decision, but nothing to be angry about. But given the magnitude and the circumstances..... as well as the utter predictability of the judges decision..... it made it all the more ridiculous.

It's the utter predictability of the decision. Some of us were calling it since midway through the fight.
Kovalev wasn't going to get a fair shake, no matter what.

[SRR]

[QUOTE=TitoFan;1405758][QUOTE=Vendettos;1405753][QUOTE=TitoFan;1405751]

Watched it again, but with the sound off (thanks for the YouTube, Batman).
The robbery is even more obvious than ever.

Ward missed just as much as Kov.
I absolutely HATE Ward's style with a passion. Grappling is Ward's style. To Kov's credit, he was drawn into it, but refused to be pushed around.
Kov was the aggressor all night long. He was the defending champion. How the hell do you lose three belts like that?

It's official.... it was highway robbery, and HBO are accomplices.

Of those four rounds you mention, I see no way anyone can give Ward round 6.
All he did was run backwards and grapple.
The others were closer, but I gave them to the defending champion who was the aggressor (and still gave Ward round 3).

I find it highly ironic that you're banging on about the injustice of the decision and the 'fix' being in because the scorecards were all the same, and in the same breath you bring out the old trope that you have to snatch the title from the champion, as if it's necessary to separate the head of your opponent from his shoulders and then chow down on his grey matter in the middle of the ring just to have a fair chance of eking out a SD on the scorecards. Absolute BULLSHIT. A fight is scored impartially irrespective of circumstance (or should be). Points mean prizes, regardless of whether you like the guy's style or not, or which direction he happens to be travelling in when he scores them. Nowhere in the rules of boxing is it suggested or implied that going backwards loses you points, or that moving forward wins you points, or tips the scales in tight rounds. These ideas are perpetuated by people who are either too lazy to score a fight properly, considering all of the subtle mechanics involved, or simply allow their preference for come forward fighters to cloud their vision of what actually transpired. From everything you've said I would place you in the latter category. It seems that a knockdown and dominant opening to the fight by Kovalev (I say dominant although the difference was really a hard jab in the first round, which one might attribute to natural power and greater size, but let's not even get into that as I'm sure you're already rolling your eyes) has convinced you that he was 'the man' in this fight. So answer me this. If he was the man, why couldn't he hurt him after the second round? How did he go from smothering Ward on the inside with double under hooks and a smart use of his superior size leaning on him, to receiving multiple left uppercuts to his right flank and multiple right hooks to his head and body on the left flank? Was he the man when Ward came inside, landed 4, 5 punches then angled off and landed another sweeping right hand under his left hand, which was still up trying to protect his chin from all those hooks? Was he in control when he was eating jabs to the body every round, consistently, and solid jabs to the chin (not at the end of his range, either, but hard jabs that Ward was stepping in behind before sliding back out as a left hook or right hand was fired back). You talk about Kovalev being the aggressor, you imply that he controlled this fight, but where was the cutting off of the ring that would have indicated real control of his opponent? When did Kovalev ever pin Ward on the ropes and throw 2 or 3 punches and hurt him? At one point Ward moved in a circle around Kovalev with his feet side on at an absolute CANTER and any boxer worth his salt would have stepped to his right and backed him into the ropes, or thrown a quick 1-2 as he passed across his line of sight, or moved forward and thrown a right hook and followed it with his fabled 'reverse 1-2', but he did NONE of those things. Can you not see that control is not so simple as moving forward in a straight line?

Kovalev made the fight his fight in the first two rounds, but after that Ward slowly but steadily took over. His work was clean and consistent, and Kovalev chasing him around the ring doesn't change that fact. In fact, it supports the idea that Ward won. If Kovalev had cut off the ring, pinned him on the ropes, Jesus, just hurt him with a single flush shot after round 2, put some kind of pressure on him, punched him in the shoulder or the arms, you could argue for Kovalev winning those close rounds. But as it was, Kovalev simply played into wards hands, and did nothing after round 5/6 to stop him working effectively inside or out whilst Ward managed to neutralise his right hand (so much so that at one point Kovalev actually switched stances briefly and launched himself forward as Ward followed him, allowing him to land a nice left hand - more of this could have won Kovalev the fight in my eyes, but this was his only real improvisation) completely, taking away his power and leaving him fumbling around wondering exactly how to beat him. Now moving into the later rounds (9-12) having taken quite a few crisp body shots, jabs and some sharp left hooks, Kovalev slowed down, but more than this, he suffered a mental capitulation that all but sealed Ward's impending victory. You talk about Ward not doing enough to take the champion's title, but he came up a weight, fought a bigger man with a huge advantage in power and reach (which if you know anything about boxing you realise is crucially important since it means it's not only easier for the bigger man to land his shots but those shots will do more damage, whilst the reverse is true for the man coming up), was hurt in round one and two, and STILL got up and outboxed his opponent, taking his greatest strengths (power, stalking and trapping his opponents, usually by disrupting or stunning with the jab first and finishing with the right hand, or reverse jab). He did this with lateral movement, upper body/head movement and simple, fundamental parries. And in those later rounds, Kovalev gave up. You can call bullshit all you want, but I've sparred with enough big men to recognise the look in the eyes when they finally accept the fact they ain't going to hit you, you aren't going to let them fight their fight, they are tired and you do seem twice as fast as when the fight started because you've been making them miss and making them pay, and they're tired and used to rolling people over in the early rounds, and they feel like their body and their mind has completely failed them. Andre didn't do anything Kovalev shouldn't have expected. There has been some speculation that Kovalev doesn't give his trainer the time of day (a man who was trained by George Benton ffs, how can you not stand up and take notice?) and the fact that simply moving to the side or circling around, or moving in low, clinching and working inside was enough to derail and defang Kovalev suggests that this might well be true, because there is no doubt that Jackson knew exactly how Ward would fight and I'm sure he wouldn't have kept it a secret from his fighter, especially since it seems that a win for ward represented not just one but two scalps in this fight, one for the (God)father and one for the son.

The point is, despite all his ineffectual ambling in Ward's general direction, Kovalev did very little to support the argument that he controlled this fight. He allowed himself to be manipulated to the point where his frustration became obvious for anyone with eyes to see, and controlling this fight from round 3 onwards, as well as the more varied and clean work, meant that Ward won the fight. He showed he was the superior fighter on the night, and all of the faux aggression in the world can't change that fact. Having said all that I believe Kovalev could well beat Ward in a rematch, IF he makes the necessary adjustments and is willing to box clever instead of looking dumbfounded and reaching for another right hand. Kovalev is good boxer-puncher but his limitations were glaringly obvious tonight. His inability to adapt was exposed against a fighter 17 years Hopkins' junior, and I can't say I'm surprised. However, with a few tweaks (which could even have been made in the fight) Kovalev could have gotten Ward out of there, but he failed to do this. Ward set the pattern, and Kovalev had no answer. I haven't posted here in a whole but it really irks me that so called boxing fans can be so blind to the reality of their own most cherished sport. By all means say you wanted Kovalev to win, say that you enjoyed his performance more despite the fact he fell short, even say that you feel, on a subjective point of view, that his aggression, however ineffective, constitutes a victory on the scorecards, but please, don't cry robbery just because the guy you didn't want to win completely outfoxed and nullified the big bad wolf and ruined your Saturday night execution.

And one final thing. On the question of protecting fighters' records, let's not forget that Kovalev is undoubtedly the more popular fighter of the two, and the fighter more likely to bring in money on PPVs and arena tickets, so where is the notion that anyone would favour Ward coming in? He's the boring fighter, so it doesn't make sense from a commercial perspective to suggest that the judges would favour him in order to make the TV companies and the fans happy (if you want proof of this just listen to the booing of Ward after the fight, and the cheers for Kovalev which only died down when Kovalev effectively went full Putin and accused American boxing of being *gasp* corrupt to the core).

Anyways, please excuse any typos/grammar, posting this on iphone and cannot be arsed to scroll through it all and edit