I've changed my opinion on the Andre Ward fight

I personally scored the fight 114-113 for Kovalev. I thought it was a close fight with some swing rounds that could have made the score a comfortable win for Kov or a tight win for Ward. If I gave all the swing rounds for Kov I'd get 115-112 and if I gave them all to Ward Id get 114-113. Kovalev won most of his rounds more convincingly than Ward won his. I was impressed with both fighters. Kovalev showed a wonderful jab and that he can keep up with someone as skilled as Ward. Ward impressed me by showing grit and hanging in there when the going got tough. Showed a lot of heart. Overall Im okay with the decision, would have been better if one of the judges had at least scored it for Kovalev or a draw to make it a SD or MD. Either way it was a great fight that actually lived up to the hype which doesn't happen often. Needs a rematch.

when u on top they cant stant it,,, andre goin home have his girl shave her booty and suk on that thanggg all niTE! that thang so oiled up n git so low gonna git draggt across the floor ,, leave a slime trail ,,,, have at it my man u put on a clinnick. he remint me of ali , prime , ko volev too stiff. we here.. loooooooooooool

I believe wards landed percentage was far higher you don't score punches that don't land. Judges score defence as well

as tho ward wont do the same thing wards timing towards end wasnt strictly cause kov was tired Thats true i dont question that,its just the obvious conception and i thought it myself is that a fighter like Ward will have already figured out a fighter so the rematch would be easier like with some mayweather rematches like maidana and castillo for example he worked them out in the first fight and the rematch was easier work from round 1.... however all im saying is that Kovalev is a different calibre fighter than just a power puncher than loses to pure boxer... kovalev will have many new tricks up his sleeve,he knows he wont get away with just a repeat regardless if many saw him winning

if he does that tho and doesnt get ward out there he will be gassed by round 3 thats the thing He'd probably rather his chances being gassed than an oakland scorecard haha

I think this is going to be a common conception of the rematch however... people overlook a lot of things about Kovalev because he is a big puncher.. he went in with a game plan and followed it through to the end he'll be rewatching this fight and still picking up on wards mistakes he made and try to adapt on the mistakes he made himself ... Kovalev was in this fight not just because of his power.. he has an exceptional boxing brain to be able to set those kind of punches up we would never have seen ward taking so much damage whether it was the start of the fight or not,,kovalevs accuracy was exceptional ...even elite fighters in carl froch and mikkel kessler coulds string their much weaker unches and land combinations on ward ,,kovalev is fast on his feet in a forward motion as tho ward wont do the same thing wards timing towards end wasnt strictly cause kov was tired

Cant wait for the second fight...Kovalev knows he can't let it go the distance and will throw everything at Ward in the first three rounds if he knows whats good for him,if that round was a minute longer man... i could have seen him finishing Ward...at least this isnt gonna be a what if...we'll actually see these guys again and get this decided once and for all who the better fighter is.....just like everyone here claiming marquez closed the show on pac"no need for another fight" hope kovalev blows him out in 1 if he does that tho and doesnt get ward out there he will be gassed by round 3 thats the thing

To have Ward winning you would have to give him every close round in the fight. No 10-10 rounds either. Straight up every close round to the challenger. In my opinion that's not how a world title is won. Not a single round in the latter half of the fight to Kovalev?? Not even the 10th?? Bruhhh It was a great fight though. I see Ward winning the rematch seeing how he adjusted during this fight. I think this is going to be a common conception of the rematch however... people overlook a lot of things about Kovalev because he is a big puncher.. he went in with a game plan and followed it through to the end he'll be rewatching this fight and still picking up on wards mistakes he made and try to adapt on the mistakes he made himself ... Kovalev was in this fight not just because of his power.. he has an exceptional boxing brain to be able to set those kind of punches up we would never have seen ward taking so much damage whether it was the start of the fight or not,,kovalevs accuracy was exceptional ...even elite fighters in carl froch and mikkel kessler coulds string their much weaker unches and land combinations on ward ,,kovalev is fast on his feet in a forward motion

To have Ward winning you would have to give him every close round in the fight. No 10-10 rounds either. Straight up every close round to the challenger. In my opinion that's not how a world title is won. Not a single round in the latter half of the fight to Kovalev?? Not even the 10th?? Bruhhh It was a great fight though. I see Ward winning the rematch seeing how he adjusted during this fight.

Sports bar. East side Montreal. You not living in London anymore ?

i can see watching a fight 2-3 times butt 4! somethings missing. I've watched it 14 times.

Where did you watch the fight Dirk ? Sports bar. East side Montreal.

Can't see a decline in Ward tbh...same fighter Good subject. I'm unsure when it comes to that. Fighters change. He does some things smarter than before. He was never a guy who avoided EVERY punch like Floyd. Andre would rather take a few jabs to keep his stance and positioning. But, he's not bouncing around as quickly as he was 5 years and 7lbs ago. I think Kovalev is quick and strong enough that he was always going to be able to land jabs on Ward in the first rounds like that, which is why I was shocked that Ward stood in range in the first few rounds. I expected him to take the last half of the fight the way he did, but was perplexed at why he would put himself in danger while Kovalev was fresh (and the KD justified my feeling about that). Either he made a mistake, or it was the fact that Byrd wasn't letting them work through the clinch in the first half of the fight and that might have blown Andre's plan-A to wear Kov down.

Can't see a decline in Ward tbh...same fighter he just does enough to win without taking crazy risks,but last night he was forced to step up to a whole new level,his stamina played a big part in the fight and his body shots...Wards timing,speed and workrate are all still there,that was two prime fighters in there last night,if he thought he was in decline he wouldnt have had tune ups for a year I dont see Froch and Kesslers stock raise only Kovalevs,Ward was the educated guess to win as many thought he would take over as he did in the second half from round 2 after a feeling out round It was just amazing to see Ward after the 2nd round realise how special a fighter he was in with and taking nothing away from Ward what he did to come back was nothing but spectacular this fight has rejuvenated my passion as a boxing fan since the downhill spiral its taken since Pac vs May I didn't feel Ward was in decline, Jackson said this. I was remarking we've seen the special talent Kessler and Froch were beaten by and that those records are not blemishes on their records, their is no shame losing to the pound for pound no.1 and a special talent to boot. I agree it was special to see never have I seen a come from behind victory to border line shut out, the intensity they both fought at was momentous, I did feel slightly disappointed Kovalev appeared to wane as the mid to latter rounds passed by into the championship rounds, at which point Kovalev looked like an already beaten man blowing on his stool. It shows the special talent Ward is to overcome the absolute monstrous talent Kovalev is himself.

I really am shocked at the outrage of the decision. These dummies all following merchants lead, the guy who unashamedly states he 'doesn't score fights" then proceeds to cry robbery. Pfft drama and blood doesn't win the fight and why isn't anyone accepting the compubox stats? The height of ignorance going by compubox is the height of ignorance,you must be new here:trink26:

I really am shocked at the outrage of the decision. These dummies all following merchants lead, the guy who unashamedly states he 'doesn't score fights" then proceeds to cry robbery. Pfft drama and blood doesn't win the fight and why isn't anyone accepting the compubox stats? The height of ignorance

i can see watching a fight 2-3 times butt 4! somethings missing. delete your profile,this is a boxing fanatic site,not a casual boxing site:boxing: i've watched it on loop all day in the backround whilst doing other things,i know every punch thrown and landed,watched it in every language aswell

Who'd you give the 12th to? Kovalev was ahead through the first half of the round but Ward's hooks to the head and body (one of which made Sergey stop and take a deep breath) were the highlight of that round so I couldn't take that away from him, even though he did get his head snapped back by a couple beauty jabs from Kovalev. Jabs like that look great, but knowing what both feel like, I put more value on those hard body shots.

Kovalev knows now he can't beat him over 12 attempting to outbox the boxer or he will be outhustled again. The only way he beats him is KO, you're right I do believe he attempted to last night and that was why he appeared to be blowing late as he was mentally drained he was unable to utilise his fight ending power he has always been able to rely on when he's been in with lesser opposition than Andre. The writing was on the wall when he fought Chilemba and against BHOP too, he gets ragged, flustered and tagged when he can't stop a boxer, in many ways he was exposed last night but he's still a pound for pound top 2-3 imo, he just lost to the best boxer in the world. The victory for Ward raises Froch and Kessler's stock somewhat too I feel, shows how good an opponent they were up against 5-7 years ago now, as Jackson said during the week Ward is on the decline too whilst Kovalev is in his prime. Can't see a decline in Ward tbh...same fighter he just does enough to win without taking crazy risks,but last night he was forced to step up to a whole new level,his stamina played a big part in the fight and his body shots...Wards timing,speed and workrate are all still there,that was two prime fighters in there last night,if he thought he was in decline he wouldnt have had tune ups for a year I dont see Froch and Kesslers stock raise only Kovalevs,Ward was the educated guess to win as many thought he would take over as he did in the second half from round 2 after a feeling out round It was just amazing to see Ward after the 2nd round realise how special a fighter he was in with and taking nothing away from Ward what he did to come back was nothing but spectacular this fight has rejuvenated my passion as a boxing fan since the downhill spiral its taken since Pac vs May

i can see watching a fight 2-3 times butt 4! somethings missing. The poster you quoted though is talking about rewatching round 3. I've watched the fight 3 times already, last one more for the enjoyment.