A question about Kovalev vs Ward 1

The only time he changed something is when he heard the announcement and went from: "I lost!" to, "I was given a gift" face. Just look at his F face when he heard the decision.

for Ward - Kovalev 1 60 TOTAL SCORES POLLED FROM MEDIA 44 Scores for KOVALEV = 73% 15 Scores for WARD = 25% 1 Score for a DRAW = 2% Allan Fox (************): 117-110 Kovalev Doug Fischer (Ring Magazine): 117-110 Kovalev Andrew Harrison (Boxing Monthly): 117-111 Kovalev Harold Lederman (HBO): 116-111 Kovalev Michael Montero (Montero On Boxing): 116-111 Kovalev Tim Dahlberg (AP): 116-111 Kovalev Shaun Brown (TalkingBoxing.uk): 115-112 Kovalev Chris Mannix (Yahoo Sports): 115-112 Kovalev Dan Rafael (ESPN): 115-112 Kovalev Cliff Rold (Boxingscene): 115-112 Kovalev Lance Pugmire (LA Times): 115-112 Kovalev Victor M Salazar (Boxingscene): 115-112 Kovalev Scott Christ (BadLeftHook): 115-112 Kovalev Gareth A Davies (The Telegraph): 115-112 Kovalev Kevin McRae (Bleacher Report): 115-112 Kovalev Steve Zemach (FoxSports640): 115-112 Kovalev Jorge Hernandez (SW Fight): 115-112 Kovalev Tim Starks (Queensberry Rules): 115-112 Kovalev The Guardian Online: 115-112 Kovalev Fraser Coffeen (Bloody Elbow): 115-112 Kovalev Steve Kim (UCN Live): 115-112 Kovalev Bokser.org: 115-112 Kovalev FightersRated: 115-112 Kovalev Heavy Bag Boxing: 115-112 Kovalev Queensberry Rules: 115-112 Kovalev Sam Sheppard (Next Big Pod): 115-112 Kovalev Ron Borges (Boston Herald): 116-114 Kovalev Boxhard Podcast: 115-113 Kovalev Ryan Burton (Boxingscene): 115-113 Kovalev Bernardo Osuna (ESPN Deportes): 115-113 Kovalev Andy Paterson (Boxing Asylum): 114-113 Kovalev Daniel Vano (***************): 114-113 Kovalev Daniel Attias (AUSboxing): 114-113 Kovalev Beau Denison (The Boxing Truth): 114-113 Kovalev Boxing Monthly Online: 114-113 Kovalev Ben Weismann (************): 114-113 Kovalev G. Leon (Boxtalk): 114-113 Kovalev Bob Velin (USA Today): 114-113 Kovalev Kieran Mulvaney (HBO): 114-113 Kovalev Eric Raskin (HBO): 114-113 Kovalev Stephen A Smith (ESPN): 114-113 Kovalev John Angus MacDonald (Boxing Monthly): 114-113 Kovalev Alex Morris (Next Big Pod): 114-113 Kovalev Danny Winterbottom (Boxing Monthly): 114-113 Kovalev Tony Bellew (Sky Sports): 114-114 DRAW ***************: 114-113 Ward Kevin Iole (Yahoo Sports): 114-113 Ward Wolfgang Schiffbauer (German Freelancer): 114-113 Ward Ramon Aranda (3MoreRounds): 114-113 Ward Brian Campbell (ESPN): 114-113 Ward Mike Coppinger (USA Today): 114-113 Ward New York Post Online: 114-113 Ward LA Times Online: 114-113 Ward Mark Butcher (Boxing Monthly): 114-113 Ward Tom Gray (Ring Magazine): 116-115 Ward Mark Ortega (Freelance): 115-112 Ward Danny Richardson (Script Media): 115-112 Ward Adam Abramowitz (Saturday Night Boxing): 115-112 Ward Paul Smith Jnr (Sky Sports): 116-113 Ward Tom Craze (BadLeftHook): 116-111 Ward

What ward did was be more cautious he still lost the fight but he avioded the knockdown knowing he would win on fixed cards I noticed he started going to the body more as the fight went on. Andre was definitely more cautious & sure worked the body more in the later rounds, not just jabbing to the body but working the hooks & uppercuts inside the clinch. The biggest adjustment that Ward made was managing the distance & not staying in the pocket! Go watch rnd#2 again. He was trying to counter the left jab of Kov with the overhand right but got beat to the punch. Kovalev was ready for this with own right hand. So Andre didn't try to counter that jab the rest of the fight (except in the 10th & got clocked again for his effort). Every time Sergey stepped in, Ward would step back or step in himself trying to smother Kov & work the body. Ward simply worked the distance knowing he could cover it faster than Kovalev could. He's more athletic & was in better condition, using those two advantages to his favor & then got the benefit of the scorecards. I think it was a very close fight with the KD being the difference in giving the nod to Sergey. In fact, if you look at both fights, Kov fought Ward tooth & nail through 19 very even rounds. Yet Ward will go down as an ATG while Sergey is now written off as over-hyped. Just shows how referee's & judges can really affect the legacy of any fighter.

Can any Ward fan tell me precisely what EXACT techniqual "adjustments" Ward made in that fight? I heard it countless times but nobody ever mentioned what are the exact changes he made in that fight in order to "win it"? All I've seen up till now are boxing hypsters who are just repeating this Kellerman's baseless mantra. If anything it was Kovalev who became tired due to his poor stamina and still managed to win at least 3 out of 6 last rounds. Kovalev was the better boxer at first and really getting to Ward. Then the knockdown came. At this point it looked like Ward was going to be systematically beaten down and stopped in one sided fashion. But Ward being Ward he refused to accept this so did what he's done his whole career and clinched the life out of Kovalev and roughed him up on the inside. With the ref being in his pocket he got away with this without having points taken away. This is when Ward started to come back into it in an illegal way and continued doing this until the final round. Had he boxed within the rules, Kovalev would have knocked him out. Kovalev was winning pretty big until Ward started to cheat. But with Ward aloud to get away with it, no way Kovalev could have done anything with Ward taking it in the clinch all night. After 12 rounds, Kovalev still did enough to get the win. But Ward had everyone in his pocket so got the robbery decision. No boxing adjustments were made by Ward, just his illegal clinching game to shut opponents down who weren't used to that kind of bull****. Anyone saying it was boxing skill are nothing but biased Americans talking the biggest load of **** you can imagine.

They could have at least made it a draw. Really messed up Kovalev, if it happened the other way around, like Ward was slightly winning and they gave the decision to Kov, it would’ve messed ward up as well.

I think Kovalevs career would have been alot different if he got the decision in this fight (which he deserved imo). It messed him up mentally

He got desperate after the KD. All the punches he landed in the second part of the fight were preceded by wild swings that looked amateurish and desperate. If he was more composed and didn't give Ward so many openings he could have coasted to a win, but he kept chasing a KO like the meathead he is. Thing is, he did coast to a win, and then got scandalously robbed in front of our eyes. A very bad black eye for American boxing that, terrible.

Kovalev was well up into the fight. I dont care how people scored the fight as a whole or who they had up, I just find it odd that most Kovalev fans had him winning the second half or had the second half even. Ward won at least 4 of the last 6.

I noticed he started going to the body more as the fight went on.

He got desperate after the KD. All the punches he landed in the second part of the fight were preceded by wild swings that looked amateurish and desperate. If he was more composed and didn't give Ward so many openings he could have coasted to a win, but he kept chasing a KO like the meathead he is.

Definitely became engaged in clinching wrestling, just general roughhousing. It made a difference as Kovalev tired, whenever there was room for Kovalev to box and let his punches go he was the more dominant boxer that night

What ward did was be more cautious he still lost the fight but he avioded the knockdown knowing he would win on fixed cards

He perfected and increased his ball punching attack.