Al Bernstein's take on Kovalev-ward

[Dr Rumack]

I don't know if I'd call it a 'bad' decision. But I can see why people would think that. There should be no hanging around with the rematch.

[GMAN SUPREME]

I agree to disagree. If you have Ward winning the third (close round but he won) he conceivably won the last 6 rounds in a wash. Close competitive rounds, but you could make an argument he won them. The KD means nothing when you can still win a fight with 7 rounds.

LOL no competent judge would have ward winning the last 6 rounds of this fight.

[mlac]

I can't think of anyone else in the sport who i respect more than Al, and i agree 100%.

[Dean_Razorback]

Exactly how I saw it. Check my sig to see how deluded these f@gs are.

that guy is an awful troll man. just like bernstein says, 2 of the judges gave kovalev just one round after the first 4. so 1 out of the last 8, ward fans will just troll, they can't do nothing more because they can't argue with objectivity this BS scorecards, not even the serious posters that support ward can.

[Jsmooth9876]

I agree to disagree. If you have Ward winning the third (close round but he won) he conceivably won the last 6 rounds in a wash. Close competitive rounds, but you could make an argument he won them. The KD means nothing when you can still win a fight with 7 rounds.

So every close competitive round went to Ward to get him the win. He definitely won the majority of the last 6 but not all of them.

[PK3434]

That's only if you're biased and scoring every single close round for ward. That's the only way you get ward winning that fight by being biased.

This is what happened. Ward got the benefit of the doubt from the judges on every close round. And it doesn't make sense. Kovalev "boxed" with "ring generalship" just as good if not better than Ward. Who knows if the bias was intentional or not, but it was there. For the record, I picked Ward to win and I think both guys are jerks. But I feel bad for Kovalev today. He got screwed.

[champion4ever]

I think the point that everybody is missing here is the big picture and that is that the fight should have never been close in the first place. It should have been over by the 4th round. Kov simply blew it. He had the fight won in the palm of his hand but let it go after having Ward badly hurt and down in rounds one and two.

After that, he threw Ward a lifeline. Instead of going in for the finish, he simply coasted, by slowing down the pace, in an attempt to out class Andre, which was a mistake because it allowed Andre Ward to find his rhythm. Where was the killer instinct?

You don't tease a seasoned veteran like the S.O.G. because he has too much experience for that. I hope that Sergey now realizes that he blew an opportunity of lifetime and for that fellas, he only has himself to blame.

It's weak to blame others for your lack of achievement and effort. It makes you look small.

[soul_survivor]

"Observations on tonight's fight. 1. Andre Ward showed he is a terrific fighter by coming back to be competitive after a very rocky first 4 rounds. 2. I picked Ward to win this fight and I was wrong. He lost, even tho the judges say otherwise. 3. two of the judges had the first 4 rounds for Kovalev then scored only one more round for Sergey. Absurd to say he only won 1 of last 8 rounds. 4. The knockdown should have been the difference in this fight. IMO The BEST u can do for Andre is make it 6-6 in rounds That would be 114-113 for Kovalev. I could see giving Andre one of 1st 4 rds, but even then he would have to win 6 of last 8 to win decision.I just don't see that. Kellerman said this was not a bad decision just a controversial one. I disagree. Because of how hard it is to get to a Ward win with that knockdown and quick start for Kovalev, I would call this is a bad decision. 5. The fight itself was well fought and very interesting. Not a fight of yr. candidate but a very, very good fight."

what do you think?

I've seen a lot of Bernstein on Channel 5 in the UK and the guy often speaks sense, even if I do find his nicey nice attitude and voice annoying lol

Again, Bernstein raises what is without a doubt the most important argument: mathematically, Ward winning the fight is almost impossible.

I had it 5-1 after 6, lets say, at a stretch it was 4-2, which is what a lot of Ward nuthuggers are trying to say on here. That gives Kovalev a 3 point advantage right off the bat.

Ward has to win 4 of the next 6 rounds just to tie the fight...let that sink in, 4-5 on the cards to Ward to simply tie it. Then he had to win 2 more rounds just to win the fight.

How a judge can not give Kovalev a single round post round 6 is beyond me. At least round 8 and possibly 10 were Kovalev rounds.

I gave Ward the last 2 rounds and imo they were pretty clear but that only got the score up to 7-5 for Kovalev. A 3 point win for the Krusher.

It doesn't matter how one cuts it, Ward can not have won the fight with the KD alone.

[Dr Rumack]

that guy is an awful troll man. just like bernstein says, 2 of the judges gave kovalev just one round after the first 4. so 1 out of the last 8, ward fans will just troll, they can't do nothing more because they can't argue with objectivity this BS scorecards, not even the serious posters that support ward can.

It's important to recognise why that happens too. There's a huge problem with narrative bias when a guy like Ward fights. If the round is low action, he seems to win by default, without actually having to score himself. He gets credit for defence. But Kovalev gets no credit. When Kovalev blocks and slips shots, making Ward miss, it doesn't matter. Kovalev's defence is not part of the narrative. Only his offence. Whereas Ward gets credit for both. So Kovalev can only win rounds by landing heavy flush shots. Whereas Ward can win the round with a couple of spear jabs.

I'm sick of seeing it. Both guys should have to score at the same level to win. In boxing at the moment it's like a soccer team playing ultra defensive against an attacking team, and being awarded the win without actually having to score themselves.

[TX_BOXNG]

Im with Berstein here, the right man should of won