"Virgil said, 'Keep him mad!'"

[Graz]

I believe this may have been posted, but I want to discuss the emotional factor.
No right or wrong answers.

Do you think Kovalev got frustrated after he dropped Ward, only to see him come back stronger and faster as the rounds went by?
Or, was Sergey not affected in that way, and maybe neglected to press the fight because he didn't feel (or recognize) that Ward was in it and turning it around?

Personally, I feel it's a combination. Kovalev seemed to be confident after dropping him and got a little too lax. I don't think Kovalev was ever 'mad' or emotional, but I think he was discouraged that he couldn't slow Ward down or break him mentally.

I think Kovalev was in control of the fight and wasn't too concerned. Maybe that caused him to be a bit lax and unfortunately was his undoing. You won't see the same Kovalev in the next fight. Krusher will become a killer.

[Dr Rumack]

It's dangerous to get too engaged in mind reading based on prior biases about the fighters.

I've seen so much of this over the last few days:

Kovalev's not landing shots - he must be frustrated and angry, tired too!

Ward's not landing shots - he's so comfortable, completely in control!

In both cases what's actually happening is that neither guy is landing shit. But when people bring their biases into, one guy is made out to be the loser and the other the winner.

The idea that Kovalev was discouraged is ridiculous to me. Was Ward also discouraged? Because he wasn't landing any more than Kovalev? Was he frustrated and mad because he wasn't able to consistently counter Kovalev and control him? People need to stop falling into these narrative traps.

[NEETzsche]

It's dangerous to get too engaged in mind reading based on prior biases about the fighters.

I've seen so much of this over the last few days:

Kovalev's not landing shots - he must be frustrated and angry, tired too!

Ward's not landing shots - he's so comfortable, completely in control!

In both cases what's actually happening is that neither guy is landing shit. But when people bring their biases into, one guy is made out to be the loser and the other the winner.

The idea that Kovalev was discouraged is ridiculous to me. Was Ward also discouraged? Because he wasn't landing any more than Kovalev? Was he frustrated and mad because he wasn't able to consistently counter Kovalev and control him? People need to stop falling into these narrative traps.

don't you know? the guy showboating must be winning because otherwise why would he be showboating!

[-Hyperion-]

No, you see what you want to see.....from the start Kovalev was being patient, settting up his shots, trying not to miss, trying to not get greedy, trying to nullify Ward's strength inside, being responsible defensively. As long as he had 100% stamina, he was outboxing Ward while hurting him and easily. The problem for him is that as rounds passed, Ward got a bit more used to the timing, and wasn't taking as much damage, so he had enough confidence to keep the rounds competitive and move without going to dangerous places out of panic. Kovalev got complacent because he was landing tit for tat most of the time and had the big advantage early, and Ward was landing nothing hurtful so he figured he was winning these rounds too. If Ward didn't have the status he has inside boxing there's no way judges score 7 rounds for him end of. Round 10 is a clear indication that the judges wanted Ward to still have a chance to win going into the last round.

[-Hyperion-]

It's dangerous to get too engaged in mind reading based on prior biases about the fighters.

I've seen so much of this over the last few days:

Kovalev's not landing shots - he must be frustrated and angry, tired too!

Ward's not landing shots - he's so comfortable, completely in control!

In both cases what's actually happening is that neither guy is landing shit. But when people bring their biases into, one guy is made out to be the loser and the other the winner.

The idea that Kovalev was discouraged is ridiculous to me. Was Ward also discouraged? Because he wasn't landing any more than Kovalev? Was he frustrated and mad because he wasn't able to consistently counter Kovalev and control him? People need to stop falling into these narrative traps.

Perfect post.

[12TRIBEsRiSe]

This is what I meant yesterday when I said it's impossible to have a decent debate about this fight or any other "robbery" cause this is all you're gonna get. Just b*tching and whining.

YEAH, even if they think Kov won u would think they would give ward respect for going up to fight the top dog and making it close, but NOPE, nothing but emotions

[IronDanHamza]

No, you see what you want to see.....from the start Kovalev was being patient, settting up his shots, trying not to miss, trying to not get greedy, trying to nullify Ward's strength inside, being responsible defensively. As long as he had 100% stamina, he was outboxing Ward while hurting him and easily. The problem for him is that as rounds passed, Ward got a bit more used to the timing, and wasn't taking as much damage, so he had enough confidence to keep the rounds competitive and move without going to dangerous places out of panic. Kovalev got complacent because he was landing tit for tat most of the time and had the big advantage early, and Ward was landing nothing hurtful so he figured he was winning these rounds too. If Ward didn't have the status he has inside boxing there's no way judges score 7 rounds for him end of. Round 10 is a clear indication that the judges wanted Ward to still have a chance to win going into the last round.

There is a way because there were atleast 7 rounds that were close enough to be argued for Ward.

[boliodogs]

Kovalev was probably frustrated that he didn't get the KO and that Ward was such a difficult opponent. In my opinion with the knock down and throwing 137 more punches than Ward and landing 17 more power punches Kovalev clearly won a close fight. He took the fight to Ward and landed the harder punches through out the fight. If you only score the last 6 rounds then Ward won. If you score the entire fight including the two point knockdown then Kovalev clearly won with room to spare in my opinion. Three American judges thought otherwise and gave the fight to the gold medal winning, undefeated American.

[TripleGFightFan]

kov didn't like those bodyshots...

[DreamerUSA]

I believe this may have been posted, but I want to discuss the emotional factor.
No right or wrong answers.

Do you think Kovalev got frustrated after he dropped Ward, only to see him come back stronger and faster as the rounds went by?
Or, was Sergey not affected in that way, and maybe neglected to press the fight because he didn't feel (or recognize) that Ward was in it and turning it around?

Personally, I feel it's a combination. Kovalev seemed to be confident after dropping him and got a little too lax. I don't think Kovalev was ever 'mad' or emotional, but I think he was discouraged that he couldn't slow Ward down or break him mentally.

It did'nt seem to me that he was frustrated. He was actually very disciplined in the fight. Maybe to disciplined. As far as the second half of the fight goes, the fall off had a lot to do with Ward's body work paying off. I said it in another thread. If this were the 15 round days I think Ward may of stopped him.