You have to "take" a champion's title

[Chrismart]

I way I see it is, once the fight starts forget who the champ is, forget who the challenger is, just score the fight round by round and at the end of the fight add up the rounds and see who wins.

Just like any other fight.

[DoktorSleepless]

Err...how?

Giving Ward Round 1 is a worst than any mistake the judges made on Saturday. Holy ****.

[Graz]

I haven't talked too much about the Kovalev vs. Ward fight because even though I lost 2k on the fight, I'm pretty disappointed in both Kovalev and the judges.

I'm disappointed in Kovalev because he fought a way too cautious fight. There was no slugging [fighting] going on in that boxing match. Neither fighter made a statement in that matchup.
Instead, they both fought too cautious, and neither had to show much heart. I wish it would have been a fight, instead of a sparring match.

Secondly, you should have to take a champion's title, the title-holder should get the benefit of the doubt in an even round, and a champion should get the benefit of the doubt in an even fight.

I watched the fight multiple times, with and without sound.
I gave Ward rounds 1, 3, and 11. So I scored the fight 117-110 for Kovalev. To make matters worse, Ward got 5 million, and Kovalev- the champ with 3 titles - got 2 million for the fight.

I truly believe that the fight was signed way too far out, and each fighter had the chance to get into each other's heads.

There should be an unspoken, unwritten, rule-of-thumb in boxing that says you have to respect a champion's dignity of the title. You can't give an even round, or an even fight, to a challenger. They should have to earn it.

Boxing, the sport we love, loses fans with bad decisions such as this.
Another thing that hurts boxing is when you pay 2 warriors millions, and charge fight fans a days wages to watch it, and the warriors don't fight.

No doubt that the re-match will be a war, and probably will be taken out of the hands of the judges.
But I don't think either one of these guys has a place in the ring with Adonis Stevenson right now.

They have to re-store their dignity, and the dignity of boxing first.

Well said. You're citing boxing etiquette as it used to be. Today there is no such thing unfortunately. I scored the fight just as you did. Short of getting knocked out Dre was a shoe in for the win. Unbiased fans know who was the better man that night. It's the state of boxing today. Every so often the judges don't seem to be watching the same fight as everyone else and there's a reason for that. This time Ward was to get the nod. The next time I suspect Kovalev will bring the house down and not leave it up to the judges.

[Robbie Barrett]

Well said. You're citing boxing etiquette as it used to be. Today there is no such thing unfortunately. I scored the fight just as you did. Short of getting knocked out Dre was a shoe in for the win. Unbiased fans know who was the better man that night. It's the state of boxing today. Every so often the judges don't seem to be watching the same fight as everyone else and there's a reason for that. This time Ward was to get the nod. The next time I suspect Kovalev will bring the house down and not leave it up to the judges.

So your card was this?

1. Ward
2. Kovalev
3. Ward
4. Kovalev
5. Kovalev
6. Kovalev
7. Kovalev
8. Kovalev
9. Kovalev
10. Kovalev
11. Ward
12. Kovalev

[-PBP-]

No offense but this might be the worst scorecard for a boxing match I have ever seen.

[lowgauge]

I remember this being the reason given for Ali winning many fights that may have been seen as a loss or draw for him. If it wasn't Ali, but just another fighter, the win may have gone to the opponent.

[Graz]

So your card was this?

1. Ward
2. Kovalev
3. Ward
4. Kovalev
5. Kovalev
6. Kovalev
7. Kovalev
8. Kovalev
9. Kovalev
10. Kovalev
11. Ward
12. Kovalev

No for clarification I was comparing the number of rounds that had Ward winning with the OP. He had Ward winning 3 rounds, so did I. How about you?

[LA_2_Vegas]

It's more of a mythology than an actual criteria for scoring fights.

I'd think that even the people who do adhere to that standard - that you must "take" the title from champ - probably treated both as champions in this fight.

[Robbie Barrett]

No for clarification I was comparing the number of rounds that had Ward winning with the OP. He had Ward winning 3 rounds, so did I. How about you?

Giving Ward only 3 rounds? You're out of your damn mind.

My card was.

1.Kovalev
2.Kovalev
3.Kovalev
4.Ward
5.Ward
6.Kovalev
7.Ward
8.Ward
9.Ward
10.Kovalev
11.Ward
12.Ward

7,8,9,11,12 were clear Ward rounds.

1,2,6,10 Clear Kovalev rounds.

3,4,5 Close rounds.

[The Hammer]

My own prediction was accurate (officially Ward by close decision):

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.ph...7&start=25#top

Freedom2013,WARD,DECISION,CLOSE

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=197322

I thought Kovalev would deserve to win, but get robbed. And that's exactly what happened.