Should there be neutral officials for Kovalev-Ward II?

[Cheek busting]

The Nevada Commission picks the judges and, as was the case in the first fight, Andre Ward and his camp wants the commission to pick the judges

Why would Ward have an issue with agreeing to ask the commission to select judges outside of USA, though?

I mean, who would want to win like that?

Then again, it's Ward who we're talking about - the guy who headbutts and holds his way to victories.

He knows he caught lightening in a bottle last time, and he wants to do everything in his power to ensure he does again this time.

[A.K]

yes, i love how wart's fans are trying to defend this.

They're a pathetic bunch indeed

[Cheek busting]

https://twitter.com/boxingscene/stat...627072/photo/1

the scores were fair the first time; all three judges scored rounds 1,2, and 4 for Kovalev, and all three judges scored 7, 8,9,10,11 for Andre Ward. 3,5,6,12 had disagreement, but that's the sport.

There was no CJ Ross-type score, so it's clear that the Nevada commission picked fair judges for the first fight.

See nothing wrong with having Nevada pick the slate of judges for the rematch; if they end up picking a judge like Stanley Christodulu (South African, but a deeply respected boxing figure in the US, particularly in Nevada), so be it.

To limit things by arbitrary national barriers is silly.

Did you even see round 10? The fact that all three judges scored it for Ward, showed u there was home-cooking.

WHY wouldn't Ward agree to have the commission select judges outside USA?? I don't get it?

[Real King Kong]

I don't know if I'd say there should be...but once it was asked for, i don't see any reason why not. If it's part of some nevada state regulation that the judges have to be local or something, then i get it.

[Cheek busting]

Hahah "b-bb-bbut just let the commission do its job"! Remember the whole drug testing fiasco?

I bet the same Ward fans who are defending "letting the commission doing its job" were the same ones clamoring for drug-testing to supersede the commission.

Why the hell wouldn't a fighter agree to have judges selected outside his own country?

AND YES - if both fighters agree, the commission can in fact do this.

[Cheek busting]

I don't know if I'd say there should be...but once it was asked for, i don't see any reason why not. If it's part of some nevada state regulation that the judges have to be local or something, then i get it.

It's not. If both parties agree they can request the commission select neutral judges, from outside the home countries of both the fighters.

Ward refused to do this? Why??

[Scipio2009]

Why would Ward have an issue with agreeing to ask the commission to select judges outside of USA, though?

I mean, who would want to win like that?

Then again, it's Ward who we're talking about - the guy who headbutts and holds his way to victories.

He knows he caught lightening in a bottle last time, and he wants to do everything in his power to ensure he does again this time.

Because Main Events were the lead promoter on the first fight and had no issue with the judges when they were picked by the commission, and Andre Ward sees no reason for that to be different simply because Main Events is not leading the event this time.

The fight was close, and the judges scored the fight close (regardless of how you saw the fight, I'd be willing to bet that 7-5 Kovalev, 6-6, and 7-5 Ward accounted for 75%-85% of the reputable scores put out there).

With a hotly contested fight, forcing in a foreign judge (with likely far less experience with scoring close fights) is more headache than it's worth.

[Simurgh]

I dont think Ward will be getting any favours in this one. I am positive that the same judges, with the same fight, would score it for kovalev in the rematch. There is a perception that ward got 'a gift'. As such, he needs to do better than the first fight to get a decision. Same thing when bradley beat pacquiao. No way he would get a decision in the rematch unless he was to win a big time.

it wont be a controversy in this one regardless of judges. I would actually be more worried if I am a ward fan.

[Scipio2009]

Did you even see round 10? The fact that all three judges scored it for Ward, showed u there was home-cooking.

WHY wouldn't Ward agree to have the commission select judges outside USA?? I don't get it?

Kovalev landed the one jab off of the wind up; beyond that, Ward pressed the fight, landed his shots on the inside (particularly that heavy lead jab), and Kovalev didn't land anything else of significance. To assume that the 10th was a washout round for Kovalev is silly.

The Nevada commission is going to pick fair judges for the fight, just as they picked fair judges for the first fight.

If you want to argue that Main Events agreed to judges who were "in the tank" for Andre Ward, you've got a lonelu conversation to look forward to

[The Hammer]

Andre Ward knows he has no chance of winning unless he has officials on his side.

He's need a ref to allow him to use illegal tactics and judges to help him out if he survives the distance.

Kovalev clearly won the 10th round in the first fight, but all three judges gave it to Ward. They bailed Ward out of a fight he lost and cheated Kovalev.