Stadium view of WARD vs, KOV 8TH round.

[-Kev-]

The punches were low and the stoppage ruined the fight.

Even if you ignore the low blows, if there had been no stoppage and Ward was allowed 2 more punches to put Kovalev down we wouldn't be having this discussion.

If Kovalev made it out of the round due to recovery time or just by sleep walking to the bell, and then Ward got a few more punches and put Kovalev out in the next round we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Regardless of whether the blows were low or not (they were low) the stoppage robbed Ward of his career defining KO and it robbed boxing fans of a really classic fight.

The fight was great, but with such a **** ending it went from great fight to controversy.

That was low.

But people keep saying the "punches", meaning multiple. But i've seen a mix of gis where the punch was clearly on the belt line.

That's the only punch that was low.

[Johnny2x2x]

Good view. And you can see how the last 3 punches were on their way up.

Also, the low blow from Kovalev at 5:45. Pretty standard stuff for any fight.

When Ward landed that right he did an excellent job of still going to the body, probably landed a few of the hardest body shots of the fight before those last 3 finished him. Ward also did a great job freeing his arms when Kovalev was trying to survive by hanging on. That was a pretty brutal beat down the last round. And Kovalev did look relieved the onslaught was stopped.

[Citizen Koba]

They don't get punched in the nuts, what happens is the cup gets lifted into the nuts.

That's why borderline low belt line punches can catch the top of the cup holder and lift it up. Getting hit square on into the cup don't hurt, it only hurts if it lifts the cup upwards.

I couldn't say, man, I just used to wear my old Taekwondo cup for the brief spell I spent boxing but I know it didn't take much of a clip in the right spot... oooff. Pro-boxing cups are a lot better padded I think but I've gotta say my eyes are watering at the thought of doing any practical comparative research.

[BrometheusBob.]

Good view. And you can see how the last 3 punches were on their way up.

Also, the low blow from Kovalev at 5:45. Pretty standard stuff for any fight.

When Ward landed that right he did an excellent job of still going to the body, probably landed a few of the hardest body shots of the fight before those last 3 finished him. Ward also did a great job freeing his arms when Kovalev was trying to survive by hanging on. That was a pretty brutal beat down the last round. And Kovalev did look relieved the onslaught was stopped.

Good catch

[Pigeons]

I couldn't tell where the punches were landing TBH, but quite honestly, man, that angle makes it look worse if anything. Poor Sergei was doing an incredibly good imitation of a guy who's been punched in the nuts whether or not he actually was - and I say this as someone who's been either punched or kicked in the nuts probably more than my fair share. That had me wincing man.

Honestly though, I don't get how this fight is generating such a remarkable volume of wordage. I think pretty much everyone accepts the Ward win, whether or not they think the stoppage was kinda BS.

The issue is that Kovalev doubled over from a LEGAL 1-2 to the beltline earlier in that same round. Kovalev was looking for the ref to bail him out from legal body work.

[Vlad_]

Im kind of over this whole thing now, but interesting view. First observation is that around 5:45 Kovalev hits Ward with a low blow (lol) but he doesn't make a deal out of it.

Second observation the 2/3 body shots when Kovalev initially bent over before the right hand are good, they were clearly on the belt so he was legitimately hurt there to the body.

Lastly the finishing 3 shots are still hard to see, I think the first one is pretty much fine. The second one seems to hit arms but seems a touch low, I think the last one is low, but the way Kovalev bent over was a strange position in a boxing ring, I don't think Ward purposely did it, his target was just getting smaller and smaller. In that sequence he probably should have gone head-body-head like he did 10 seconds earlier, anyway shoulda coulda woulda. Its all over, the referee made a dumb stoppage and killed it, just when we were finally headed to no controversy.

For your second observation, here is the 1st punch, before the two "borderline" punches:

[jay543]

The issue I had with the stoppage was that the last 2 punches thrown by Ward which initiated the stoppage were low.

Even if anyone wants to say "borderline" because of camera angles, at a bare minimum the very last punch thrown by Ward that initiated the stoppage was clearly a low blow.

So for me if the last punch thrown in the fight was clearly a low blow, how did we end up with a stoppage initiated from that punch instead of a warning or point deduction for the low blow?

To give the ref the benefit of the doubt, I think Kovalev's whining about low blows the entire fight and all his doubling over made Weeks think Kovalev was seriously injured and prompted him to stop the fight prematurely.

Honestly I think if Weeks just ignored the last low blow and let Ward get 1 more punch Kovalev was KO'd anyway, but the stoppage immediately after at least 1 clear low blow was just bizarre.

[Reloaded]

For your second observation, here is the 1st punch, before the two "borderline" punches:

Oh boy, you don't even know what is classed as legal.

Band line is legal, refs will say what the line is and Ive never heard one say above the trunks, the way trunks are warn so high is to raise the belt line and refs will declare where that line is.

[Reloaded]

I couldn't say, man, I just used to wear my old Taekwondo cup for the brief spell I spent boxing but I know it didn't take much of a clip in the right spot... oooff. Pro-boxing cups are a lot better padded I think but I've gotta say my eyes are watering at the thought of doing any practical comparative research.

Yeah I don't think we could find too many volunteers to test it out lol.

But yeah I been hit a couple of times with protectors and found the the ones that lifted hurt the square on didn't, I might of been lucky or unlucky lol.

[Citizen Koba]

The issue is that Kovalev doubled over from a LEGAL 1-2 to the beltline earlier in that same round. Kovalev was looking for the ref to bail him out from legal body work.

I've no real problem with Ward getting the win, man, I think Kovalev was on his way out. It still doesn't make it a good stoppage.

But my point in this thread was entirely what I posted no more no less. The particular footage the TS posted actually made me feel more not less inclined to sympathise with Kovalev than the original HBO footage. No agenda there just my gut reaction. You can get so caught up in trying to prove a point that sometimes you can misconstrue it when someone just posts some random meaningless ****.