Comments Thread For: Daily Bread Mailbag: Ward-Kovalev II Ending, Canelo-VADA, More

[Boxing Logic]

Kovalev wins about 14 of 20 rounds against Ward, is not rewarded with the win either time, gets paid way less despite being the champion, never gets knocked down but has the ref stop the fight on an illegal blow, not to mention he was only hurt and in a position to be stopped at all because of illegal fouls to start the round leading to the right hand (an intentional headbutt by Ward to start it all off, if you rewatch the 8th round), but Breadman is talking about how unfair the whole situation is to Ward?

Breadman, brother, you are not nearly as "objective" as you think you are. It's not just that you have the entire situation backwards, it's that you clearly sound happy Ward "won." That should tell you you're not objective at all. If you were objective, you wouldn't care who won, and you wouldn't be happy Ward won, you'd feel neutral about it. The fact that you also repeatedly blamed the victim of the fouls for how he reacted, but did not criticize Ward even once for doing the fouling, is another dead giveaway.

Kovalev was winning the fight again going into the 8th round on most people's cards, then Ward intentionally headbutted him to the face and hit him with three low blows in a row, all in a 10 second span. Kovalev keeled over needing a break, but Weeks refused. Shortly after that, Kovalev, still hurt from the fouls, left his hands down and Ward hurt him with the right hand. Ward swarmed and hit Kovalev with some nice shots, but eventually Kovalev started to recover. With less than a minute left in the round, Ward hit Kovalev in the cup three more times. Kovalev keeled over again yelling at the red that he got hit low again, and the ref stopped the fight instead without Kovalev being knocked down once. Yes, the three final shots were all low. It's hard to see as you said but I studied the tape and you can see it.

Clear, intentional fouls set up the sequence where Kovalev got hurt, and less clear, but still intentional fouls ended the fight, all in a round Kovalev was winning before Ward headbutted him, late in a fight Kovalev should have been winning 4-3 or 5-2 at that time. It is very disappointing to see bright boxing minds like yours Bread willfully ignore such blatant cheating and corruption simply out of bias. Whether you realize in your own mind that's what you're doing or not, that is what you're doing, and I expected you to be better than that precisely because of your knowledge of the sport.

[JRS1980]

I think it is hard for Breadman to not be a little bias when it comes to Ward. Ward was clearly coming on in the fight, but it is difficult to say what would have happened if protocol was followed. Whether the last 3 blows were all illegal can be debated. What cannot be debated is that the last blow, which caused Weeks to call the fight, was clearly low. The replay was clear as day, and even worse, Weeks was in perfect position to see it. Had the rules of the game actually been followed, the fighters would have been separated and Kovalev would have been given a few minutes to recover. A few minutes is a long time to recover in boxing, and easily could have changed the trajectory of the fight. It might not have, but now we won't know. The cards were all close. It was anyone's fight on points had it continued. It's also worth mentioning that Ward could have even lost a point bc he was already warned earlier in the fight. I don't really care about the outcome, to be honest. I just feel like all these guys, including Breadman, are ignoring the fact that Kovalev was fouled. The ref did see it. And instead of following the rules and allowing the guy to recover, he stopped the fight in Wards favor. If the situation were reversed, I imagine Breadman would be singing a different tune.

[Boxing Logic]

Breadman, all I ask is that you rewatch the 8th round one last time, and pay special attention to the sequence starting with Ward's intentional headbutt of Kovalev at 1:50 of the 8th round, followed immediately by a left hook to Kovalev's balls, then a strafing right uppercut to Kovalev's balls, then another left hook right below the belt line. In real time the last two look on the belt line, but only because they ride up so fast. Watch it slow in HD, and you will see both shots are low. And anyway, the first two fouls are clear as day even in real speed, so it shouldn't matter.

One headbutt to the face, followed by three low blows, all within the span of 4 seconds. Who wouldn't be "worn down" by that? But Weeks wouldn't penalize Ward and let Kovalev rest, so Kovalev never got his legs back. A few seconds later Ward hit Kovalev with what looked like another low blow at 1:38 but the camera blocked it, making that four fouls out of his last four punches, and in the very next exchange Kovalev left his hands down and got caught, and we know the rest.

I know for a fact no objective boxing fan could ignore blatant cheating and corruption like that. Either you're way more biased than you think, or you missed it in real time, so please go back and watch. It all starts with an intentional headbutt to the face at 1:50 of the 8th round, followed immediately by 3 consecutive intentional low blows. Anyone reading, you need to see it to believe it. Check it out. Ward's entire "victory" was based off that sequence of repeated, intentional cheating, and a corrupt referee's collusion in failing to enforce the rules. If you weren't aware of that sequence, then you still don't know what really happened in that fight. Anyone who wants to discuss the fight in the future and give their "take" needs to see that first, otherwise they will be speaking in ignorance.

[BOXINGADICT]

Funny how dirrell gets hate for getting hit after the bell and acting like he is out but flores is getting hailed as a hero for his acting skils......

[BrometheusBob.]

Good read as usual

[HarryHurry]

Kovalev had had enough and simply gave up or QUIT

The mean Bully Kovalev gave up and QUIT against the superior Andre Ward. No communist bullcrap and propaganda needed as Kovie gave in and succumbed to the Ward onslaught. Kovalev will never live that QUIT down ever.

[THEFRESHBRAWLER]

Lmaoo Canelo you have been EXPOSED. Doesn't surprise me though him and GBP are the biggest frauds in boxing

[Ake-Dawg]

I know for a fact no objective boxing fan could ignore blatant cheating and corruption like that. Either you're way more biased than you think, or you missed it in real time, so please go back and watch.

I think it's coming to light that you're the biased one. You continue to try and promote your opinion and perception as facts and call anyone with a different view biased. Boxing doesn't happen in slow motion. It's not digitized and enhanced. It's hand to hand combat. Its violence. Force should be met with force, not whining, not faking, and definitely not bending over holding your stomach after getting as you allege punched in the nuts.

[Cutthroat]

This gif clearly shows Ward's glove slightly above his belt line meaning it landed right on the belt line. Kov's baggy trunks gave it the illusion he was hit low, he wasn't.

This shouldn't be a controversy anymore, 100% legitimate stoppage.

[SUBZER0ED]

This gif clearly shows Ward's glove slightly above his belt line meaning it landed right on the belt line. Kov's baggy trunks gave it the illusion he was hit low, he wasn't.

This shouldn't be a controversy anymore, 100% legitimate stoppage.

Only the thumb portion of Ward's glove landed on or near the top of Kovalev's belt line The rest of the glove (fist) landed below that point, which is classified as LOW.