Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev - Objective analysis - both evenly matched in both bouts

[chrisJS]

I thought Kovalev dominated the first fight but didn't look that sharp. Ward just did next to nothing. 8-4 or 9-3.

2nd fight I felt Kovalev was winning the majority of the rounds but looking like crap and then he faded. Got caught by some fouls, then a legal punch and finished with some low blows.

Ugly style matches but then again every Ward fight is an ugly style match and Kovalev looked scrappy against Chilemba. I wouldn't be interested to see it again due to it being ugly but I think Kovalev would win if he had a good camp. Similar to the first fight or he'd be able to keep him down.

[Scipio2009]

As someone who has watched Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev's first bout and rematch multiple times without any bias, without being a fan of either boxer, whilst being totally neutral. Can we objectively all agree that both Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev were evenly matched by stalemating each other without either showing any real superiority over the other when it came to a clean boxing contest for most parts of the 2 bouts?

Irrational and nonobjective fans of either boxer are going to exaggerate the superiority of their boxer over the other boxer. However, from a neutral perspective, there wasn't any superiority shown by either boxer over the other.

I had the first bout a draw excluding the knockdown. Including the knockdown, I had Sergey Kovalev winning by a small margin.

I had the second bout also near dead even at the time of the stoppage with Kovalev winning only one or two rounds more but Ward adjusting and both ending up neutralizing each other, to the point where the last 2 or 3 rounds before the stoppage were even in my scorecard.

However, if we are going to be objective, let's not pretend that the stoppage came from illegal moves which Andre Ward used and which the referee allowed. Excluding without those illegal moves, Andre Ward was dead even with Kovalev and neither showed to be better than the other. So it would've led to another close decision which most likely would've been a draw. What caused Andre Ward to win were illegal punches which resulted in the stoppage victory.

My point is, neither showed any superiority over the other when it came to a clean boxing contest, excluding illegal moves. In other words, we never truly found out who the better boxer was (because neither was better than the other). Thus, it's best to avoid claims about one being better than the other.

Kovalev started fast in the first fight, Ward made his adjustment, and Kovalev never really got back into the fight.

Kovalev came out faster in the second fight, a sharper Ward again made his adjustments, and Kovalev never really recovered.

No need to try and spin it.

[Real King Kong]

the myth that ward dominated after being knocked down in the first fight is laughable and only perpetuated by fanboys. the 2nd fight was going ward's way and kovalev knew it...he came apart mentally. if a fighter gets nervy and starts thinking too much, it's all downhill...he'll get tired quicker from being tense and become gunshy or do things out of character.

[FrankieClutch]

Those were two of the most evenly matched fights at the elite level that I've ever seen. Not much to separate the two in either fight, until Ward go the KO of course.

[harry-greb]

They are both fairly evenly matched. I just think ward has a bit more dog in him.

[BM dnobagaV]

No...after Ward got knocked down, it was all downhill for Kovalev...it became more and more apparent that Ward was better than him.

In retrospect, that was the worst thing Kovalev could have done...knocking Ward down and not finishing him...he "awakened The Dragon" as we say, and the rest is History...

Ward adapted immediately after that KD and beat Kovalev fair and square twice in a row...

That's all there is to it...and all the crying and lying in the world won't change it.

Ward by UD and TKO...FOREVER.

How did Kovalev win 5 rounds in the 1st fight if after the 2nd round it was all down hill?

You are a fool.

[redmish]

First fight was as close as a fight can be, but ward was the better man in the rematch. Kovalev quit in that fight and nothing will change my mind.

[kafkod]

As someone who has watched Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev's first bout and rematch multiple times without any bias, without being a fan of either boxer, whilst being totally neutral. Can we objectively all agree that both Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev were evenly matched by stalemating each other without either showing any real superiority over the other when it came to a clean boxing contest for most parts of the 2 bouts?

Irrational and nonobjective fans of either boxer are going to exaggerate the superiority of their boxer over the other boxer. However, from a neutral perspective, there wasn't any superiority shown by either boxer over the other.

I had the first bout a draw excluding the knockdown. Including the knockdown, I had Sergey Kovalev winning by a small margin.

I had the second bout also near dead even at the time of the stoppage with Kovalev winning only one or two rounds more but Ward adjusting and both ending up neutralizing each other, to the point where the last 2 or 3 rounds before the stoppage were even in my scorecard.

However, if we are going to be objective, let's not pretend that the stoppage came from illegal moves which Andre Ward used and which the referee allowed. Excluding without those illegal moves, Andre Ward was dead even with Kovalev and neither showed to be better than the other. So it would've led to another close decision which most likely would've been a draw. What caused Andre Ward to win were illegal punches which resulted in the stoppage victory.

My point is, neither showed any superiority over the other when it came to a clean boxing contest, excluding illegal moves. In other words, we never truly found out who the better boxer was (because neither was better than the other). Thus, it's best to avoid claims about one being better than the other.

This is the truth. The only thing that separated Ward and Kovalev was a series of fouls and a referee who didn't apply the rules of boxing fairly.

Even if those final punches from Ward were legal - which they weren't - the ref should have given him a count when he went down, instead of just waving the fight over and raising Ward's hand.

[daggum]

kovalev is the much better boxer. being neutral is not the same as being biased. neautral means you pretend everything is the same no matter what. cept it wasnt equal...

had kov winning 9-3 in first fight or 8-2 with 2 even at best for ward. now lets also admit that the only thing that kept ward in that fight was his illegal grappling tactics. without those its a wash. people scoring it for ward are using comparative scoring and thats the only reason they have it for ward. oh ward got dominated in the first 2 rounds but after that only lost most of the rounds by being outboxed i guess he wins? no thats poor scoring. also round 10 to ward is laughably one of the worst things since hopkins-taylor 1 round 12 was given to taylor to give him the win.

fast forward to second fight. had it 5-2 kovalev before the low blow stoppage. once again the only thing that kept ward in the fight were his grappling tactics which he increased in order to try and give himself a better chance. some people seem to think that because kovalev wasnt destroying him ward was actually winning the fight? nope kovalev was outboxing him and i think ward was getting desperate and thats why he went low more.

there were 5 clear low blows just in the last 2 rounds and thats not counting the somewhat borderline ones which could have been low as well. 5 low blows in less than 2 rounds and no point deductions, no rest for the fighter being low blowed. oh yeah and the fight was stopped on a low blow. ward never proved he could hang with kovalev in a boxing match.

[daggum]

Fresh Andre Ward vs Fresh Sergey Kovalev, you would pick Kovalev. But if the fight goes down the stretch you would pick Ward.

why? did you see the first fight? kovalev dominated 10, round 11 could have gone either way, and round 12 was pretty close but kovalev landed more and landed the best punch of the round so he should get it. we dont really need hypotheticals to see how each guy would perform down the stretch. yes if ward is allowed to low blow nonstop that could change the complexion of the fight like in the 2nd fight but we know what would happen in a fair fight(somewhat fair as wards john ruiz like holding and wrestling is always allowed for some reason)