Comments Thread For: Kovalev: Better if Ward Himself Had Stopped Me, Not The Ref

[j.razor]

Yes, Andre Ward's hand's life saving stoppage. I agree! Since Ward was going to permanently damage his sissy hands from the sissy punches he was landing on Kovalev's body to no avail.

Looks like kovalev ended up being the sissy....LOL

[j.razor]

No?

Kov clearly won the first fight (nearly 80% of media scores agree) and the 2nd was a fluke where the ref jumped in after an extremely obvious low blow

on his best night, ward would not beat kovalev

Denial is a mutha-f*ka....LMAO

[N/A]

I'm not gonna say it's OK to ignore fouls because of what you're intending to do or because of how you thing the fights gonna go.

If Weeks saw it, I don't think he would have ignored it. But it's understandable why he didn't see it when Kovalev was ducking down so far, had run around the ring and then retreated into the corner. Weeks is watching his facial expressions to determine if he'd given up and then goes into stop it. It doesn't excuse the missed low blow, but it does explain it.

My problem is with the fact that the anti-Ward brigade has created a narrative that Kovalev was repeatedly hit low, which simply isn't true. He's being hit on the belt line with legal punches based on the instructions given at the beginning of the fight. We both know fighters hike up their trunks to try to fool referees and I was glad to see that tactic backfire. When somebody cries about all these supposed low blows and then you watch the replay and see they were all legal punches except for maybe one, then it's hard to take their argument seriously.

And I saw Kovalev badly hurt rather than actually giving up, but I won't pretend I got some kind of special insight into what was going on in the guys mind.

And that's fine. If I can offer some insight from my many years of working in and around the sport, including spending a lot of time talking to high level referees, I should be able to offer my thoughts like anybody else. Unfortunately on this site, the tendency is often to mock me or disqualify my opinion because I've been honest enough to explain what I'm basing my opinion on.

Kovalev allowed himself to be completely backed into a corner, which is usually a sign of wanting someone to stop the fight. He'd just been hit with a colossal right hand that would have knocked out almost anybody. Kovalev has an iron chin and was able to stay on his feet, but he was finished after that punch. You'll notice when the fight is stopped that here is no protest from Kovalev. He knows he's done. Weeks is clearly waving the fight off. There's no objection. It's only in the aftermath that this narrative needed to be created to save face.

Even the most egregious punch, the majority of the glove connects on the belt line, not below. Ward is clearly trying to dig up to get to the body and avoid a low blow, but Kovalev is bent over so far that it's tough to body punch without it looking like a low blow.

[robbyheartbaby]

Kovalev was probably winning or it was even.

But the fight was swinging towards Ward.

Ward had landed some previous low blow and Weeks ignored them, and in the 8th he landed a lot more, which ultimately ended the fight.

The way the fight was going, with Kovalev gassing out, it was likely to be a Ward victory, shame low blows and a the ref spoiled the fight.


As for the first fight, Kovalev won that by at least 3-5 rounds.

Yep well said couldn't agree more

[robbyheartbaby]

Too funny, so now the man's legacy is tainted🤣🤣🤣 - only in your eyes my friend....Ward sleeps well and will have a good HOF induction speech ... Kovalev got rocked.... He did not fight back, he did not complain like a fouled fighter normally does, he wanted to get out of there like Squidward in SpongeBob's house/pineapple

I like the reference to SpongeBob Squarepants. Ward is still a legend in my eyes.

[B Phontain]

How you go from killer kovalev to cryvalev in two fights? C'mon man...

[chitownfightfan]

What should he say when they interview him about it?

Almost 80% of the media scores gave him the first fight & the second was an officiating debacle people will be making fun of for years

Should he lie and say he lost fair and square? Nobody would believe him if he did

Pity rds and everything close to the Merican, be he a ginger Mexican, a cancer survivor with VADA exemptions or a guy who mysteriously disappears while fights brew, so he doesn't have to be tested for a yr....

Watch Ward fight Stevenson. Bute (8yrs late) Froch at Wembley.

Retire again for 14 months.... come back vs a middling CW titlist like Bellew or dinosaur Ledbedev while ducking Gassiev, Usyk Bredis and Dorticos

Mayweather 101.....
Give or take 675+/-million bucks

[Ray*]

How did he quit? Telepathically spoke to Weeks and say "Stop it." You Wardaholics are something to behold. Ridiculous. #casualfanboys

Am a kovalev fan. Check my stats and your head.

[TheThirdEye]

Pity rds and everything close to the Merican, be he a ginger Mexican, a cancer survivor with VADA exemptions or a guy who mysteriously disappears while fights brew, so he doesn't have to be tested for a yr....

Watch Ward fight Stevenson. Bute (8yrs late) Froch at Wembley.

Retire again for 14 months.... come back vs a middling CW titlist like Bellew or dinosaur Ledbedev while ducking Gassiev, Usyk Bredis and Dorticos

Mayweather 101.....
Give or take 675+/-million bucks

Why Ward would come back and fight Stevenson, if in the first place he ducked their Undisputed matchup by way of retirement?
I understand your point, about Ward trying to do what DeLaHoya and Mayweather did, with lesser risk; you're right! However, he may try to convince fans about his will to go up in weight and fight bigger fishes. But it's only to distract fans from thinking about matching him with one of the risky opponents from the LHW division. That's why it's important to seize how strategic minds work.
Remember, Ward main excuse was:
“I want to be clear – I am leaving because my body can no longer put up with the rigors of the sport”.
This comment was issued only 5 months ago, coming from an individual who calculates all his words. I mean, according to his words, if supposedly his body can no longer put up with the rigors of the sport at LHW, why would he fight at Cruiseweight or Heavyweight?
If Ward comes back, it will be at 168Lbs, calling “big payday smaller guys” like GGG or Canelo...