Comments Thread For: Ward: Kovalev Not Same Fighter, But He'll Be Hard To Deal With

[Boxing_1013]

You keep repeating the same thing without any facts. Repeating it ad nauseam doesn't make it any more true. Even my grandkids know that and they are 4.

If you want to make a point, start by trying to explain how Barrera and Bika should have won fights against Ward in which they connected on 55 and 34 fewer punches respectively and lost both the jabs and power punches in both fights even though they threw far more leather. Defense is part of judging when you connect after making your guy miss and Ward did that beautifully in both fights.

What I would say to you is - watch the actual fights. I don't think Ward outlanded Bika at all and the fight with Barrera had about 10 rounds that could have gone either way. I can say that because I actually watched the fights. If you did, feel free to post on here your scores of the rounds in those two fights.

[Boxing_1013]

You should evaluate what you call dirty or a cheap shot. The notion that all of boxing, including the fighters, overlook him as a dirty fighter is ludicrous and likely rooted in an emotional reaction to him beating a fighter you liked or him publicly deriding GGG.

Without referencing the Kovalev fight, name three dirty moments in Wards career.

Also how about the elbow against Bika halfway into the 9th round lol

[Boxing_1013]

Revisionist history alert (and a pretty poor attempt at that)! None of those are controversial. Let's set the record straight:

Barrera - got a point deducted for a low blow on a very quick trigger (https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...d-and-reaction). Even with that bonus point Barrera lost handily on the cards and Compubox numbers. No controversy.

Rodriguez - both fighters deducted points for fighting dirty in 4th round. Ref tells Rodriguez that he instigated most of it (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1aed03). Inconsequential. Ward wins going away. No controversy.

Dawson - he took the fight at that weight so STFU. No complaining and he destroyed Dawson. No controversy.

Bika - Ward was by far the more accurate puncher. Bika's high work rate doesn't count for much when he's outlanded by 50 punches despite Bika's head butting (https://www.proboxing-fans.com/ward-...ika-head-butt/). The cards could have been a bit closer but no one thought Bika won. No controversy.

If you're going to make stuff up you're going to get called on it. Stick to the facts.

How about the elbow Ward throws halfway into the 9th round against Bika??? Lol I had forgotten about that one. All you have to do is watch any Ward fight and you will see him employ his dirty tricks. Headbutts, leading with the head, elbows, low blows. He is really a connoisseur of the dirty arts and honestly it doesn't bother me. It's just that the dirty stuff is really the only stuff he excels at and he should be penalized way more for his tricks than he is. Doing it sometimes is OK, doing it all the time shouldn't be OK.

[Granath]

Most boxing analysts will agree BUT. They will be hesitant.

Here are my points:

Andre Ward never left his backyard. He clearly had refs helping him with his headbutting, and continuous low blows.

He clearly lost the first fight to Kovalev, a clear loss. This also plays into his home court advantage he has had his entire career, Judges were bought.

There is a youtube video of A dude counting ward headbutting mikkel kessler 88 times in their super 6 fight. 88 TIMES. He basically destroyed kesslers eyes with headbutss.

The dude would have losses on his record if he went out from under daddy haymon and jay z's skirt.

You know this. He's a good boxer but if you lookd closely he's abit overrated.

A few things:

1. Holyfield made a career out of headbutts. Tyson was infamous for his elbows. Some guys like to step on others' feet. RJJ loved to hit guys in the back of the head. I personally had to deal with someone putting something on the gloves (aka Ali/Liston 1) and making my eyes tear up in an amateur bout. I also probably nailed that same guy with some elbows (my preferred weapon of choice). I'm not shocked by dirty fighting. Every guy fights dirty and it's up to the refs to call it.

2. I don't think there's much doubt that Ward lead with his head in the Kessler fight on a couple of occasions. By the way, it's 88 clinches, not headbutts. But frankly it wouldn't have mattered. Kessler was severely out-boxed during that fight and it wasn't even close.

3. No, he didn't clearly lose the first fight to Kovalev. He clearly lost the 2nd round to Kovalev. That was a very interesting fight to score and frankly Ward landed the cleaner shots the entire last half of the fight. Kovalev only dominated the 2nd round. Take that round out and the rest of the fight was tactical with Ward outlanding Kovalev overall in the other 11 rounds and with a higher connect percentage.

I like Krusher. He was fun to watch (though less entertaining now). But the entire last half of the fight I kept thinking he was letting Ward steal rounds. The bell would ring and I'd shake my head thinking he gave yet another one away. Ward stole enough of them and pulled out the victory. I could see that going by 1 or 2 points either way but it wasn't a clear victory for either guy.

4. I'll give you the hometown BS. I criticize Calzaghe for the same thing. I'd have liked to see Ward travel more. But the difference between those two guys is that Ward fought, and beat, some great fighters in their prime. Whether or not you like how he did it, he beat Froche. He beat Kessler pillar to post, headbutts be damned. He beat Bika, He beat Dawson, Abraham, Miranda, Rodriguez and, yes, he beat Kovalev all in their relative primes. You don't win all of that by luck, hometown judges or anything else. You win by figuring out how to do so and then executing.

Ward isn't flashy. He's not pretty. He will, like any other boxer, fight dirty and he's not particularly subtle about it. He clinches a lot as well. It's easy to hate his style. But it's difficult to hate the results.

[Granath]

What I would say to you is - watch the actual fights. I don't think Ward outlanded Bika at all and the fight with Barrera had about 10 rounds that could have gone either way. I can say that because I actually watched the fights. If you did, feel free to post on here your scores of the rounds in those two fights.

Would it make a difference if I did?

You may not think Ward outlanded Bika. Compubox does and not by an insignificant margin. I'll take their word (and my eyes) over yours.

The more you post the more I believe you simply don't understand how to score a boxing match. In case you missed it, defense counts when you land after causing your opponent to miss. Ward's pretty darn good at that.

[Boxing_1013]

Would it make a difference if I did?

You may not think Ward outlanded Bika. Compubox does and not by an insignificant margin. I'll take their word (and my eyes) over yours.

The more you post the more I believe you simply don't understand how to score a boxing match. In case you missed it, defense counts when you land after causing your opponent to miss. Ward's pretty darn good at that.

Man I really don't think you've watched those fights lol. You keep making that clear. If you did - please post your scores. Thanks.

Defense does count, if you are hitting while not getting hit. Simply avoiding punches is not enough to win rounds. Mayweather was great at it, and he usually outworked his opponent and outlanded them. And he was much slicker than Ward.

Usually when a fighter is out-thrown by 200 punches in multiple fights, he is also out-landed. That's what I see in the Bika fight and a few other of Ward's that have similar stats. As a fan of his, you know he is not particularly hard to hit anyway, he is no Mayweather. That is not really his style. He is slick enough but he is there to be hit much more than a Floyd or other defensive fighters were.

[jmrf4435]

The weird thing is that it is so obvious to many and most of the points made about Ward are pretty much backed in fact.

But his supporters just refuse to listen to anything. I honestly suspect that many of them have not actually watched most of his fights and have a special interest in making him out to be something that he isn't, because he looks like them and they can identify with him.

But your points are sound, good post.

It's so factual.

EVen Floyd went to the UK to fight Hatton..

Ward was afraid too

[SugarRaRobinson]

I'm going to report this, this is laced with racial slurs as are most of your other posts.

Weren’t you Boxing1012 ?
Y are u now Boxing1013 ?

I knew I had incinerated your previous alt pretty badly, but I never thought you’d concede with such a lousy disguise, smh ! Why didn’t u just go back to your old one
“Lou Cipher” ?

[Boxing_1013]

It's so factual.

EVen Floyd went to the UK to fight Hatton..

Ward was afraid too

That fight happened in Vegas though? Lol

[Boxing_1013]

Weren’t you Boxing1012 ?
Y are u now Boxing1013 ?

I knew I had incinerated your previous alt pretty badly, but I never thought you’d concede with such a lousy disguise, smh ! Why didn’t u just go back to your old one
“Lou Cipher” ?

...................