Rewatched the fight. Ward was the better man. Disappointed in Kovalev

[Redd Foxx]

Didn't expect this. Respect for keeping it real.

[Mammoth]

I think that's exactly what happened. Kovalev threw as many punches in 8 rounds as he did the entire first fight. I'm not sure what the gameplan was but it was unsustainable and led to him being dead tired mid fight. I thought he visibly faded like mid 6th round or something.

It was like an amped up, truncated version of the first fight in some ways...

[Banderivets]

Kovalev won the first fight and completely lost the 2nd.

Sad thing is, if they scored the first fight correctly we would have a trilogy on our hands, in the end we get two "controversial" fights which sucks for boxing.

BTW in a trilogy I see Ward taking #3 as well.


---------------

No one thought Kovalev had skills going into the first fight, they thought he was just a puncher and proved everyone wrong.

Ward adjusted I would say, but done so too late to take the first fight, plus Kovalev had his moments later in the fight.

-----------

This weekend though Ward was fully prepared and Kovalev had nothing to offer, mentally or physically.

How could Kovalev gas so early? This wasn't Salido vs Loma bad, yea some low blows sure, take a knee as you KNOW (or perceive that its so) that the cards are all stacked against you. His conditioning was inexcusable, what happened with his Russian conditioning coach that was supposed to fix everything?

Hit Ward in the nuts too then, take a knee grind it out do something...Kovalev was just complaining and he was supposed to be the bully......seems odd.

How do you fight a dirty fighter? Fight back dirty, and I thought Kovalev being the way he is would do just that, but he looked at other ways out....oh well

The stoppage was strange, I don't get why a ref calls off a fight on body punches, it's not like he was teeing off on his head. Give him a count, or let him take a knee, but you don't stop the fight there.

I see Ward getting a KO later in the round or the subsequent, instead we get this bull****.
=========

The right man won, but all these odd stoppages, bad scoring, bad reffing (not just this fight, all of them) aren't doing the sport any favors.

[BKM-]

Kovalev still very clearly won the first fight. Kovalev of the first fight would likely still edge a decision over the improved Ward we saw last week, and yes Ward did improve. Relied much less on dirty tactics untill the ending where he went full-****** with the low blows. But he was still behind on the cards untill the right hand that stunned Kov.

Kovalev in this fight wasn't as good mentally and even physically. Boxing is mostly mental, he had way too much negative energy and pressure on himself. I should have seen the signs more clearly, things like him losing weight way too early before fight week, his anger about being screwed with the contracts, the incompetence of his team etc.

[SplitSecond]

Kovalev won the first fight and completely lost the 2nd.

Sad thing is, if they scored the first fight correctly we would have a trilogy on our hands, in the end we get two "controversial" fights which sucks for boxing.

BTW in a trilogy I see Ward taking #3 as well.


---------------

No one thought Kovalev had skills going into the first fight, they thought he was just a puncher and proved everyone wrong.

Ward adjusted I would say, but done so too late to take the first fight, plus Kovalev had his moments later in the fight.

-----------

This weekend though Ward was fully prepared and Kovalev had nothing to offer, mentally or physically.

How could Kovalev gas so early? This wasn't Salido vs Loma bad, yea some low blows sure, take a knee as you KNOW (or perceive that its so) that the cards are all stacked against you. His conditioning was inexcusable, what happened with his Russian conditioning coach that was supposed to fix everything?

Hit Ward in the nuts too then, take a knee grind it out do something...Kovalev was just complaining and he was supposed to be the bully......seems odd.

How do you fight a dirty fighter? Fight back dirty, and I thought Kovalev being the way he is would do just that, but he looked at other ways out....oh well

The stoppage was strange, I don't get why a ref calls off a fight on body punches, it's not like he was teeing off on his head. Give him a count, or let him take a knee, but you don't stop the fight there.

I see Ward getting a KO later in the round or the subsequent, instead we get this bull****.
=========

The right man won, but all these odd stoppages, bad scoring, bad reffing (not just this fight, all of them) aren't doing the sport any favors.

I thought kovalev showed clear frustration straight away after ward hit him good for the first time, it seemed all his composure and tactiful mind went out the window as soon as ward landed that first solid punch, I think it was in rd 3. He suddenly adoted an urgent style trying to get back at ward as soon as possible, forcing a situation, smothering himself, went one track mind and was just head hunting.

I think the stress in build up got to him, the decision not going his way the first time, wards attitude, jacksons betrayal, the purse etc.

I'm not trying to take anything away from ward, its just something that I had in my mind since that third round i've wanted to get out.

[Xi_]

Ward just went in there and beat the sh.it outta kovalev and made Kovalev his *****.

[BrometheusBob.]

Kovalev won the first fight and completely lost the 2nd.

Sad thing is, if they scored the first fight correctly we would have a trilogy on our hands, in the end we get two "controversial" fights which sucks for boxing.

BTW in a trilogy I see Ward taking #3 as well.


---------------

No one thought Kovalev had skills going into the first fight, they thought he was just a puncher and proved everyone wrong.

Ward adjusted I would say, but done so too late to take the first fight, plus Kovalev had his moments later in the fight.

-----------

This weekend though Ward was fully prepared and Kovalev had nothing to offer, mentally or physically.

How could Kovalev gas so early? This wasn't Salido vs Loma bad, yea some low blows sure, take a knee as you KNOW (or perceive that its so) that the cards are all stacked against you. His conditioning was inexcusable, what happened with his Russian conditioning coach that was supposed to fix everything?

Hit Ward in the nuts too then, take a knee grind it out do something...Kovalev was just complaining and he was supposed to be the bully......seems odd.

How do you fight a dirty fighter? Fight back dirty, and I thought Kovalev being the way he is would do just that, but he looked at other ways out....oh well

The stoppage was strange, I don't get why a ref calls off a fight on body punches, it's not like he was teeing off on his head. Give him a count, or let him take a knee, but you don't stop the fight there.

I see Ward getting a KO later in the round or the subsequent, instead we get this bull****.
=========

The right man won, but all these odd stoppages, bad scoring, bad reffing (not just this fight, all of them) aren't doing the sport any favors.

Good post.

[Deletrious]

My take was, Kovalev won the first fight 7-5 or 6-6 with the knock down.

Second fight he wanted to outwork Ward to make sure he was doing enough for the judges to give him rounds. I assume this was a plan going.

I thought the HBO broadcast was really poor. They kept talking about Kovalev looking tired and Ward having the body language of a winner. Sure, Kovalev is tired because he is throwing and hitting more. Maybe he can't sustain that and loses the last rounds, but if he can sustain it then clearly he should win. The goal is not to look fresh at the end of the fight, it's to out punch your opponent.

This is not professional wrestling, how people posture and portray themselves during a fight is not what gets scored.

I thought Lederman was on the money about the rounds going into 8. Obviously Ward got a knock down. I'm baffled why the fight was waived off rather than a 10 count. Sitting on the ropes is the same as taking a knee in the ring. It was just a wrong decision. 10 count and if Kov can't stand by then, then the fight is over. Probably Ward wins after that, because Kov was in trouble, but let the fight end the right way.

[BrometheusBob.]

Ya know, not enough people are saying this but outside of the ****ty stoppage this was a great great fight. It's a shame that it will not be remembered that way by many. In spite of all OP's valid points, Kovalev was still landing well enough for the fight to be considered either very close or a bit in his favor up until the 8th.