Who won Ward Vs Kovalev

[Boxerbeetle]

Really, wow, that surprising, if that's the case though, why was it Kovalev who tired down the stretch.

I wish bloody sky's shitty system had worked so I could be talking from a position of actual insight. Annoying.

I didn't think Ward was getting manhandled at all. It was Kovalev who was visibly weakening as the fight progressed.

Kovalev did tire but he was the one pushing ward back and every time ward tried to grab kovalev krusher stopped ward from doing anything ward was the one being stopped working and kovalevs jab had more effect and power than any of wards shots

Well yeah, if boxing was scored purely on power, then obviously Kovalev won. But it isn't, and he didn't.

[Bard of Boxrec]

The clinches were fairly evenly contested I thought

[straali]

I had Kovalev winning by 2 rounds.
Paulie Malignaggi was so far up Ward's arse - very biased, although that shouldn't be surprising given his own boxing style typifies the Ward "anti-fighting" approach. Ward is an excellent boxer....but he also was the predominant clincher, user of the head and spoiler. Criticism of Kovalev for "tiring" late is a bit rich when he consistently attempted to be the far more proactive fighter. Based on the Sky commentary, which I thought was shit by the way (Paulie was at his arrogant worst last night although I generally rate his insights, Macklin offers little....and as for Adam "Verbal Diahorrea" Smith, words fail me) I fail to recall Kovalev getting credit for the occasions when he made Ward miss - and he managed this A LOT, even if Ward made Kov miss more frequently..
Poor decision for me and a poor result for boxing since Kovalev is a much better fighter to watch as a fan. I accept you can't make a guy the winner just because he's better to watch but I feel Kovalev also proved himself the superior man in the ring last night. If ever a rematch was deserved, it's here.

[Srebmun]

The clinches were fairly evenly contested I thought

I thought if anything Kov was Klinching as much if not more.

Looking forward to watching it again during the week.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Kovalev did tire but he was the one pushing ward back and every time ward tried to grab kovalev krusher stopped ward from doing anything ward was the one being stopped working and kovalevs jab had more effect and power than any of wards shots

Well yeah, if boxing was scored purely on power, then obviously Kovalev won. But it isn't, and he didn't.

What Jim said was that wards strength would shock kovalev all I'm saying is it didn't kovalev was clearly the stronger fighter.

What I'm saying is that Kovalev would find that ward was stronger than he thought he would be, which it seems he was, given that so many seemed to think he'd just walk through ward and overpower him.

[samwbr]

Jim ward got manhandled kovalev was much stronger in the clinches and bossed ward

Really, wow, that surprising, if that's the case though, why was it Kovalev who tired down the stretch.

I wish bloody sky's shitty system had worked so I could be talking from a position of actual insight. Annoying.

I didn't think Ward was getting manhandled at all. It was Kovalev who was visibly weakening as the fight progressed.

Agreed, Ward was right in what he said after the fight that he knew Kovalev would fade.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Lol jimmy mac why are you still trying to analyse a fight you didn't see

[Boxerbeetle]

Interesting thread on the Reddit boxing sub - nearly 200 fans used the same app to score the fight round by round as it unfolded. The aggregated outcome? 114-113 Ward, exactly the same as all 3 judges (and me, fwiw).

A lot of the users actually commented to say they had thought Kovalev won the fight overall, but their scorecards showed Ward won. Similar to how some of the Pacquiao-Marquez fights felt different to the actual scoring.

[Cyclops]

I didn't get to see the fight, due to Sky's shitty fight pass not working with my browser, brilliant sky, well done.

Anyway, it transpired much as I suspected, a tough close fight, and I had a feeling Ward would have to climb of the floor and tough it out to win. I always figured Ward would be tougher than people expected, and that his physical strength would surprise Kovalev. Ward's expertise in the clinches is a big leveller, it was what did for Froch as much as anything else.

I hope Ward gets the props he deserves, he might not be everyone's cup of tea, he's not mine style wise, but he's a hell of a fighter, and pulled of a career defining win.Ward isn't to blame for the judges, and by all accounts, it was a very close one, so let's give the man his due.

Jim ward got manhandled kovalev was much stronger in the clinches and bossed ward

Really, wow, that surprising, if that's the case though, why was it Kovalev who tired down the stretch.

I wish bloody sky's shitty system had worked so I could be talking from a position of actual insight. Annoying.

It's on YouTube, mate

[Boxerbeetle]

This clip is hilarious. I really thought Ward won, but looks like he was less sure

https://twitter.com/TheSportsJunky1/sta ... 3456729089

[the patriot]

I watched it for the second time with sound off this afternoon..
Thought Kovalev done enough, without actually scoring it live.
Scored it in silence and had it 116-114 Kovalev 5 rds to Kov 4 to Ward and 3 I couldn't split..
Them 3 rounds could've gone either way so I don't think anyone could really argue with the result.. intriguing fight tho and I'll look forward to the rematch.

[ElJefe]

Interested to know from people who had Ward winning wide which rounds they gave him? Out of the rounds I gave to Kovalev (1, 2, 4, 6, 10 and 12) I thought that all apart from the 12th were fairly easy to score. The rounds I were most unsure on were probably the 12th which I gave to Kovalev and the 5th which I gave to Ward.

Seems that a few gave Ward every round from about 5 on wards. I thought 6 and 10 were fairly clear rounds for Kovalev. Ward was showboating a bit in the 10th iirc but Kovalev was out-jabbing him imo.

[Ricky_]

Interested to know from people who had Ward winning wide which rounds they gave him? Out of the rounds I gave to Kovalev (1, 2, 4, 6, 10 and 12) I thought that all apart from the 12th were fairly easy to score. The rounds I were most unsure on were probably the 12th which I gave to Kovalev and the 5th which I gave to Ward.

Seems that a few gave Ward every round from about 5 on wards. I thought 6 and 10 were fairly clear rounds for Kovalev. Ward was showboating a bit in the 10th iirc but Kovalev was out-jabbing him imo.

This is my problem with the cards.

I thought Kovalev won his rounds clearly. I thought Ward only won 8 clearly. So you really gotta give Ward every competetive round, and all 3 judges did give every clise round to Ward. The situation where Ward could win was that all 3 judges had to give him all the close rounds and thats what transpired.


Secondly, round 10. All 3 judges gave Ward round 10. No way he won that round imo, that was one of my clea Kovalev rounds. Had that round been scored correctly by 2 of the 3 judges Kov wins a split.... but all 3 for Ward! Gtf!

Serious questions of American bias imo.

[Dan Dares]

I had it 116-113 to Ward. Max Kellerman is a twat.

He said close fight and draw possible.

He said that he didn't think the term 'robbery' was unreasonable. He's a twat. Unless I'm getting him mixed up with the bloke who interviewed Ward after, that was Kellerman, right?

[crusader]

IMO you have to give Ward every benefit of the doubt to have him winning, even by one point.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Jim ward got manhandled kovalev was much stronger in the clinches and bossed ward

Really, wow, that surprising, if that's the case though, why was it Kovalev who tired down the stretch.

I wish bloody sky's shitty system had worked so I could be talking from a position of actual insight. Annoying.

It's on YouTube, mate

Tried to watch it earlier, but was streaming so slowly I gave up

[crusader]

Interested to know from people who had Ward winning wide which rounds they gave him? Out of the rounds I gave to Kovalev (1, 2, 4, 6, 10 and 12) I thought that all apart from the 12th were fairly easy to score. The rounds I were most unsure on were probably the 12th which I gave to Kovalev and the 5th which I gave to Ward.

Seems that a few gave Ward every round from about 5 on wards. I thought 6 and 10 were fairly clear rounds for Kovalev. Ward was showboating a bit in the 10th iirc but Kovalev was out-jabbing him imo.

This is my problem with the cards.

I thought Kovalev won his rounds clearly. I thought Ward only won 8 clearly. So you really gotta give Ward every competetive round, and all 3 judges did give every clise round to Ward. The situation where Ward could win was that all 3 judges had to give him all the close rounds and thats what transpired.


Secondly, round 10. All 3 judges gave Ward round 10. No way he won that round imo, that was one of my clea Kovalev rounds. Had that round been scored correctly by 2 of the 3 judges Kov wins a split.... but all 3 for Ward! Gtf!

Serious questions of American bias imo.

Yep, bizarre that they all gave Ward the 10th; taken on the whole, like rounds should be, Kov's jab was by far the best work, and the poor judging of that round made the fight a Ward win rather than a Kov win. Conversely, there were no rounds in which Ward got the better of things, only to have the judges unanimously score against him.....

And so many rave about Ward's strength, yet it's largely applied through tactics that many of the same people harshly criticize fighters like Wlad for. So is tiring your opponent out and reducing their output with wrestling fine or not? Should Wlad be praised for his grappling? Should one fighter outleaning the other be considered in scoring?

[Bigdogsnose]

Thought Kovalev clearly won 5 of the first 6, include the knockdown and thought he was home and hosed. Thought Ward turned it around to a point, but no way did he win all of the last 6. Don't know if its the Mayweather factor, but I think we seem to be getting too carried away with fighters who can make the adjustments in play. All well and good, but the adjustments made need to lead to clearly winning the fight, not just to be competitive.

[crusader]

Yes, some in the CS have mentioned people being biased towards sluggers, and there are no doubt many of that type, but there are also plenty who exalt technical fighters and see mastery in moves when there is none.

Oh, Hopkins bent the slightest bit at the waist? What technical brilliance! Ward prevented his opponent from throwing by clinching? What craftiness, ring sense, and of course underrated physical strength! Though if Wlad does it it's a dirty foul and just another example of why the HW division is dead!

[fightscorecollector]

here is 60 press scores i collected for talking boxing , 73% of media scored for Kovalev , my card read 115-112 , i just cant see how you can award Ward anymore than 5 rounds

http://talkingboxing.co.uk/we-go-to-the ... lev-v-ward

[crusader]

But Paulie says we have to score the fight for Ward!

[fightscorecollector]

paulie card in the first 6 rounds alone was terrible , think he gave Kovalev 1 round or something

[crusader]

I think he's generally drawn to the fighters more like himself.

[fightscorecollector]

could be mate but the first 6 rounds of his scoring was tragic

[TheLeprechaun]

Kovalev deserves a bit of criticism for not pushing the fight more. He's got one punch power and already knows he can hurt Ward and he fought pretty conservatively for most of the fight.