BoxRec

"Arum: Sergey Kovalev Request For Neutral Judges is Ridiculous!"

Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum has a message for Sergey Kovalev (30-1, 26 KOs)... stop complaining about American judges, saying officials from the United States are just fine for Kovalev's rematch with Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KOs).

Sergey's team has asked for "neutral" judges in the June fight ... meaning neither from America nor Russia ... with the implication being Andre got some home cooking in their first fight.Kovalev and his handlers were looking to have neutral judges in place - but they claim Ward would not even discuss the topic. The former champion is very angry over Ward's position and believes neutral judges are necessary to get a fair shake.

We got Arum out in Los Angeles and asked about the request ... and he thinks it's a bunch of hogwash, and actually seems a little miffed at the thought of judges from America weren't on the level.

Arum views the contest as being an even contest that could go either way - which is how the first bout was viewed.

"That's ridiculous. Kovalev has fought in the United States for his whole career. He's made a lot of money in the United States. Andre Ward is an American who won a gold medal for the United States. The Nevada Commission should pick the judges and they'll pick fair judges and this neutrality thing is nonsense. They are both good fighters. It's a very, very even fight. It really is a 50-50 fight and I think the odds will reflect it," Arum said.

It's not about American judges

Bad decisions happen here, they happen all over the world, I'd want neutral judges anywhere I fought, especially if I were fighting in their home country

I don't see a problem with neutral judges

We know for certain that Sergey Kovalev has previously engaged in at least TWENTY TWO bouts on US shores that used a trio of American judges to score each contest, which equates to 69% of the fights listed on his resume.

I listed them in a separate thread.

It is commonplace for Main Events to use judges exclusively from America to officiate bouts for her stable of Eastern European and Communist fighters.

I listed them in a separate thread.

As the A-side for the first Kovalev-Ward fight, Kathy Duva agreed to using American judges... and no one from Team Krusher or from Main Events complained about the issue during the build-up/promotion of the bout.

The neutral judges controversy is pure utter bûlllshît!

Enlightened-One wrote:We know for certain that Sergey Kovalev has previously engaged in at least TWENTY TWO bouts on US shores that used a trio of American judges to score each contest, which equates to 69% of the fights listed on his resume.

I listed them in a separate thread.

It is commonplace for Main Events to use judges exclusively from America to officiate bouts for her stable of Eastern European and Communist fighters.

I listed them in a separate thread.

As the A-side for the first Kovalev-Ward fight, Kathy Duva agreed to using American judges... and no one from Team Krusher or from Main Events complained about the issue during the build-up/promotion of the bout.

The neutral judges controversy is pure utter bûlllshît!

Saying it's bullshit is no argument vs using neutral judges

..we'll never know whether it was (in)competence of the judges, their lack of integrity, their allegiance to the flag etc.. but one can exclude at least ONE of these factors from the decision-making process by appointing neutral judges..

Enlightened-One wrote:We know for certain that Sergey Kovalev has previously engaged in at least TWENTY TWO bouts on US shores that used a trio of American judges to score each contest, which equates to 69% of the fights listed on his resume.

I listed them in a separate thread.

It is commonplace for Main Events to use judges exclusively from America to officiate bouts for her stable of Eastern European and Communist fighters.

I listed them in a separate thread.

As the A-side for the first Kovalev-Ward fight, Kathy Duva agreed to using American judges... and no one from Team Krusher or from Main Events complained about the issue during the build-up/promotion of the bout.

The neutral judges controversy is pure utter bûlllshît!

Your argument about this and your percentages mean absolute horsehiit. I don't understand why you are on this soapbox about this point. What is so hard to understand? Duva and Kovalev feel that they got screwed in the first fight by American judges. THAT is why they want neutral judges. They never requested this before because it never was a problem.

You only change a tire when it's bald or flat, you don't change them every time you drive the car. Your argument is senseless. It's all posturing. They knew that they were not going to get Ward to agree to it. They just wanted it to get out there so that we get a fairly judged fight this time.

Ossyrules wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote:We know for certain that Sergey Kovalev has previously engaged in at least TWENTY TWO bouts on US shores that used a trio of American judges to score each contest, which equates to 69% of the fights listed on his resume.

I listed them in a separate thread.

It is commonplace for Main Events to use judges exclusively from America to officiate bouts for her stable of Eastern European and Communist fighters.

I listed them in a separate thread.

As the A-side for the first Kovalev-Ward fight, Kathy Duva agreed to using American judges... and no one from Team Krusher or from Main Events complained about the issue during the build-up/promotion of the bout.

The neutral judges controversy is pure utter bûlllshît!

Saying it's bullshit is no argument vs using neutral judges

The facts speak for themselves.

caldo2025 wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote:We know for certain that Sergey Kovalev has previously engaged in at least TWENTY TWO bouts on US shores that used a trio of American judges to score each contest, which equates to 69% of the fights listed on his resume.

I listed them in a separate thread.

It is commonplace for Main Events to use judges exclusively from America to officiate bouts for her stable of Eastern European and Communist fighters.

I listed them in a separate thread.

As the A-side for the first Kovalev-Ward fight, Kathy Duva agreed to using American judges... and no one from Team Krusher or from Main Events complained about the issue during the build-up/promotion of the bout.

The neutral judges controversy is pure utter bûlllshît!

Your argument about this and your percentages mean absolute horsehiit. I don't understand why you are on this soapbox about this point. What is so hard to understand? Duva and Kovalev feel that they got screwed in the first fight by American judges. THAT is why they want neutral judges. They never requested this before because it never was a problem.

You only change a tire when it's bald or flat, you don't change them every time you drive the car. Your argument is senseless. It's all posturing. They knew that they were not going to get Ward to agree to it. They just wanted it to get out there so that we get a fairly judged fight this time.

A controversial decision is not synonymous with accusations of bias due to nationality, since there is no evidence to prove that the latter caused the former.

If racial bias was commonplace, the facts would be entirely different.

Your opinion does not undermine or explain the facts.

Enlightened-One wrote:

Ossyrules wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote:We know for certain that Sergey Kovalev has previously engaged in at least TWENTY TWO bouts on US shores that used a trio of American judges to score each contest, which equates to 69% of the fights listed on his resume.

I listed them in a separate thread.

It is commonplace for Main Events to use judges exclusively from America to officiate bouts for her stable of Eastern European and Communist fighters.

I listed them in a separate thread.

As the A-side for the first Kovalev-Ward fight, Kathy Duva agreed to using American judges... and no one from Team Krusher or from Main Events complained about the issue during the build-up/promotion of the bout.

The neutral judges controversy is pure utter bûlllshît!

Saying it's bullshit is no argument vs using neutral judges

The facts speak for themselves.

If you can show me a fact neutral judges is unreasonable I'd like to see it.

You clearly know a bit about boxing you your bias makes you hard to take

Ossyrules wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote:

Ossyrules wrote:
Saying it's bullshit is no argument vs using neutral judges

The facts speak for themselves.

If you can show me a fact neutral judges is unreasonable I'd like to see it.

You clearly know a bit about boxing you your bias makes you hard to take

Kathy was complaining about what had occurred prior to the first fight. Her complaint, based solely on hindsight, is incompatible with the facts that I listed, which she is responsible for.

She made a mistake and is blaming Andre Ward.

I'm not against "neutral judges", but I am against hypocrisy and sour grapes.

I like Kovalev, I like Ward, but I dislike promoters like Kathy Duva.

Many people that frequent this forum support Kathy Duva, simply because of her affiliation with a likable fighter like Kovalev, but she is actually a big slimy smelly steaming tûrd!

This says enough about the Americans, the American doping labs also claim Povetkin broke a rule, while any other doping lab in the world claims Povetkin is 100% innocent about any rulebreaking.

..lets just forget all these names and what we personally think about them, the simple fact being that the next fight is a high profile one and it's the obligation of Nevada State Commission to make sure no one (including the world at large) questions the integrity, etc.. of the judges they appoint..in fact it's in the best interests of the above entity to guarantee the neutrality of the "verdict"..It seems only logical to expect that appointing neutral judges, all the more so considering the international belts at stake, will be the step in the right direction..

Duva, Krusher, and a whole lot of people have a viral infection called SOGgy Brain.

Just ask yourself a question: if Kovalev was an American born champion and Ward was a Russian challenger, would the challenger get a decision with a performance like that ? Would an American challenger get a decision against a local champion in England, Germany, Russia, Argentina with such performance?

NO F*CKING WAY !!!

boxing_rocks wrote:Just ask yourself a question: if Kovalev was an American born champion and Ward was a Russian challenger, would the challenger get a decision with a performance like that ? Would an American challenger get a decision against a local champion in England, Germany, Russia, Argentina with such performance?

NO F*CKING WAY !!!

Yep, absolutely conclusive evidence of SOGgy on the Brain.

asdfjkl wrote:This says enough about the Americans, the American doping labs also claim Povetkin broke a rule, while any other doping lab in the world claims Povetkin is 100% innocent about any rulebreaking.

Can't you jerk off to Povetkin in one of the several threads dedicated to your mouth on his body? fornicate both of you.

I gather this is a touchy subject. IMO don't think it really matters about where the judges are from. Don't think Kovalev's request is ridiculous either. Fact is one side says neutral the other side says no. Hmm. It really shouldn't matter to Ward either if there is neutral judges. Bottom line it's Boxing Politics. Let them sort it out.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

asdfjkl wrote:This says enough about the Americans, the American doping labs also claim Povetkin broke a rule, while any other doping lab in the world claims Povetkin is 100% innocent about any rulebreaking.

Can't you jerk off to Povetkin in one of the several threads dedicated to your mouth on his body? eff both of you.

MachoTime wrote:I gather this is a touchy subject. IMO don't think it really matters about where the judges are from. Don't think Kovalev's request is ridiculous either. Fact is one side says neutral the other side says no. Hmm. It really shouldn't matter to Ward either if there is neutral judges. Bottom line it's Boxing Politics. Let them sort it out.

I agree, if the judge is being bought then the nationality is irrelevant. They should be more concerned that the 3 judges are watching completely different fights from a below average angle. Anyone that has sat ringside knows there are many spots where your view gets obscured, not to mention the distractions around you. I've been saying it for a decade, get them away from the crowd noise and let them all watch it on TV with no sound. I certainly don't deny there is corruption, but it's easier to try and give them the best chance to avoid incompetence.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

MachoTime wrote:I gather this is a touchy subject. IMO don't think it really matters about where the judges are from. Don't think Kovalev's request is ridiculous either. Fact is one side says neutral the other side says no. Hmm. It really shouldn't matter to Ward either if there is neutral judges. Bottom line it's Boxing Politics. Let them sort it out.

I agree, if the judge is being bought then the nationality is irrelevant. They should be more concerned that the 3 judges are watching completely different fights from a below average angle. Anyone that has sat ringside knows there are many spots where your view gets obscured, not to mention the distractions around you. I've been saying it for a decade, get them away from the crowd noise and let them all watch it on TV with no sound. I certainly don't deny there is corruption, but it's easier to try and give them the best chance to avoid incompetence.

That TV idea is a great idea.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

MachoTime wrote:I gather this is a touchy subject. IMO don't think it really matters about where the judges are from. Don't think Kovalev's request is ridiculous either. Fact is one side says neutral the other side says no. Hmm. It really shouldn't matter to Ward either if there is neutral judges. Bottom line it's Boxing Politics. Let them sort it out.

I agree, if the judge is being bought then the nationality is irrelevant. They should be more concerned that the 3 judges are watching completely different fights from a below average angle. Anyone that has sat ringside knows there are many spots where your view gets obscured, not to mention the distractions around you. I've been saying it for a decade, get them away from the crowd noise and let them all watch it on TV with no sound. I certainly don't deny there is corruption, but it's easier to try and give them the best chance to avoid incompetence.

Exactly. That's another thing that's always puzzled me Boxing. Why they have judges sitting at ringside level. or below it actually. You don't really get a good view.

Coming from someone that attends a lot of fights, judging in real time is very difficult, and often when I rewatch a fight on tv I feel different about who won rounds. I think most of the disparity comes from incompetence not corruption.

marvelous marv wrote:Coming from someone that attends a lot of fights, judging in real time is very difficult, and often when I rewatch a fight on tv I feel different about who won rounds. I think most of the disparity comes from incompetence not corruption.

Is it incompetence or POV. You said a different view can give you a different opinion on who won a round.

Enlightened-One wrote:

Ossyrules wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote: The facts speak for themselves.

If you can show me a fact neutral judges is unreasonable I'd like to see it.

You clearly know a bit about boxing you your bias makes you hard to take

Kathy was complaining about what had occurred prior to the first fight. Her complaint, based solely on hindsight, is incompatible with the facts that I listed, which she is responsible for.

She made a mistake and is blaming Andre Ward.

I'm not against "neutral judges", but I am against hypocrisy and sour grapes.

I like Kovalev, I like Ward, but I dislike promoters like Kathy Duva.

Many people that frequent this forum support Kathy Duva, simply because of her affiliation with a likable fighter like Kovalev, but she is actually a big slimy smelly steaming tûrd!

I have no opinion on duva

But judges nationalities I can take or leave. If a guy feels strongly about neutral it shouldn't be too hard to get at least 1 neutral to satisfy