Those punches were under the navel...that is no where near the genitals, Kovalev just dont like body shots period...every time he got touched to the body he was ready to quit or cry to the ref. Of all the body shots Ward threw, maybe two of them were low, the others were belt line under the navel and I consider that perfectly legal!
even with a tko kova fans complaining, some of the shots were low but most were fine and kova was hurt and on shaky legs well before the finish
The punch was lower than the point that the ref said was allowable at the start of the fight. That's all that matters. If Kovalev hand landed that shot, it would be called low for sure. Anyways, it's over, but it's just typical of Ward (always something). It's the kind of reason that although he is a great fighter he is not an ATG in my book, on the level of Pac, RJJ, FMJ, Hopkins, those guys. I put Ward on a closer level to guys like Mosley, Oscar, Tito, Barrera, Morales, Calzaghe. I understand that the US is the center of boxing, but when you use that home town advantage over and over again, it matters.
I don't know what rulebook you read, but there is no rule about being able to hit below the belt as long as you don't make contact with the balls. Maybe we should allow 'cuffing' rabbit punches? Or how about we allow one kick per round? A tag team partner for a 30 second stint during the 12 rounds? Rules are rules, you cannot be KO'd on a low blow. By the letter of the law, it should be overturned to a no contest.
If you want to talk rabbit punches, well Kovalev did that all night, Ward complained early in the fight to the ref, the ref said fight on and Ward never complained again. Kovalev on the other hand was crying all night every time he got hit in the body!
The problem with arguing that Kovalev was rabbit punching....well except for the fact that they both were.... Is that if the ref actually did his job and stopped Ward holding like 5-6 times a round, the rabbit punches wouldn't have happened.
We probably don't know for sure that Kov's balls are actually just an inch under his belly button. That's Tony Week's bad There u go. that solves the mystery
A lot of talk about legal shots because they were on the waist line or belt line. That line is the top of the trunks not the 4"space of the waist band used to keep the trunks up, that was an illegal shot area. Kov trunks were pulled up to about even with his belly button, with your belly button being the illegal line not to cross. Making a punch that hits in the middle of the top line of the waist band to be a borderline shot. And anything under that illegal. So all this borderline shots, talk and threads are basically admitting to the fact they were all illegal blows. REFEREES need to go back and reread and be made to take tests on the rule book, and especially what's deemed illegal. Far too many fighters getting away with cheating tactics. It's unfair when two men compete in a sport with a written set of rules, one man is taught to follow these rules while the other is taught he can change them. If the rules have changed, then the book needs to be rewritten.