You don't know how anyone can scream robbery for this match? HOF boxing journalist Larry Merchant called it a robbery 5 minutes after the match ended. When 4 out of every 5people in the press row score the fight for Kovalev. When the stadium boos the verdect, when the entire broadcast team has the other man victorious, when esteemed boxers like Roy Jones jr, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Vasyl Lomochenko all say Kovalev won guess what that's a robbery. It's no coincidence the booker result was on the same card.
What people? All the people, a lot of the people, some of the people or the majority of the people. Did you talk to all the people who watched the fight and made a tally? I know for a fact that there are three people who thought that he lost 114 / 113.
Dude You sound like a broken record. Yes the majority of the people feel Kovalev won. He landed more, threw more, scored the knockdown. Landed the harder punches. Ward's face was all chipped up at the end and he was comepletely shocked when the verdict was announced. You can keep telling me stuff I already know, that the 3 judges scored it for Ward. I'm saying it's not the first bad decision ever and it won't be the last. Most fans, just take a look around, and most journalists and most boxers feel Kovalev won the fight. I'm not losing sleep over the verdict because I saw with my own 2 eyes who was the better man that night.
Well first off, Larry Merchant has been off his rocker for a few years now. While I think he used to provide pretty funny color commentary, I wouldn't call him some defacto judge who has a keen eye for scoring rounds, because he doesn't. And yes, the fight wasn't a robbery, it was competitive. As you mentioned several people who thought Kovalev won, I can name a list of fighters who went on air and said Ward squeaked out a decision. I thought Kellerman said it best- in a close fight of this magnitude, I can see why both men thought they won the fight. If Sergey won by 4 or 5 clear points and than Ward was awarded that 1 point decision, than yes it would be a robbery. But Sergey essentially gassed out by the 5th or 6th round and he allowed Andre to crawl back into the fight. Robbery and a competitive fight are drastically different. If you need another classic example of a robbery, go see Santa Cruz get thoroughly robbed by Joel Casamayor a few years back. Once again, I don't know how anyone can scream robbery in a competitive fight, it doesn't make any sense at all.
Well you stated you don't know how anyone can call it a robbery so I supplied Larry Merchant. You want to besmirch him as off his rocker that's fine. I'm not sure what the definition of robbery is anymore, I thought Kovalev clearly won 7 rounds and could have been given 8. So I think the decision was bad but the rounds were not wipe outs so I understand that robbery is a strong term. Still for Ward to be given 7 rounds means he was awarded every round that was remotely competitive. At the least he got a hometown decision. When the champion out lands, out throws, lands the harder blows, scores the knockdown and dominates from the outside but loses and the stadium boos. It's a bad decision. Have I seen worse yes. So maybe the "term" robbery is strong. I'll say it was a bad decision. And most people agree with that.
I'm a Ward fan, and I thought he lost as well. To become champ you have to beat the champ, not edge him slightly. This is what ward did, so his victory is debatable. Look at how many times Marquez faced Pac, and in the eyes of many beat him a few times, but he didn't beat him decisively, and we all seen the outcome of those fights. This is the same situation, so the first fight should of gone to Kovalev. Ward in the second fight definitely have to step it up, if he plans on convincing the fans that the first fight was just an off night for him. If he wins the second fight in the same manner as the first, the name Kovalev will haunt him the rest of his days in and out of the sport of boxing.
This is how it goes. These guys, even after all this time, do not receive credit for these wins/draws. I mean if these were legitimate decisions these would be defining fights for these guys. Nobody uses these fights to talk up these fighters. It will also be the case with Ward. Fans don't forget. Sure the record might state the official outcome but a 10 second search will highlight the truth to any new fans.
Fans Ward: If he stole $ 20 million in the bank it would have been a robbery. And he stole $ 1 million. This may not be a robbery. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....
What irks me most is that I'm convinced that if the performances were reversed and Ward performed as Kovalev did and vice versa then Ward would have got a 117-110 decision.