Look the alcohol ruined Kovalev. His decline was super fast. But during the mid 2010s Kovalev was THE BEST p4p fighter in the world. And Andre Ward was right there with him in that regard. I dont give a **** what the corporate publications and talking heads paid to pump up the house fighter said. Sergey was THE BEST FIGHTER IN THE WORLD. And I'll go to my grave saying that Kovalev should have gotten the decision. But let's be honest anybody else would have been blown out by the Krusher at that time. Hell, a prime Kessler and Froch get ripped to absolute shreds by the Kovalev of the first Ward fight. I just dont get it. I know the decision left a bad taste in most mouths. But I honestly thought Ward was gonna wait him out or never fight him. I didn't think he had the balls. If you cant give Ward credit for fighting that guy then theres nothing anybody could really do.
Ward does get credit. That fight was for the P4P number one spot. Kovalev won it by 4 rounds. So he deserved that p4p spot which means you're basically a hofer. If you are robbed by corruption you don't get the credit you should have. I think Ward beat Kovalev a few times out of 10 because he's more professional, adaptable and has a stronger mind, but Kovalev is the better more talented fighter and jabbed Wards head of in the 1 at fight and scored a KD. Ward can claim to be the man of that era. He's in the HOF. Kovalev should be in the HOF aswell, but bad decisions don't tell the true story. That's how disgusting boxing can be.
I gave Kov the 1st fight and you are correct, Ward deserves more credit for fighting Kovalev. Some fools claimed Andre would vacate, duck etc. He stepped in there and grinded it out. Fight was close and not nearly the robbery some try to make it out to be.
Kovalev deserves to be credited with that win, he clearly won that fight. So if anyone is wronged here it's Kovalev. Kovalev is actually my favourite fighter of the past 10 years… Even more so than Loma… In his pomp he was a joy to watch, he had it all. But like some fighters the end started happening rapidly rather than gradually & it was accelerated by numerous personal issues and the corruption of boxing.
Ward was one of my favorites fighters to watch. Regardless of the outcome he showed great heart and did what only great fighters can do coming back from the knockdown in the first fight and got himself well back in the fight whether we agree with the scorecards or not. He did the right thing as well giving Kovalev and immediate rematch and I think he proved he was the better fighter. There were low blows but the referee did screw up I think the ref actually robbed Ward of a great finish as Kovalev was done.
Yeah I never understood the controversy. He was finished. That right hand had him on q street no doubt.
His life style probably had the most to do with his abrupt decline. Scarey to think he may not have been 100% for the last 8-10 years of his career due to excessive drinking.
Ward was a blatantly dirty fighter throughout his career. Head butting, blatant low bows, holding. You name it he did it & refs looked the other way. That's one reason he only wanted to fight in Oakland LOL. Still couldn't sell out the place in his home town though lol. Watch the Bowe / Golota fights then watch Ward / Kov 2. Golota did nothing that Ward didn't do to Kovalev & Tony Weekes watched him & ignored it You guys make me laugh you say OK so my guy Ward was a dirty fighter so are all the other great fighters & OK Canelo cheats but so do all the others so its ok! ROFL Boxing today is a cesspit of corruption Everyone knows it too
Not only that... but instead of milking a controversial win and running away from a rematch... he went straight at Kovalev again to settle things once and for all. This forum doesn't like Ward, which means you won't see much positive sentiment for him, even when there should be. Just like the other fighters that are disliked here. People actually think Ward ducked Golovkin to move up to 175 and fight an undefeated Kovalev. Sometimes I think people forget how good Kova was. Off topic but... every time I think of Kova I still can't believe he lost to Canelo.
