Cleverly took a knee strike to the head while he was down

Nah, watch it over a few times, Kovalev launches a combo that Clev trys to avoid by going really low, gets hit with the first, which unbalances him and leads to him putting down first a knee then his hands, while kovalevs still swinging but the last one or two barely graze the top of Clevs head as he's dropping. The Knee business barely touches him as Kovalev is trying to step over/around Clev. to adjust his balance.

Despite the commentators yelling about it, it's clear there was nothing to justify any penalty for Kovalev. Look at it this way, do you really think O'Conner woulda let that pass? - the same O'Conner who basically did everything he could to make sure Clev survived the round, even to the extent of carrying him to his corner.

 

Shame he didn't take more of a count, but ultimately the outcome would have been the same

 

He was constantly ducking down low to get out of the way. That's not allowed is it? The ref seemed to want to give Cleverly all the chances he could, which is fine, but he really just prolonged the beating. I'm amazed they let him out for the 4th round. They should have shown a bit of compassion.

 

Ducking below the waist isn't allowed, but it's done often enough that it might as well be allowed. His corner could have stopped that fight, he was badly hurt despite the ref's best efforts.

 

I dont even think the Knee really even hit his head

 

You must be joking. Kovalev swings and lands after Cleverly is on the floor, completely deliberate. Was well worth a point taken and time for Clev to recover.

 

Kovalev probably should have been penalized for the punch to the back of the head while Cleverly took a knee. He landed two shots to the head of Cleverly while Cleverly was cleary down. The last one landed to the back of the head, both Abraham, and Jones Jr. were DQ after doing the same. Both Pac and Kovalev weren't. Cleverly isn't the actor that Griffin and Dirrell were it seems. lol

 

Well worth a DQ depending on the ref. I felt a point or two definitely should have been taken, and Cleverly should have been given five minutes to shake it off.

 

If Cleverly had his wits about him, he had his only chance for a victory right there. When Kovalev landed the punch when he was down, he should have thrown himself fully to the canvas and feigned unconsciousness, hoping the ref awarded him the DQ.

Afterwards, he could've said there's no way he'd give such a despicable cheater a rematch, then try and pretend the whole unsavoury mess never happened on the way to his next title defence against Enzo Mac.

 

Cleverly should of won by DQ there is no doubt about it. Thats what happened to Roy Jones

 

And Arthur Abraham.

 

Appeared incidental but Kovalev didn't try to avoid the contact with his shin to Cleverly's noggin. Wouldn't have made any difference if it didn't happen.

 

It's a fight, wasn't intentional, and honestly if the ref would have saw anything that could have classified as a DQ... He was the ref that'd do it to Kovalev.

 

I think clev was too brave and stayed in the pocket too often, he wanted to slug it out instead of using his lanky arms to stick and move and then assess the situation after the initial rounds. I'm no clev fan, though I do believe with the correct tactical implementation he could do well against this guy in a rematch. He showed his naivety last night, but he will come back.