I've criticized Ward, now it's time to praise him

I have made a number of posts here in the wake of the second Ward-Kovalev fight (as I did after the first fight) talking about judging, refereeing and other related matters.

I felt Kovalev won the first fight and I felt he was ahead in the second fight when it was stopped.

But, I want to praise Ward in this thread. Because no matter what happened in the first fight or the first seven rounds of the second fight, Ward dug deep in the 8th round and he was able to hurt Kovalev and change the course of the fight.

Do I think the fight should have been stopped? No.

Do I think the last blow of the fight was illegal? Yes.

Still, Ward hurt Kovalev with about 1:47 left in the 8th round with what appeared to be two borderline (legal) shots.

That was when the fight turned away from Kovalev.

So, credit to Ward because he was able to find a way to alter how the fight was going and hurt Kovalev.

I give Ward credit for that. He showed heart and the will to win in that round, despite anything that happened in the other 19 rounds that he and Kovalev fought before Round 8 of the second fight.

I do not think Kovalev was "doomed" after the 8th round. Just as Ward was not doomed after Round 2 in the first fight, and Joshua was not doomed after Round 6 against Klitschko. No one knows what would have happened if Meeks let the fight continue.

I think Ward deserves a good amount of credit for how he fought last night, even if you do not like how the fight ended or some of what may have taken place in the earlier rounds.

 

I have to say that Kovalev's ability to get hurt to the body was a bit surprising to me. And ditto for his ability to deal with that 'handicap.'

I'm not going to smear Kovalev because I do think he was facing an uphill battle with the judges and the ref. And I thought he fought well. But if he had issues in body punch resistance, he could have done a bit better to avoid that situation.

As Kovalev said after the fight, I thought both fighters were better in this bout than in the first bout. Still, Kovalev's weakness on the body shot defense/resistance obviously played a great part in his downfall.

 

He is dirty/boderline, and I've been complaining about Ward's tactics since at least back to the Kessler fight, if not longer.

The first punches in the 8th round that hurt Kovalev, however, appeared clean (on the belt line).

I'm just trying to be fair to Ward here. No one seriously thought he was going to be able to hurt Kovalev, and he was able to do that and turn the tide.

Credit to him.

 

Definitely don't agree on this characterization.

And unlike Ward in the first fight, Kovalev didn't hit the canvas.

Kovalev wasn't done. But Ward did a good job hurting him and putting him in bad shape.

 

Yeah. It was a very anti-climactic stoppage. For both men.

 

I don't agree with this, but I realize some people feel this way.

Joshua was exhausted against Wlad. Just done.

You never know the outcome until it happens.