Kovalev - Ward your scores

You could call me a neutral for this fight being from England,
I genuinely believe Ward won that fight, but it was as close as the score cards show. I wouldn't of been surprised if Kovalev won.

When you judge Ward you have to give him points for the way he fights, he's clever, he boxes smart, it's ugly but when you look closely he's landing and chipping away.

 

People are giving by ward too much credit for his work in thr later rounds. He just back peddled more and went to the body while sticking to the jab. Nothing was overly effective, I still favoured Kovalev hard shots up top and power that had word constantly on the run.

 

9-3 for Kovalev. With the knockdown 117-110.

Kovalev won every phase of the game. He controlled Ward from distance, and manhandled him physically at close quarters, not letting Ward get off on the inside as Ward customarily likes to do with his clutching tactics.

Outright robbery period.

 

I will watch again tomorrow but I had it 114-113 Ward. I kinda wish they should've announced this fight a draw because you need to take the belt away from the champion and it could've gone either way (with most swaying towards Kovalev winning).

 

I take it you're a WWF fan, then ?

 

I agreed with Harold Lederman, 116-111 Kovalev.......................................................Ward did not win the fight, Ward's judges gave it to him.......................................

 

Yes(!)

 

My response from the RBR-thread;

Kovalev - Ward

10-9
10-8
10-9
9-10
9-10
9-10
9-10
9-10
9-10
10-9
9-10
10-9

113-114

Rare for me to agree with the judges, but I think they got this one right. Some of the rounds could go either way, but overall I think Ward managed to take control of the fight. You can make an argument for both, but I think most would agree that Ward would have won a 15 round bout, so he clearly had the momentum at the end and calling this a robbery is definitely going too far.

Kovalev dominated the first three and Ward looked cautious (and even a bit desperate in the third). The following rounds were close and neither did much damage. Even though Kovalev in general was the one moving forward, Ward was the one dictating the fight during the majority of the bout following the fourth. Ive never been a fan of Ward per se, but I was impressed with his ability to weather the storm and take control from the outside (I was expecting more clinches and that most of them would be instigated by Ward).
The surprise of Ward coming back into the fight in this manner and Kovalev becoming less active might honestly have played a part in me giving Ward some of these close rounds. Round six for example was a bit of a toss-up, but Kovalev was more aimless and instigating the clinch (imagine that in a Ward fight). He did better work in the seventh, but Ward did more.
Looking at my scoring, the middle of the bout kinda looks more one-sided than it was, but I do think that Ward slightly bettered Kovalev by dictating the pace and the range and working the body of his opponent.
Kovalev had some succesful rounds later on, especially when Ward started showboating in the tenth, but I was not at the edge of my seat, waiting for a KO punch, like I was in the first half of the fight. Ward's better conditioning became apparent and he got very comfortable in there, taking control of the ring and outscoring Kovalev for most of the rounds.

I was surprised by the CompuBox stats though, so I might rewatch and re-score this fight. In any case it is worth rewatching.

Im from northern Europe and thus consider myself rather impartial in regards to both of these fighters. If anything I feel bad for Kovalev getting an inferior purse and now losing his belts too...
But I liked what I saw from Ward in this fight. I am still appalled by the headbutts and the number of instigated clinches in the Kessler fight, but thankfully I saw no headbutts tonight and the amount of clinches were at a reasonable level and instigated by both fighters (only in the third did Ward get a bit desperate with the spoiling clinches and some shoving). This surprised me even more as the clinches are only a problem when the referee allows it to be, and had Ward gone down that route I doubt Byrd had been successful in stopping it, he lacked authority in the ring throughout.

Overall a great fight. I think Stevenson will have to wait this one out though, a rematch seems inevitable. Tough to favor Kovalev in a rematch though, Ward demonstrated once again that he is amongst the best in the game when it comes to adapting and figuring out his opponent.

 

WARD KOVA
1. 9 10
2. 8 10
3. 10 9
4. 9 10 (me and my friend dis-agreed on this round and the commentators also had it for ward)
5. 10 9
6. 10 9
7. 10 9
8. 10 9
9. 10 9
10.10 9
11. 10 9
12. 10 9

 

i can dig up a million cards where lederman has scored fights so wrong its beyond a joke
the guy immediately favors the aggressor and seems to have no concept of effective aggression

 

what do you mean effective ? he landed those shots, he picked kova off more then enough times in the round coming in to show he was controlling the fight and i dont think anyone would question he being the better fighter defensively (though kova did suprise me at times)

can you elaborate on what you said ?

 

Mine was slightly different
1. Kovalev
2. Kovalev (knock down)
3. Ward (very close)
4. Kovalev
5. Ward
6. Ward (very close)
7. Ward
8. Ward
9. Ward
10. Ward
11. Kovalev
12. Ward

Often times, Ward barely nicked his rounds. When kovalev won his rounds, he punctuated it. People crying robbery didn't score it round by round. Most casual fans, especially live, favor aggression.

And I've been to a live fight, you can't see ****. So the aggressor always looks like the winner.

 

5-5 and 2 even, plus Kovalev's knockdown. Ward needed both even rounds to win and the judges gave them to him.

 

My score is exactly the same as Harold Lederman's score except I gave Kovalev the 8th round and he did not. I am guessing that my score (117-110) is probably exactly how Doug Fischer of Ring Magazine (also 117-110 for Kovalev) scored the bout. Here is Lederman's card with the highlighted difference in my own card:

R01 ===> 10-9 SK
R02 ===> 10-8 SK
R03 ===> 10-9 SK
R04 ===> 10-9 SK
R05 ===> 10-9 AW
R06 ===> 10-9 SK
R07 ===> 10-9 AW

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R09 ===> 10-9 SK
R10 ===> 10-9 SK
R11 ===> 10-9 AW
R12 ===> 10-9 SK

Lederman ====> 116-111 Kovalev
Me, D. Fischer ==> 117-110 Kovalev

 

Not a decision I agree with, but not a robbery


Rd 1 - 10-9, Kovalev
Rd 2 - 10-8, Kovalev
Rd 3 - 10-9, Kovalev
Rd 4 - 10-9, Kovalev
Rd 5 - 10-9, Ward
Rd 6 - 10-9, Kovalev
Rd 7 - 10-9, Ward
Rd 8 - 10-9, Ward
Rd 9 - 10-9, Ward
Rd 10 - 10-9, Kovalev
Rd 11 - 10-9, Ward
Rd 12 - 10-9, Kovalev


115-112, Kovalev