Low blows: Andre Ward vs Kovalev 2

Good post. And according to SOME idiots on here... what Ward did was perfectly ok. So maybe they should change Golota’s DQ’s against Bowe to wins. I mean wasn’t that “Crafty” boxing??

 

Watch the fight again, I counted at least 10 CLEARLY LOW NOT "BORDERLINE"PUNCHES FROM WARD , if Weekes did not see them or blatantly ignored them either way he should NEVER officiate again It was BLATANT !!

 

If the situation was reversed there would be an uproar but no it's crafty boxing. Can't believe how some people ignore the facts along as their guy gets the win. Even the commentators didn't say anything.

 

I actually hope Ward comes back and Kovalev just goes Golota on the sleazy **** for the first 3 rounds... then sets Ward up for the right hand kill shot mid rounds. You bet your ass Andre will be wary of that “Body Work” and won’t see that right coming. Why not! It’s “Crafty” 2017 boxing.

 

This line of reasoning doesn't really hold up.

Go to round 7 of Trinidad-Vargas. You'll see a man hit with a legal (beltline) bodyshot and reacting as if he was hit low. You'll then see the official be convinced into deducting a point (he'd already deducted one point for genuinely low blows earlier in the bout). You'll then hear the commentators remarking upon the official's error of judgement -- made from the blind side of the action and influenced by Vargas' reaction -- and bemoaning the unfair point deduction.


It's a sad reflection on the boomer/millennial generations that so many young males have passed into adulthood without first having been taught the ability to take disappointment stoically and rationally. How else could online forums dedicated to a mans' sport end up resembling daycares?


Why do we still celebrate Gatti-Rodriguez so, despite its much clearer string of low blows? Anyone care to tell me why that one isn't bitterly contested to this day? Hmm.

 

The reason why Europeans are usually labelled soft when they come to America and play prominent American sports has a lot to do with being total complainers over the rules and not taking contact from opponents well at all. Ward tuned his ass up period. 80% of the "low blows" were legal shots, especially the ones that clocked Kovalev. Wasn't he getting slaughterhouse level drunk on a daily basis DURING TRAINING CAMP too? He got ****ing taxed and looks like a total ***** and sucker in retrospect complaining about low blows.

You do what you have to do to win. Period. If you are very evenly matched with another fighter, throw a low blow here and there, take them out of their element. He's a submissive fem for not doing it back. The terms "go for broke" and "hop in and gun it" go way over his head. It's a shame, he never lacked for talent or ability. That's not what lost him the fight. He lost this one in his head before it even happened.

 

I had Kovalev barely edging out the first fight. I had him winning but he won based of his performance in the early rounds. Midfight Ward adapted and by the end of the fight had Kovalev figured out, and Kovalev never adapted to Ward's adjustments in the slightest. From the middle rounds on all he really landed was a the occasional jab here and there, nothing of significance, and Ward was starting to make him look silly.

Kovalev and Ward were 100% exceptional and truly elite talents. Regardless of how you scored their first fight, up until then, Ward had not lost a fight since he was 13 or 14. He was a "can't miss" prospect all the way, from silver mittens on. Even the best guys have off nights, and it's common to see guys who are rock stars in the AM's win a big tourney and then lose next time out at a local event. Off nights happen all the time. Except for Ward. One thing you know for certain - Whenever Ward steps in the ring, he BRINGS IT and doesn't believe in "off nights."

Kovalev knew this, knew how exceptional a fighter Ward was, knew Ward had his number and had him figured out and that he couldn't adjust in the first fight, and then he signs for a second fight and acts like a complete dickhead from the time he signs the contract to the present day. He gets sloppy drunk throughout training camp. Disregards his PROVEN trainer and relegates him to a "mitts man."

If you want to be the champion, then ****ing act like one, or rather - you HAVE to act like one. Kovalev's skills, talent, and ability all = champion and truly elite p4p fighter. Mentally? Guy is a complete clown. End of.

 

Excellent post

The apologists crying foul have chosen to tirn a blind eye to the amount of borderline/low punches landed in similar nationally televised fights where high caliber combatants either brush them off or truck on with the understanding that it’s ultimately a fight. I still dislike the stoppage but the reaction from Kovalev regarding the plainly obvious legal body shots were disturbing enough....Ward executed his game plan with fortitude and help from an easily deterred Kovalev that night.

Just to be clear I won’t generalize and label all European based fighters as lacking the ability to adjust appropriately to a more rough and tumble cerebral style, guys like Loma, GGG and Usyk have broken that mold and Joe before them, countless others.

 

100%. Ward acted like a champion. Kovalev got hammered. Then complained after he got worked. Look at yourself, bro.

 

Won’t happen and I like Kovalev but I’m a realist and he’s just not built for the trenches. If he can’t intimidate you or if he’s forced to implement a plan B his productivity is drastically reduced.

 

Fine posts, @pistal47. My mileage would vary in so far as knocking Kovalev for his frailty in those moments, but there're some great points made there.

Give him credit, though. The obsessive, vindictive fantasy is cute.

And that's a fair enough comment on the face of it. It probably would've been better for Ward, too, had Tony Weeks not waved it off there - it seemed likely that Kovalev wasn't long for the fight, and Ward would've had the opportunity to finish it on less contentious punches. A mandatory 8 count when Krush sat down on the ropes would've been the best call. I can forgive the stoppage, though, because Kovalev had ground to a helpless, doubled up halt.

Oh, yes.

Now, far be it from me to begrudge Gatti a hard-fought victory, and who doesn't love them some Arturo?

But, given all the griping over some beltline shots in Ward-Kovalev II, you'd think Gatti-Rodriguez would be a recurrent source of contentious online discussion over the years, right?

After all, it was a title fight, a storied '96 FOTY contender and is a perennial reference on boxing forums. But rarely is it ever evoked with contentious motives.

Let's look (I settled for YouTube, to save me digging a HQ copy off my external hard drive);

[url]https://i.img.ie/36v.png[/url]
[url]https://i.img.ie/36y.png[/url]
[url]https://i.img.ie/36a.png[/url]
[url]https://i.img.ie/36K.png[/url]
[url]https://i.img.ie/36z.png[/url]
[url]https://i.img.ie/36J.png[/url]

And those are only some of the low blows that were clearly visible to the camera and able to be captured from a crumby low-res stream.

So. Wherefore art thou, Moral Outrage Mob?

While the mob slowly rationalizes, let's listen in to Jim, Larry and Roy;

"A vicious low blow, and he got away with it!"

"Gatti's been getting away with some blows, but Rodriguez doesn't seem bothered by them, and so the referee hasn't called him on it."

"But still, low blows are low blows and he's been throwing well south of the border!"

What a man Wilson must have been to suck up all that dirty, illegal punishment with scarcely a complaint. It's almost like he's, uh, a seasoned professional prizefighter or something.

How did boxing and its fans turn so soft? Is this what 'evolutionary' fighting brings?

While they rationalize, let's listen some more;

"Tide has turned! Tide has turned! Body blows did it! Here comes Gatti!"

"But the body punches are taking their toll!"

"They are wearing him down..."

There's a word to describe anybody fiercely protesting Ward-Kovalev who has also discussed or praised Arturo Gatti without ever taking to their high horse in protest of his low blows vs. Rodriguez, declaring that victory invalid on account of the unpenalised fouls or applying an asterisk to his legacy. I'll leave readers to guess what that word is. It begins with a H.

And lo,

I've never protested the outcome of either bout, because both Arturo Gatti and Andre Ward were fighting hard in the heat of their respective battles and landing many legal bodyshots along with any that might have strayed low (and I think Gatti was much more a culprit of that latter). How about that pair of vicious left hooks Ward sunk into Sergey's ribs in center ring seconds after he'd set him to reeling with the right hand? Those did real damage.

Ward was aiming for a legal target with his uppers. The belt. No man throwing to the midsection of another man can guarantee with absolute surety where the punch will wind up. He can only take his best aim in the heat of that moment.


Moral Outrage Mob deconstructed.

 

Nobody is built for getting hit to the testicles. Kovalev's belt, the top of the belt was on the navel, the belly button, there was a letter below the wide belt, SOB landed on that letter more than once, three low blows in a row and Weeks stopped the fight on testicle blows period! Weeks only warned his fighter one time, when many were landed, the head shot did not hurt Kovalev, but the testicle blows did hurt! I have been hit low with a very expensive cup, the secret is to land the low blows in an upward motion so as to do the most damage to the testicles! The decision to disqualify Golota in the Bowe fight should be changed if low blows are legal! Oh, I forgot, low blows are only legal for SOB! When Max interviewed SOB, he asked SOB if those were borderline low blows or low low blows! What kind of a question was that?! Paulie was yelling those were low blows, that fight should never have been stopped, he said he had never seen a fight stopped on low blows and given to the fighter who landed them. So, let's sign a petition to change the decision for the Bowe/Golota fights to knockouts for Golota! Julio Ceasar Chavez, Sr. complained whenever he was hit low, so have countless other fighters. If Kovalev had landed those blows on SOB, he would have been disqualified. So, let's have another rematch in Moscow, with Russian judges, Russian referee and Russian boxing commission, that would be the same as SOB having all officials American who wanted SOB to win the fight by hook or by crook! THOSE WERE TESTICLE BLOWS, THE VIDEO DOES NOT LIE, THE STILL PICUTRES DO NOT LIE, IT IS AS CLEAR AS DAY! Yet SOB fans claim they were head shots, or legal body blows. Watch the upward motion of dirty SOB's testicle blows, no matter how much you pay for the cup, it will not protect you from such blows, they were designed to do the most damage to the testicles as possible. SOB should be ashamed, but he has no shame, just like Trump!

 

It doesnt have to be a direct hit to the testicles! Any blow near the testicles or the PEEnis is a low blow, that entire area is extremely sensitive. You feel stunned if you get hit around it.

 

Great trick. But you don't have to hit under the belt to pull that one off, right on the belt will do - see Ward's penultimate body shot, which was a perfect example of the technique you're referring to, but performed right on the belt.

 

I respect your conviction, Farm. My contention is that the contact of Ward's glove with the "BL" was the pre-impact, upward trajectory of his punch meeting the hanging fabric of Kovalev's trunks as the latter stooped his posture - the impact itself, which came a split second after, was right on the belt.