What really is a low blow? Let's get a referee's perspective

Here's another good video that breaks it down so that MAYBE, just maybe the "Bu.. Bu.. Buts" can understand

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Are you talking about the sequence that ended with 1:45 remaining in the 8th round?

What happened here was that at 1:49 remaining in the 8th round. Kovalev lands a jab to Andre Ward's belt-line. Then Andre Ward threw a 3 punch combination, all 3 punches to the belt-line, a left, then a right, then a left. Are you referring to the first punch in that series of punches, the one that Andre Ward landed with 1:48 left in the 8th round? If this is the punch that you are talking about, the first of those 3 to the belt-line from Ward, first of all it's important to note that Kovalev threw a jab to Ward's belt-line and Ward then retaliated with those 3 punches to Kovalev's belt-line. This is very similar to what happened in Hopkins vs Roy Jones 2. Hopkins would hit to Roy's belt-line, then Roy would retaliate hitting him back in the same area (on the belt-line) but only much harder. (which caused Hopkins to go down).

In this sequence, keep in mind that Kovalev was the one who hit Andre's belt-line first, and then Andre retaliated. It wasn't like Ward just started hitting Kovalev on the belt-line out of nowhere. It was clearly a retaliation to say. "oh so you're gonna hit me on my belt-line, well then guess what I'm gonna hit you on your belt-line and see if you like it". That's what happened.

As far as Ward’s first punch in that series itself (the one with 1:48 left in the 8th, the first in the series of 3 punches that backed Kovalev up into the ropes and hurt Kovalev) whether that one was borderline low and you would have given Ward a warning for that. As you can see from the broadcast, that’s another punch that we don’t have a good angle to see exactly where it landed. It may have been borderline low, that punch may have actually been partially blocked by Kovalev’s left glove. It either hit Kovalev’s glove or hit his belt-line or both, but we just don’t have the camera angle to know for sure. This punch came right after Kovalev’s jab to Andre’s belt-line. This punch, Ward’s first punch of that 3 punch series between 1:48-1:46 left in the 8th round, didn’t seem to be particularly hard. That wasn’t the punch that hurt Kovalev. The ones that followed were harder and the last punch of those 3 really was the one that seemed to hurt Kovalev. Weeks is looking intently at these punches, and after the 3 punch combo by Ward, Weeks very confidently saw that they were not low, and did not issue a warning to Ward. Ward however stopped punching, giving Kovalev a breather, but then he looked at Weeks, and Weeks said they were fine, and instructed Ward to continue fighting. The only punch out of that 3 punch series that we can’t really see that well from the camera angle is the first punch. It may have been blocked by Kovalev’s glove, it may have hit the belt-line, but it didn’t appear to be low. And it wasn’t hard like the last one, the 2nd left hook really was what appeared to hurt Kovalev, that last punch of the 3 punch series as we can see was right where Weeks pointed to at the beginning of the bout.

 

I'm at work and don't have the privilege to review the video, but I think we are talking about the same sequence. And yes I thought that punch was borderline low as well. I know it wasn't deemed low by the referee but I disagree with that, and I think with other referees we could have seen at least a warning for ward. That punch took the wind out of kov and enable ward to throw that right hand.
In soccer for any illegal tackle, a referee would issue a yellow card, if a player gets another, he is off the field. The ruling could be subjective as well some referees are harsh some are not. A player already gets a first yellow card would have to be extra cautious in the way they approach the game.
I thought last weekend, weeks interpretation of a low blow was incorrect and that gave ward more freedom in applying his body work.

 

Damn, I have watched the video in slow motion several times, plus the still picture, the blow was clearly low, it was below the white of Kovalev's trunks, on the letters, it was an upward motion on purpose so as to do the most harm, so yes, that was clearly a low blow and can't be disputed at all, one picture is worth a thousand words, there are rules in boxing. However, if the referee is Weeks, the low blow is only low if it is landed on Ward, but not on Kovalev..................the boxing criminal are so confident that they can get away with anything, this is not the only bad decision made in Vegas, the same referees, judges, boxing commission, etc., Ward himself said that neutral judges would be unfair, I'm sure he thinks the same about referees and boxing commissions.....................

 

The right thing to do is not to waste time in over analyzing something that cannot be changed by Excuse or any type of "Reasoning".

 

Talk about mauling, that's exactly what PBF did to Manny Pacquiao everytime Pacquiao got within sniffing distance of him.

 

It could be reversed if Bob Bennett would watch the replay. I suspect there is not instand replay in boxing to protect the criminals...........................esp. in Vegas, this crap is getting old and should be stopped................SOB should be made to abide by the rules just like all the other boxers, but then there was Rigo....................Bob Bennett sure changes count Drackula's mind after turning the mike off and ordering him to reverse his decision...........

 

next time kovalev and duva will write the contract up to include no punching below the chin to protect sirgays glass body.

 

Stevie Wonder could see at least 3 low Blows before the Fight was stopped....

 

a good fix would be for a group of bettors to file a class action lawsuit against the nevada commission for fraud due to the ruling concerning the illegal outcome of the fight. it would be an easy win which the commission would immediately want to settle out of court to avoid the feds getting involved with an investigation into corruption, which senator mccain has already threatened to do.

 

You can't compare what Maidana did to PBF to what PBF did to Pac. PBF didn't foul Pac. It's a desperate reach, stop it and move on.

 

Just to be clear, the punch that took the wind out of Kov was not the first punch out of the 3 that Ward landed with 1:48 left in the 8th. That punch didn't do any damage but it got Kovalev retreating. The 3rd punch in that series, the 2nd left hook, is what did the damage, and that punch was cleraly squarely on the belt-line, not low. The first punch, the one that it sounded like you were talking about, was admittedly hard to see from the camera angle. It wasn't a hard punch, it may have been blocked, but we can't tell with any certainty due to the camera angle (similar to the 1st and 2nd punches of the final series of 3 punches of the bout later in the 8th round which we also can't tell from the camera angle) where it actually landed. When you get a chance, if you can, please take a look at the film and confirm which punch were you were talking about, the one at 1:48 left in the 8th, and not the final punches of the bout.

 

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