This was/is a hotly contested topic on nsb...but some of the **** I've read is downright ******. I understand people were rooting for one guy or the other...but that doesn't alter reality.
Let's be real, kovalev looked finished...he was hurt from the head shot and clean/borderline body shots before the final salvo below the belt. Kovalev looked to not be defending himself...so on that rule, the ref had a right to step in.
Kovalev wasn't coming back to win that fight. Even if weeks ruled the lowblows for what they were and gave him time to recover...ward still coulda stopped him or coasted to a decision. This **** about kovalev being "robbed" again is dumb. If kovalev had swept the first 7 round...maybe you could say that, but the fight was tight and kovalev was already starting to erode before the 8th. The momentum was clearly with ward.
Kovalev's trunks were not exceedingly high...they looked to be just above his bellybutton, and at times his bellybutton appeared visible. On the strength of that, ward was flirting with hitting low throughout the fight, and did stray low enough to get warned by weeks.
Weeks ****ed up. If you go down the path of acknowledging low shots and warning the offending fighter...you have to be consistent if fairness to the other fighter and to stop retaliation. Imo, kovalev would have been better of retaliating earlier on when it appeared weeks had decided not to do anything. It would have forced his hand to take control of the situation.
The fight was stopped on a lowblow, period. I see people saying..."kovalev was already finished, it didn't matter"..."there was only one lowblow" etc. The rules don't get abandoned once a fighter is hurt. There were clear low shots at the end of the fight, and weeks stopped it...not a good look. Regardless of surrounding circumstances, the rules should be enforced.
Kovalev doesn't like it to the body. Whether it was from clean shots or borderline shots...kovalev's reaction was only an invitation to ward. He also made it difficult for the ref by reacting to shots that could have been ruled good. If the ref sees a fighter doing that, it's gonna be harder for him to distinguish what's low or not if he happens to be out of position when a shot lands.
A punch doesn't have to land square on the nuts to be considered a lowblow. This is perhaps the most ******ed thing I've been reading on here...that the shots to the hublot logo were somehow good because they weren't directly on the the ball bag. I have never seen or heard of anyone claiming that shots that were landing well below the waistband of the trunks were legal. Low shots were landed...end of story. I know some of you are ward fans or dislike kovalev or his fans or whatever...but you embarrass yourselves when you refuse to acknowledge ward's fouling and the questionable stoppage.
At the end of the day, kovalev loses cuz he lost...ward loses cuz it took his chance for a clean, controversy free victory...and boxing loses cuz of the bad press and the final view of a clear low shot landing and the ref waving it off.
Let's be real, kovalev looked finished...he was hurt from the head shot and clean/borderline body shots before the final salvo below the belt. Kovalev looked to not be defending himself...so on that rule, the ref had a right to step in.
Kovalev wasn't coming back to win that fight. Even if weeks ruled the lowblows for what they were and gave him time to recover...ward still coulda stopped him or coasted to a decision. This **** about kovalev being "robbed" again is dumb. If kovalev had swept the first 7 round...maybe you could say that, but the fight was tight and kovalev was already starting to erode before the 8th. The momentum was clearly with ward.
Kovalev's trunks were not exceedingly high...they looked to be just above his bellybutton, and at times his bellybutton appeared visible. On the strength of that, ward was flirting with hitting low throughout the fight, and did stray low enough to get warned by weeks.
Weeks ****ed up. If you go down the path of acknowledging low shots and warning the offending fighter...you have to be consistent if fairness to the other fighter and to stop retaliation. Imo, kovalev would have been better of retaliating earlier on when it appeared weeks had decided not to do anything. It would have forced his hand to take control of the situation.
The fight was stopped on a lowblow, period. I see people saying..."kovalev was already finished, it didn't matter"..."there was only one lowblow" etc. The rules don't get abandoned once a fighter is hurt. There were clear low shots at the end of the fight, and weeks stopped it...not a good look. Regardless of surrounding circumstances, the rules should be enforced.
Kovalev doesn't like it to the body. Whether it was from clean shots or borderline shots...kovalev's reaction was only an invitation to ward. He also made it difficult for the ref by reacting to shots that could have been ruled good. If the ref sees a fighter doing that, it's gonna be harder for him to distinguish what's low or not if he happens to be out of position when a shot lands.
A punch doesn't have to land square on the nuts to be considered a lowblow. This is perhaps the most ******ed thing I've been reading on here...that the shots to the hublot logo were somehow good because they weren't directly on the the ball bag. I have never seen or heard of anyone claiming that shots that were landing well below the waistband of the trunks were legal. Low shots were landed...end of story. I know some of you are ward fans or dislike kovalev or his fans or whatever...but you embarrass yourselves when you refuse to acknowledge ward's fouling and the questionable stoppage.
At the end of the day, kovalev loses cuz he lost...ward loses cuz it took his chance for a clean, controversy free victory...and boxing loses cuz of the bad press and the final view of a clear low shot landing and the ref waving it off.
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