The Great Defector wrote:Read up on Ward Kovalev. I don't know about Ward but his promoter and his promotion sounds dodgy as fuck from what I read. How many low blows can a boxer take.
Yeah, he's involved with some skeptical people. He should break away from them in order to start moving his career in a more positive and promising direction.
That stoppage was strange, because some of those shots were low blows, by definition. I even thought Tony Weeks was intervening to warn Ward or take a point away for blatant fouling. He was warned in Round 2, but no more after that. Round 8 featured two or three low blows more egregious than the one in Round 2. Ward is a boxer that I have trouble respecting due to his inability to fight cleanly. I also became frustrated with Kovalev as well, because he's only able to give about 6 quality rounds of boxing. After that, his energy is completely drained. I had Kovalev winning the match 5-2 at the time of the stoppage. I thought he was controlling the action, landing the cleaner and more effective shots, and was the ring general. However, Ward definitely won Round 4 and Round 7. He was certainly taking control of the action in Round 8, and would've arguably won the match, regardless of his low blows.
Even the co-main event with Rigondeaux was questionable. Towards the end of the round, he was holding and hitting Flores, before the 'knockout' shot was landed after the bell. The fact people were even debating whether or not the shot landed after the bell is troublesome. Just an overall frustrating card to experience as a boxing fan. Again, I'm left questioning the judgement of the Nevada Athletic Commission.