Ward/Kovalev was staged for a second time last night, and for the second time, it ended in controversy.
The result of the initial fight, won by Andre Ward, was beset by a level of controversy as he was awarded a unanimous decision, despite being knocked to the canvas in the second round.
Ward was once again the winner last night, and once again, it was somewhat controversial.
He won via TKO in the eighth round, in a flurry that began with a nuclear right hand by Ward:
devastating right hand by Ward that ended fight. incredible. #KovalevWard2 pic.twitter.com/R3XeRxfUlV
— Chris Brockman (@chrisbrockman) June 18, 2017
While there is no question about the legitimacy of that shot, it began a flurry of shots from which Sergey Kovalev did not recover. Staggering, he was backed into a corner and against the ropes, where he fell victim to a furious volley of punches, at the end of which referee Tony Weeks waved for an end.
Kovalev, however, believes that Ward finished him through a succession of low blows, one of which rocked Kovalev to an extent he appealed vainly to the referee.
Here are the final fifty seconds or so of the fight. The finishing punches looked borderline in real-time:
#WardKovalev2 #KovalevWard2 pic.twitter.com/Cik3cinjzl
— Fancy Combat (@FancyCombat) June 18, 2017
The slow-mo replays, however, show that Kovalev had a legitimate complaint regarding at least one of those punches:
Was it low? pic.twitter.com/eyx7rDeSzO
— Laceupboxing (@Laceupboxing) June 18, 2017
Kovalev confirmed after the fight that his team will file an official complaint, and complained himself about the low blow to the media afterward:
It was a low blow. It didn't hurt like I could go down on the floor, but it was a low blow. Right now, I should've continued. I didn't feel it. This is [a] fight. We are boxers. Yes, he punched me, but I didn't feel it. It didn't hurt me. I wanted to continue fighting. Why stop the fight? I want to continue and kick his ass.
