Ward vs. Kovalev 2: a big fight for boxing fans

By matthias - 02/07/2017 - Comments

Image: Ward vs. Kovalev 2: a big fight for boxing fans

By Matthias Predonzan: Modern boxing is – a more than 100 years old sport- and punching contests were fought as early as 5000 years ago, in ancient Iraq.

I guess the same controversies about fights’ results are, therefore, old like the activity itself and probably, they are one of the reasons why this beautiful sport still, beside all, well alive and popular.

Besides the natural and good form of dishonesty that affects the most of us, when one of our idols is involved in a fight, that pushes to see our favorite guy to win, also if he is taking a beating, we tend also to be keener to favor the fighter that is adopting the fighting style that we like the most.

Personally, I like technical and tactical fighters, over pure punchers. This is my and many fans’ personal taste and nobody has the right to say that this is in some way wrong.
In the same way, I do not have the right to affirm that is mistaking who prefers, instead, an aggressive and fearless style.

De gustibus non est disputandum. I guess we all agree on this point.

This reason, I believe, is then explaining why, when a fight goes to the scorecards, very often the fans are in disagreement on the result.

If the fight is very even from the objective point of view of the effective punches landed, it goes back the previous point: judges are persons with personal taste as well and some of them like aggressive fighters, others like technical fighters.

If we look at Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward fight, people that, like me, like technical and tactical fights loved the contest.

Fans that like high volume of punches in a fight and possibly not too much defensive skills involved, didn’t like the fight too much.

A quick digression on this point: if you know that a pure technician and a puncher-boxer – like Ward and Kovalev are fighting- it’s not very probable that you are going to see a slugfest.

Back to my argument, the fight between Kovalev and Ward was not a close fight because the two fighters did the same thing with very similar results.

It was close because they tried to win the fight using, both of them, their different skills and therefore, being the fight very close from a punching statistical point of view, it was up to the judges’ interpretation to decide who was the winner.

Now, analyzing Kovalev and Ward fighting style and physical characteristics, we can see that he first boxer privileges to fight at distance, using his superior reach and power, the second at middle and short distance, favoring his timing and inside- fighting capacity.

Reading all the comments on the fight, the one that I cannot agree with, because is distorting the reality, is the supposed fact that Ward was wrestling and clinching Kovalev.
To prevent him to do what?

Why Ward, that is a very good inside-fighter should have avoided the inside fighting, clinching Kovalev that is not a good inside-fighter and not the other way around, as it is logical to be?

I mean, we can discuss on anything but the images are there.

We are not talking about a fight in Olympia, fought 2300 years ago. We are talking about a fight that is on Youtube. Now.

So anybody can look at it, and look again and see who made the most of the clinching.

Max Kellerman said – 45 seconds inside round 6- : “Kovalev is holding Ward’s arm,” and Roy Jones Jr. added: “because this is where Ward wants to fight. He knows that is where he will have hard time dealing with Ward. Very smart move from Kovalev.” End quotes.

I agree, it was a smart move. Clinching is part of professional boxing and it is a fact that, even if it is not legal, referees allow this tactic, in different extent.

Kovalev did it because he knew that he was going to lose the fight leaving Ward to work inside and he tried his best to avoid it.

Nonetheless Ward was able to tire Kovalev, mostly with a lot of body punches, taking from him the explosiveness and good timing displayed in the first part of the fight and was then able to take control of it.

This was the legitimate interpretation applied by the judges that saw Ward winning the fight.

Thanks to the two great boxers for one of the best fights I have seen during 2016 and hopefully we will have a rematch in 2017.

I’ll love to watch that fight. Nobody is, by the way, forced, to do the same.