Boxing

[Hollowman]

They're trying to make it more like Killer Instinct. Certain combinations just stop the fight dead now, and the lesser seen Triple Doozy Cockhammer is one of them.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Ref was poor. I get the logic behind why the ref stopped the fight but disagree with it. It was a bad call.


Enjoyed it though, was compelling in it's own way and I do think Ward would have won had it been let go longer. Some of Ward's punching in that 8th round was clinical. He was finding angles and he was not rushing his shots trying to force a stoppage. Instead he was like a guy trying to bring down a big tree, taking his time and weakening Kovalev in a very steady manner.

Was very tight on the cards though. I had Ward one round up at the time of the stoppage, but there were at least four rounds that could have been scored either way.


Think Ward did a lot of the ugly stuff very well in the fight. He spoiled and clinched very well, and he seemed to make a point of going body to body a lot to show Kovalev that he could match him for strength.

Will Kovalev get a third crack at Ward? Personally I don't think he will get one straight away. Losing two on the bounce to the same guy rarely sees you getting a third go without having to earn it first. The ending was a little controversial but not in a he was totally robbed manner. Maybe money will talk and they go again, but I think Ward's preference will be to look to get Stevenson ( whether Stevenson would want Ward is a very different story), but guess we will see what the various sanctioning bodies have to say about that if that is what Ward wants.

But happy too because my little flutter on Ward winning by way of a second half stoppage came in.

[Gibbo]

Two ****house reffing decisions throughout that card.

[Darth Marty]

Im a Krusher fan but he gave up there. The blows were borderline low, and if he was hurt he should have taken a knee. The headshot 30 secs before had him wobbled and he didnt defend himself. The ref, who was poor, had no choice but to step in as Kovalev was just bent over like a ****ing amateur!

Really disappointing especially as I got up at half ****ing 3 to watch it.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Im a Krusher fan but he gave up there. The blows were borderline low, and if he was hurt he should have taken a knee. The headshot 30 secs before had him wobbled and he didnt defend himself. The ref, who was poor, had no choice but to step in as Kovalev was just bent over like a ****ing amateur!

Really disappointing especially as I got up at half ****ing 3 to watch it.

Yeah he just stopped moving at one point. Rewatched the eight round twice now and the more I see it, the more it becomes obvious that Kovalev made the ref's mind up for him.

The low blows were there, but the shots to the head and to the body seemed to take the fight from Kovalev.

The more I look a the replay the more he looks like a guy who wanted an out.

[Vermilion]

[Zapater]

Im a Krusher fan but he gave up there. The blows were borderline low, and if he was hurt he should have taken a knee. The headshot 30 secs before had him wobbled and he didnt defend himself. The ref, who was poor, had no choice but to step in as Kovalev was just bent over like a ****ing amateur!

Really disappointing especially as I got up at half ****ing 3 to watch it.

This, it looked like he was looking for a way out. Taking a knee would have allowed him to recover from the 'low blow' and re-establish himself as he was struggling after that right hand. He didn't throw anything back before that and it seemed he was in trouble.

I don't have a huge problem with the stoppage. It reminded me a bit of the Groves - Froch 1 finish. The difference being that Kovalev was in a lot more trouble. The fact of the matter is that Kovalev was looking at the ground and hadn't thrown back for the last 20 seconds. If Ward had stepped back and thrown a straight right hand or hook it could have been potentially really dangerous in the defenceless position he was in.

In the interview he didn't complain as much as I thought he would, if he really thought there was an injustice I'm sure he'd have kicked up more of a fuss. Look at Vitali screaming after the Lewis fight. That's how it most fighters go about what they believe to be injustice. Kovalev said what he did to keep his image up but his body language and tone didn't seem to match the words. If the low blows were a problem, which to be fair some of them did appear to be, he should have hit Ward with a few borderline punches back and put the ball back in the refs court. The majority of pros have done just that. Kovalev hasn't had problems being dirty or getting involved with that kind of things during his career and I was surprised he didn't give what he got.

It was a great fight, if it had gone the distance I'm sure someone would have felt robbed because the starting rounds were very difficult to score. Ward was taking over though the last few rounds prior to the stoppage. I was shocked that Ward was able to hurt Kovalev like that. I didn't rule out a stoppage either way but the fact it wasn't in the 9th round onward with Kovalev exhausted and actually a big shot that got to him is a real surprise and a credit to Ward. Even though I don't consider Ward a big puncher, at this level anyone can stop anyone else especially when it comes to accuracy and speed - but Kovalev has a seriously high boxing IQ and despite not being the best defensively, I didn't think he'd find himself in a position to get caught with a shot like that.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I see Tyson Fury is staying as classy as ever on his instagram account.


Calling Anthony Joshua an "Uncle Tom" and a "Plastic Nigerian". Guess he will just call it speaking his mind, same as he did with his views on women and the LGBT community.



Funny that Fury is back to calling himself a gypsy, was only a few months back when he was trying to distance himself from gypsies and travellers.

[Angryred]

Right, anyone care to explain what type of fight is this farce between McGregor & Mayweather gonna be?...All holds barred or a boxing match?...if it's an all holds barred, then it will be McGregor & then fancy Mayweather if it's a boxing version.

[Hollowman]

It's All Holds Barred. They're only allowed to berate one another.

[Gibbo]

.

[Angryred]

It's All Holds Barred. They're only allowed to berate one another.

Only allowed to berate each other at an all holds barred match?...Jaysus, this farce is getting worse by the day!

[MrMichael]

Right, anyone care to explain what type of fight is this farce between McGregor & Mayweather gonna be?...All holds barred or a boxing match?...if it's an all holds barred, then it will be McGregor & then fancy Mayweather if it's a boxing version.

It's a straight boxing match. It is an utterly ridiculous mismatch and the sanctioning body should be ashamed of themselves (but they're clearly too busy rolling in money to care). Boxing needs more fights like Joshua v Klitschko, not this nonsense.

[Shaggy]

Lol. Turn it in ffs

[ame]https://twitter.com/BoxingKingdom14/status/877816409727696896[/ame]

[Vermilion]

This is what intrigues me about the fight though, it's not going to be a regular boxing match whatever the rules say, MacGregor isn't going to stand trading blows with FM, he's going to be moving constantly, not just slowly walking forwards backwards sideways like boxers do, he'll be looking to run around FM and punch him in the head, the word unorthodox doesn't come close to what he's going to get up to imo..

Still think FM will ko him though, you can't gain the type of stamina and skill FM has in the time CM has to train, all he has is a ko punch to win it within 5-6 round imo, he knows it, so he'll plan for it, should be fun watching him try.