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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1967813, member: 289"] My own scoring, FWIW: 1st Ward 9 Kovalev 10 2nd 8-10 3rd 10-9 4th 10-10 5th 9-10 6th 9-10 7th 10-9 8th 10-9 9th 10-9 10th 9-10 11th 10-9 12th 9-10 Total: 113-115 Going in, I'd seen Ward a couple of times and Kovalev several times and I was more impressed with Kovalev. I usually favor boxers over punchers but Ward seemed to slow, too careful and seemed to lack the punch needed to get Kovalev off him. Kovalev was a terrific offensive fighter who could hurt you, (literally: he was break his opponents bones), with either hand and threw combinations. Ward looked over matched early on and was shaken by the knockdown. it looked like an early evening. But I love fighters who can think their way through a fight. They don't just have style. They have strategies. Ward was able to figure out how to protect himself by getting very low and sticking out his jab and then attacking Kovalev's body. Kovalev kept punching but seemed to lose something, both in the force and the volume of his punches, most of which were jabs. it became a strategical fight, where Ward had the advantage, although Kovalev still scored. But it was Ward's kind of fight, not Kovalev's. Then, at the end, both fighters saw that the fight was very close and anybody's to take and they traded rounds. Kovalev won the 10th. Ward came back to win the 11rth and Kovalev won the 12th, although all three judges had Ward winning that round, thus the winning margin. I just don't see how they saw that round for Ward, but they did. Naturally, Kovalev felt that as a Russian fighting an American in America with three American judges, "it was rigged" as our President elect might have said. I thought Max Kellerman explained it well. He thought there was a range of reasonable judgement son the fight from about 116-112 Kovalev to 113-114 Ward and all three judge fell in that range, although they were on the extreme edge of it. That, too, reminded me of the election. the result was "within the margin of error", and the scenario necessary for Ward to be the winner was the one the judges saw. It may set up not only a rematch but an old-fashioned boxing trilogy with a rubber match at the end of it. The judges may have had that in mind as well. [URL="http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/18092303/andre-ward-defeats-sergey-kovalev-via-unanimous-decision"]Ward tops Kovalev, who calls out 'wrong decision'[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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