Whenever a skilled technical boxer outpoints a powerful puncher in a close boxing match, a large group of fight fans and analysts claim “robbery” by channeling a legendary, well-known wise philosopher fellow.
“To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” – Rick Flair
As much as I love “The Nature Boy,” the pro wrestling legend’s tagline does not quite qualify as the definitive guide to judging real-life prizefights.
Other common quotes from salty fans include, “Just look at their faces and tell me who won,” “You gotta bring the fight to your opponent,” and “But [Fighter X] landed the harder punches.”
All these things were said after Andre Ward defeated Sergey Kovalev by a unanimous decision (114-113 on all scorecards) Saturday night to capture the WBA, WBO and IBF light heavyweight titles. Kovalev was the defending champion and the more powerful puncher of the two.
He put his impressive power on display by dropping Ward to the canvas in the second round with a short right-hand. Though Ward immediately rose to his feet, and appeared steady on his legs, it was clear that he and his confidence, were hurt and shaken by the punch.
For the first-half of the fight, Kovalev stalked and hunted his prey. He worked behind a stiff jab and his monster right hand. He cut off the ring well. His presence and power seemed to intimidate the challenger.
Once the cobwebs cleared, Ward did what master technicians do. He adjusted.
Whether by design or by necessity, Ward began to target Kovalev’s body in attempt to slow down the patient-but-aggressive freight train coming his way. Body punches are often overlooked when it comes to the sweet science. Effective head shots are easy to see. The victim’s neck snaps back, sweat flies across the ring and it’s usually accompanied by an agony-filled grimace before be masked by a phony smile and shaking of the head.
Unless a fighter hunches over in agony, casual observers simply dismiss most body shots. They’re not sexy. It’s hard to tell when they land clean. Even final punch stats rarely show a breakdown between body and head punches.
Saturday night, Kovalev knew.
Ward’s body work was impressive. Once he dined on a few stiff right hands that didn’t put him on his back, Ward’s confidence and comfort level increased. During the second half of the fight, Ward was either completely outside of Kovalev’s punching range or entangled up with him, chest-to-chest, working in sneaky body slots in at every opportunity.
Kovalev’s destructive punches lost a bit of their steam. He stopped cutting off the ring and followed Ward around. He slowed down just enough for Ward to begin picking through his guard. Ward’s advantage in the inside game, where power punchers usually flourish, made the difference as he out-boxed the champion over the latter half of eh fight.
There’s no debate that Kovalev landed the harder punches. He’s the stronger fighter so that’s not exactly rocket science. However, if boxing was all about strength, Mike Tyson would still be heavyweight champion and Floyd Mayweather Jr. would’ve been a .500 fighter. Each round in boxing is scored on Clean Punching, Effective Aggression, Defense and Ring Generalship.
The Russian champion with the crowd-pleasing style, seriously hurt his opponent early and was the aggressor for the entire fight. His disappointment is expected and excused. After all, he put in the early mornings and late nights of fight camp. He put his blood and guts on the line, fought his heart out and delivered an amazing performance only to come up just short.
To be honest, a Kovalev victory or a draw would’ve have been just as appropriate as Ward’s victory.
The CompuBox Punch Stats show that Kovalev landed 126 of 474 punches (26.6%) overall, including 78 of 232 (33.6%) power punches. Meanwhile, Ward landed 116 of 337 punches (34.4%) overall, including 61 of 169 (36.1%) power punches. Over a 12-round bout, Kovalev landed 10 more punches at a lower percentage.
“I’m a guest here in the USA and he’s a local, and all the judges are from the USA,” Kovalev told Max Kellerman after the fight. “I agree they support their boxer but honestly, this is sport. Don’t make it like politics.”
Close fight? Absolutely? Robbery? Nonsense.
Turning a blind-eye to Ward’s efforts because he’s not a knockout puncher is like blocking Shaquille O’Neal from the Hall of Fame because he wasn’t a great free throw shooter.
Going into the fight, it was billed as a pick ‘em type fight between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The razor thin margin on the judges’ scorecards showed that that’s exactly what we got.
Luckily for the fans, there’s an immediately rematch clause that Kovalev and his promoter intend to activate. Despite the overblown “controversy,” it’s clear that whenever these two combatants step into the ring, the sport of boxing wins.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk
