As you might expect, tensions were running high in the immediate aftermath of Andre Ward’s stoppage win over Sergey Kovalev last night.
During the post-fight presser caught by FightHub, Kovalev’s promoter Kathy Duva was livid over a series of lows blows in the 8th round that hunched her fighter over, with referee Tony Weeks stepping in to halt the fight as a TKO. It should be noted that Kovalev was in really bad shape at this point in the fight, and the fact that he looked to be on his way out anyway is what really makes it a hot point of debate.
“I’m still having a hard time processing what I just witnessed,” Duva began. I saw someone who should’ve been disqualified get his hand held up.”
A number of people in the crowd would immediately interrupt and boo Duva, calling her a sore loser.
“No, no, no. If you’re a fan, shut up!” Duva shouted back at the crowd. “We’re here to work. If you’re Andre Ward fans, this is not your place to talk, okay, it’s my turn!...We asked the commission for an instant replay analysis, they did not give it to us, we will file a protest Monday.
“If you look at the instant replay, you see that the — shot shouting!” Duva yelled at hecklers in the crowd. “Are you journalists? Then shut up!”
“We asked for an instant replay. If you look at the instant replay, which the commission refused to look at tonight, you see the back of Sergey’s cup going up one, two, three times - I’ve never seen somebody knocked out on a low blow until tonight. And, uh, I have to say, I hope that I don’t ever have to see it again.
“When the fight ended Sergey was up on one of the cards and down by a point on the other two. The fight was very close. The beginning of the eighth round a low blow was thrown, the referee did not protect Sergey, he waved him back to fight and then the damage started happening. When he got into that corner at the end, three low blows. When you see the replay, they’re hard to miss. It’s a shame. It’s a shame.
“Again, when somebody doesn’t seem to know how to win a fight without fighting dirty the other guy has to start fighting back to defend himself - it’s a shame. Andre Ward is a terrific fighter - Would you stop talking, it is not your place!” Duva once again fired into the crowd.
After one of the fans stung Duva with a zinger she quickly passed the podium to Kovalev’s manager, Egis Klimas. He openly accused two Roc Nation fighters who appeared on the card, Andre Ward and Guillermo Rigondeaux, of being the beneficiaries of two knockout wins on illegal blows [with the Rigondeaux result being completely bungled].
Kovalev took to the podium last, and he wasn’t as hot as Duva or Klimas, but he also referred to numerous low blows and said that while he was getting tired, he was still ready to fight. He defiantly refused to acknowledged that he was hurt by Ward, although video clearly shows that to be the case.
“No! He didn’t hurt me! I get tired but [I was still ready to fight],” Kovalev said. “And it’s boxing, you know, like, I [could still fight]. Like I don’t know what happened, why [Tony Weeks stopped the fight]. Because he punch me like low blow already like a few times during the fight. It’s not like I have metal balls.
“...I believed and trusted [in] Tony Weeks but he did like wrong decision - stop the fight.”