As fans may have read, a while back, Kathy Duva, promoter of former light-heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev, requested “neutral” judges for the big June 17 rematch fight with Andre Ward. Ward of course defeated Kovalev by close, controversial 12 round decision last year, and Duva, and Kovalev, want non-American judges (or at least one non-American judge) for the return fight.
Kovalev is convinced he was robbed back in November, and he is anxious to avoid the same thing happening in the second fight. Bob Arum, in speaking with TMZ Sports, said the call for neutral, or non-American judges is “nonsense.”
“Oh, that’s ridiculous. Kovalev has fought in the United States his whole career, he’s made a lot of money in the United States,” Arum said. “ Andre Ward is an America who won a gold medal for the United States. The Nevada Commission should pick judges and they’ll pick fair judges; this neutrality thing is nonsense. They’re both good fighters, it really is an even fight. It’s very, very hard, I’m not equivocating – it really is a 50/50 fight. The odds are reflected.”
Too tough to call indeed? Chances are we could see a repeat of the first fight, with Ward using his considerable boxing skills to pick up a very close, perhaps controversial decision once more. Maybe this is why Kovalev and his team are worried: they know they cannot KO or stop Ward and do not want to leave it in the hands of the three judges.
But it seems likely they will have to do so, and the judges scoring the fight will be whichever judges The Nevada Commission chooses.
Of course we don’t want a second controversy, but without a KO or a stoppage one way or the other, how can one be avoided? These two fighters, with their respective styles, could arguably fight ten times and there would be no decisive winner. Might we even get a draw this time around?
One thing everyone can agree on though is this: this is a fight we all cannot wait to see; the best Vs. the best.