Boxing Challenge :More Controversy between Ward and Kovalev

In boxing,nothing ever comes easy and once again,things come with an asterisk as Andre Ward retained his WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight titles with a controversial eighth round stoppage of Sergey Kovalev in Las Vegas.

I had Kovalev slightly ahead after seven rounds (4-3),but Ward did make Kovalev wobble with a right hand and did have him in some trouble before drilling him with three low blows that sent Kovalev into the ropes,crouching in pain.
This is where referee Tony Weeks blew it as he could have either called the low blows (he later claimed he didn't see them,despite replays showing he was right in front of them) which would have given Kovalev time to recover or since Kovalev was on the ropes,could have given Ward a knockdown and began to count Kovalev down.
Instead,Weeks weakly jumped in and ended the fight with another questionable win for Andre Ward.
Ward did seem to be landing a lot of low blows in the final sequence and Kovalev was seeming to get tired,so Ward might have ended the fight anyway,but the ending still was unsatisfying and to me,not all that impressive for a knockout win.
I'm not sure where either go from here after this fight.
Ward talked about moving to cruiserweight (I don't see how,none of the fighters there are big money fights yet),Adonis Stevenson is unlikely to fight him and the other promising contenders aren't quite ready for him yet.
Kovalev will need a little rebuilding,but could revitalize himself quickly with wins over a contender or two,so he might not be finished quite yet.
Ramon Malpica and I each picked Kovalev,so no points on this one.

The undercard saw some controversy as well as Guillermo Rigondeaux retained his WBA junior featherweight title with a first round knockout of Moises Flores.
At the end of a dull first round,the bell rang and Rigondeaux clocked Flores with a left,sending Flores to the mat,where he put on an acting routine.
The punch was after the bell,but the Flores theatrical writhing routine caused him to be counted out and ended the fight.
The Nevada commission could look at the fight and change it a to a no-decision,if they feel the punch landed after the bell,which it did.
Ramon and I each added one point for the Rigondeaux win.

Light heavyweight Dmitry Bivol blew through former contender Cedric Agnew in four rounds and impressed me with a relentless attack that floored Agnew in the first along pounding over the rest of the fight.
Bivol looks to be one of many young contenders that will make the light heavyweights fun to watch in the future-other than Andre Ward that is...
I earned three points (win,KO and bonus point for the round),while Ramon earned two points.

In Germany,Tyron Zeuge retained his minor super middleweight title with a unanimous decision victory over England's Paul Smith.
Ramon and I each earned two points for the Zeuge victory.
The challenge now stands at 76-71 in my favor.