In the Bizarro World of big-time professional boxing, we are used to up being down and left being right. Some of us with a breadcrumb trail back to the logic of a real, functioning world have even learned to deal with the fact that, in boxing, a raging, racist, thug of a brute with an RIP on his ledger like Sergey Kovalev will be portrayed by many as the good guy over an overachieving American Olympic hero like Andre Ward.
We are also used to judges and officials existing in a world without set standards where the hot air of public opinion and media scorn can tilt reality away from what's real.
Expect reality to be bent this coming Saturday, June 17 in the Ward-Kovalev rematch.
Their first fight last November, which resulted in a unanimous decision victory for Ward, was phenomenally well-scored. Mind you, this writer had Kovalev ahead 114-113, but the judging job could easily have been botched by overemphasizing Kovalev's come forward style and early knockdown of Ward. In a world of bad scorecards, the Ward-Kovalev I crew showed an understanding of the game and a certain degree of nuance in scoring rounds.
An inept judging crew would've had Kovalev dominating the fight, walking away with a one-sided 117-110 or 118-109 decision for a bout that was, undisputedly, a close fight. It could've been a textbook example of the psychology behind bad scoring. Fighter A scores a knockdown early in the fight, seems to be in command for the first few rounds, then continues to come forward throughout the fight, lulling the judges into a dream state where they give him the benefit of all doubt on the scorecards. In a fight like that, it's real easy for judges to be scoring impression rather than the actual action taking place.
In Ward-Kovalev I, Kovalev won the first half of the fight, but Ward clearly won the second half. It wasn't a Sherman tank-like win for Ward from rounds seven to twelve; it was a subtle edge born from sharp defense and effective countering-again, something that poorer judging might have missed entirely.
114-113, either way, was reasonable and, actually, downright fair and proper.
However, the collective hissy fit thrown by confused fans and confused/biased media in the wake of the Ward win was prodigious. And it very well may have poisoned the well water when it comes to getting an honest, fair call in the upcoming rematch.
Nonsense about the three American judges screwing the mad Russian has abounded, spread all through the online Universo Pugilistico like black water in a neglected bus station men's room. The laughable notion that there was a great American conspiracy to gift Andre Ward a decision over Kovalev has actually gained some traction. Imagine a great wave of patriotism washing over the nation, combining with massive big-money greed because an Andre Ward win was worth so much money to so many of boxing's power brokers. Really. Some people are fucking morons.
There was no sentiment behind Ward getting any sort of benefit of the judging doubt and, most certainly, no business logic behind it, either. Kovalev, by far, was the more "connected" and marketable fighter in the ring that night. If anything, the boxing establishment would've loved the notion of pushing the more controllable, less demanding Kovalev forward, ahead of Ward.
The silliness about an illogical fix in Ward's favor may, however, ensure that silliness will prevail in the rematch.
It's safe to assume that the three new judges appointed for the upcoming return bout have read the same googlie-eyed laments of fans and media that we have. It's not illogical to think that maybe some of that whining "stuck" with them and that maybe, possibly, it will shade things ever-so-slightly (or maybe more than ever-so-slightly) in Kovalev's favor if the rematch plays out similarly to the first encounter.
And, realistically, it's likely that we WON'T see much of a difference in the way the rematch plays out. Ward will still be looking to edge rounds with guile and precision; Kovalev will still be looking to come forward and pound his way to victory.
The only thing different may be that, this time, the judges won't be so open to awarding rounds to the fighter maneuvering with precision. They may be more than a bit gun shy when it comes to taking into account finer details at the cost of the more obvious, bludgeoning "Krusher." It'll be an easier fight to score if one only takes into account the most obvious of superficial ring action. Scoring a close fight pro-Kovalev is the easier, lazier way to do the job and it certainly won't leave the judges open to the kind of character assassination and conspiracy theories the first set of judges had to suffer through.
The potential is there for a real mess this Saturday. We could be seeing a scenario where the "right" fighter really does get screwed this time and where the loser of a close fight gets a wider-than-deserved victory. But oh how the "hardcore" fans and compromised media will applaud the injustice! Hurray for getting it "right" this time! Right, of course, being wrong.
Only in the Bizarro World of boxing is an injustice considered justice. To the rest of the world, stuff like this is just a great, big mess.
Life would be real easy this Saturday if one fighter could stop the other or if one could absolutely dominate beyond a shadow of a doubt. Then, we dodge a bullet and won't have to worry about cleaning up another mess created by an ass-backwards boxing world. But when does boxing ever give us the easy way out?