The possibility of a suspended or no rematch scenario surfaced when some fight experts talked about the financial viability of the the proposed rematch following the reportedly low turnout of pay-per-view (PPV) buys despite its massive sales promotions by HBO.
Longtime boxing anchor and analyst Larry Merchant believes the rematch won’t sell the second time around because of the possibility that it will just be a repeat of the first fight. Merchant, who watched the fight ringside saw Kovalev as the clear winner.
“At some point, late in the fight, I said ‘Ward can’t win this fight unless he does some serious damage’ and he never did. I don’t know if I had it by three points or four points, but I had Kovalev clearly winning,” Merchant told BoxingScene.com.
It was not a good fight for PPV and Merchant rejected the idea of a possible rematch.
Asked if he thought the fight was good enough for PPV, Merchant said, “No. There may be a rematch clause, but it’s not the kind of fight that you would want to see again. Why would it be any different?”
Merchant was critical of the judges’ decision saying it was a hometown verdict and the viewing public did not like it.
While Ward was happy about his victory, Kovalev cried foul saying the judges’ decision was wrong and made with political undertones. All judges scored the fight 114-113 in favor of Ward.
Kovalev had a good reason to complain because in the eyes of the majority of the crowd and many of the media people covering the event have scored the fight in favor of Kovalev. ESPN and Yahoo Sports scored the fight in favor of Kovalev.
“It’s the wrong decision,” Kovalev said. “He got maybe a few rounds, I agree with that. I kept control. I lost maybe three rounds the whole fight,” he added.
Definitely, Kovalev deserves an immediate rematch owing to the controversy surrounding the judges’ decision favoring Ward which drew widespread protest among the media and fans as well.
But it would be be a difficult situation for the promoters who are concerned about the financial viability of the proposed rematch.
