It's another classic case of Ward winning but gaining no fans, and also tarnishing his prestige in the process. I really don'the think he has to fight dirty but he so frequently takes the low road when he has the talent to not do so. It is, frankly, base and uninspired.
His dong-clingers will defend him tirelessly, but the fact is that he won in yet another bout where he is fudging the rules. I accept that he won and was probably on his way to turning the fight around, even being able to manage a win without giving Kovalev a vasectomy with his fists. But he did low blow. Enough that it stood out. That's a true statement. Fans of the fighter always overlook their unsaintly methods because, in their minds, the ends justify the means. But Ward's perfect record is blemished by a frequent bending of the rules. Does every fighter to some extent do this, yes, a bit perhaps? Do some more than others? Ward, err, I mean, yes. There's a reason that there have been numerous comparisons to Ward as a young Bernard Hopkins.
If Ward just fought clean then he'd have way more fans and would probably be more of a star. It also doesn't help that he dragged himself through years of arbitration against Goosen, his manager.