Hopkins-Kovalev Clash: Pedro Diaz Breaks it Down

By Yuri Tarantin (Allboxing.ru) and Alexey Sukachev

This coming Saturday, November the 8th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) of Russia will try to become the first fighter to not only defeat his opponent convincingly (the honor, which belongs solely to Roy Jones Jr. in his prime), but to get that victory inside the scheduled distance. Opposing him will be Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs), one of the sport’s true greats if not immortals.

Famed Cuban coach Pedro Diaz shared his thoughts on the coming match with Allboxing’s Yuri Tarantin.

“Regarding the fight between Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev, I think we will be in the presence of a great battle, where two extraordinary fighters will face each other.
On one hand, Hopkins has great experience and amazing boxing skills, he is also clever and knows how to balance the battle to his favor. He also uses his defense very well and counters. We have to recall that he has fought with many young fighters and that he also has a great punch and an exquisite boxing tactic that allows him to conquer the boxing ring," Diaz said.

"On the other hand, Kovalev is a fighter who is in a very important moment in his career with a great competitive record and a powerful punch. But for a fighter like Hopkins, rhythm and punch frequency can be favorable to his aspirations for victory. Based on the characteristics of these two extraordinary fighters, victory depends largely on the level of training they are receiving and the tactics they'll use in combat."

"I'm sure the fans will have a great opportunity to enjoy a bout of a high competitive level. For my part I wish the best of luck to these two great warriors, favorable to their aspirations for victory. The characteristic of these two extraordinary fighters, victory depends largely on the level of preparation and the tactics they use in combat."