So, realistically, who is going to fight Kovalev after he beats Ward?
I'm looking through the rankings, and it looks like he will be due for a few mandatory opponents. But who is the next voluntary "big fight?"
Obviously he won't give Ward a third fight, and I highly doubt Stevenson would randomly choose to fight him after ducking the biggest fight of his career in 2013.
SO who is next?
Joe Smith Jr? He seems to be one of the only realistic options. How would you guys feel if he voluntarily defended all his belts against Joe Smith? The options are really thin. You can scratch out Ward, Adonis (unfortunately), Gvozdyk isn't happening because of the same manager. Maybe Kovalev takes a tune up against Fonfara before fighting Beterbiev?
With that said, it leads me to this: After Kovalev solidifies his spot as the P4P king, will Kovalev-Beterbiev be the next great LHW fight? AND, the even bigger question: Is that fight even possible and would Kovalev get credit for beating Beterbiev, or does Beterbiev need more work? But who could he "work" against? The painful reality is starting to hit me- after Ward, the options at LHW are going to be really thin. There isn't going to be many options for Kovalev to defend his title against, so I'm fearing that he may be in that weird spot where he's just too good for everyone, and all of his future opponents will be at such a step-down, that fans won't be satisfied no matter what.
Thoughts?
Dmitry Bivol fights tonight for an interim-WBA title. This dude is the real deal. He has more upside than any of the other 175lb "prospects," IMO.
But he's far too green for Kovalev/Ward, no reason for him to fight either of them anytime soon.
These 175 boys better be ready for ma man Bivol, we ready to take over!
175 is one of my fav divisions atm, some of the up-coming talent is top class, a lot of them have something to prove but the skill is there. Guys like Bivol, Gvozdyk and Beterbiev are gonna make some noise for sure.
If Ward wins the 2nd maybe people will pay to see kov go to cruiser and get beaten by the dude who fought 2 weeks ago,
Maybe he will start making b grade movies that go straight to cable and DVD like the real life Drago.
Gvozdyk is with ME/Klimas, though. Would they really match them two together?
Gvozdyk has said many times he would fight Kovalev if he's the Champion in spite of them being friends. Beterbiev, Gvozdyk, Bivol, Smith, Barrera, Jack and Degale have talked about moving up so Sergei has lots of quality defenses to be made.
No offense but Barrera doesn't belong there and Bivol is way too green still even if a good prospect ... Give him a couple more years... The only two real upcoming guys are Gvozdyk and Beterbiev in my eyes...
I agree w.r.t Bivol that he needs 1-2 more yrs to reach the level of contender, but Barrera seems like he can hang in there with the other guys.. His only loss was to Ward( no shame in that) & had a good win against Shabransky.. Although I would rate Beterbiev & Gvozdyk higher than him.. I was really looking forward to his match against Beterbiev to gauge him further, its a shame it didn't happen..
THose are the kind of matchups that brings out the best prospects.. Beterbiev, Barrera, Bivol, Govzdyk are almost at the same level.. THey should fight each other before they step in with the top 3..
No offense but Barrera doesn't belong there and Bivol is way too green still even if a good prospect ... Give him a couple more years... The only two real upcoming guys are Gvozdyk and Beterbiev in my eyes...
If Kovalev loses again, he'll fall behind the likes of Beterbiev, Gvozdyk in the "want-to-see-list"... His best bet would be a tune up fight with someone like Smith Jr, Barrera, Brown or even Alvarez (who will most probably be out of the equation by then) and then just wait for his turn as anyone...
Beterbiev/Gvozdyk will have to happen sooner or later though...
THose are the kind of matchups that brings out the best prospects.. Beterbiev, Barrera, Bivol, Govzdyk are almost at the same level.. THey should fight each other before they step in with the top 3..
The problem with LHW in spite of some good prospects is that, the elite Ward, Kov & even Stevenson is clearly a level above the young prospects like Joe Smith Jr, Beterbeiv, Govzdyk, Barrera, Bivol.. If they fight the elite sooner they will take a L & a boxing lesson(or KO if its Kov/Stevenson)..
Agree on all counts with Beterbiev/Adonis/Alvarez, but are you really surprised? This is GYM we're talking about.
I just don't think Gvozdyk is ready for Kovalev, his chin would get shattered by Kovalev the moment he lands and Gvozdyk would be in survival mode- much like Ward in the first fight with Kovalev.
Beterbiev could at least make it a rough and dirty fight on the inside, and that is something to keep an eye out.
Gvozdyk is with ME/Klimas, though. Would they really match them two together? I don't think so- unless Gvozdyk makes a "kovalev-like" name for himself and the boxing public create a demand for that fight. But until then, no reason to throw this guy into the lions den, IMO.
If Kovalev loses again, he'll fall behind the likes of Beterbiev, Gvozdyk in the "want-to-see-list"... His best bet would be a tune up fight with someone like Smith Jr, Barrera, Brown or even Alvarez (who will most probably be out of the equation by then) and then just wait for his turn as anyone...
Beterbiev/Gvozdyk will have to happen sooner or later though...
even if he gets robbed again i doubt hbo wants to keep paying ward big bucks for his joke fights so hes gone. i think kov-gvodzk seems like teh next fight. he has a much better resume than beterbiev who seems to be wasting his career with pbc. he should have fought stevenson a year or 2 ago but they are setting up a fight between 2 unpopular guys....i dont know what they are doing. same thing with alvarez. 3 guys and they never fight each other
Agree on all counts with Beterbiev/Adonis/Alvarez, but are you really surprised? This is GYM we're talking about.
I just don't think Gvozdyk is ready for Kovalev, his chin would get shattered by Kovalev the moment he lands and Gvozdyk would be in survival mode- much like Ward in the first fight with Kovalev.
Beterbiev could at least make it a rough and dirty fight on the inside, and that is something to keep an eye out.
Gvozdyk is with ME/Klimas, though. Would they really match them two together? I don't think so- unless Gvozdyk makes a "kovalev-like" name for himself and the boxing public create a demand for that fight. But until then, no reason to throw this guy into the lions den, IMO.
even if he gets robbed again i doubt hbo wants to keep paying ward big bucks for his joke fights so hes gone. i think kov-gvodzk seems like teh next fight. he has a much better resume than beterbiev who seems to be wasting his career with pbc. he should have fought stevenson a year or 2 ago but they are setting up a fight between 2 unpopular guys....i dont know what they are doing. same thing with alvarez. 3 guys and they never fight each other