I hate to say I told you so but...

My first instinct was to pick Kov by decision. He was the better boxer in the first fight so it seemed like a reasonable pic. BUT, I couldn't shake the idea that Kovalev seemed to have stamina issues and is too reliant on his power. I thought there was a very good chance that his stamina would fail him near the end of the fight. Around the 3rd or 4rth round of this fight it appeared like he was getting a bit tired but obviously he wasn't....Maybe he was telling the truth about the first fight, saying that he overtrained....I figured he was just making excuses. Btw, his skills are well above that of Alvarez, although Alvarez has some pretty good skill himself. Kovalev should stick to boxing and not focus on KO'ing his opponents. He could be a nightmare just using his skills. I done the exact same thing. I picked Kov by wide decision then started reading everyone's opinion about his stamina etc and so I changed it to Alvarez late ko. Kov was easily winning the first fight until he got caught and thought he would at least be 100 switched on this time around but the stamina. God dammit the stamina swayed me over. Oh well. Good luck to Kov. Good win.

Kovalev on that cykablyaterol 500mg

I’m the farthest thing from a Kov fan And I’ll admit I thought he was done heading into the rematch Haven’t watched the fight but the man deserves major props for this win especially since he was KO last fight and dealing with a sh.it load of issues outside of the ring and didn’t let that get to him and got the W Be interesting to see what he does next stay at ESPN with Beterbiev and the Nail on the network or off to DAZn where Bivol is. Wish all the 175 strap holder were on the same platform though

in all fairness to me an my doubts, kovalev could have taken one of those wild alvarez rights square on the temple and we'd be having a different conversation.

If you actually watch Kovalev before, you should have known that the guys has boxing skills. The only way you beat him is punch him to the nuts or let him tire out to the latter rounds. He conserved energy in this rematch which served him well.

My first instinct was to pick Kov by decision. He was the better boxer in the first fight so it seemed like a reasonable pic. BUT, I couldn't shake the idea that Kovalev seemed to have stamina issues and is too reliant on his power. I thought there was a very good chance that his stamina would fail him near the end of the fight. Around the 3rd or 4rth round of this fight it appeared like he was getting a bit tired but obviously he wasn't....Maybe he was telling the truth about the first fight, saying that he overtrained....I figured he was just making excuses. Btw, his skills are well above that of Alvarez, although Alvarez has some pretty good skill himself. Kovalev should stick to boxing and not focus on KO'ing his opponents. He could be a nightmare just using his skills.

He was winning the first fight and got caught. I'm not sure why people thought he was just going to lose so easily. I just questioned his stamina, which he had under control this fight.

The thing is in the two fights that Kovalev was knocked out in he was far from being dominated, so he clearly wasn't a shot fighter by all means.

I just thought Kovalev was in the ending stage of his career & things go how they go at that point. And McGirt seldom seems to have a positive impact on older cats he gets picked up by. Tend to think things are probably the same as they ever were with Kov & he trained himself more or less. But thats just me speculating. Good W obviously doe to reverse an L & respect to Kov for that, but idk that I see this going well for much longer regardless. New blood is at 175 & old boxers don't usually fare well vs them. I don’t get why everyone on this damn forum thinks a fighter is at the end of his damn career because he takes one damn loss. “I tell ya, this 23 year old world champion. He’s 35-1 now... That last razor split decision loss really shows he’s not what he used to be.”

I think Ward was really just under his skin. But... mental stability is not his issue. Stamina is. Apparently he was waiting to lose the weight in the last week/few days rather than over longer period of time. This time they had a new nutritional coach and made quite a few changes. We saw it in his stamina. Stamina is part of the mental issues with him. And then he would always have an excuse every time something went wrong. Shouldn't expect many KOs the rest of the way, but that may be for the better. Will allow him to pace himself better. Still a live dog against even the top guns like Gvozdyk and Bivol.

He's a very good boxer, that's never been in question. Kovalev just mentally hasn't been the strongest and I didn't think he would be able to come back like this. Strong strong performance that will help his HOF credentials. I think Ward was really just under his skin. But... mental stability is not his issue. Stamina is. Apparently he was waiting to lose the weight in the last week/few days rather than over longer period of time. This time they had a new nutritional coach and made quite a few changes. We saw it in his stamina.

Kovalev is a very underrated boxer. He proved that against Ward in the first fight even though he lost. He's a very good boxer, that's never been in question. Kovalev just mentally hasn't been the strongest and I didn't think he would be able to come back like this. Strong strong performance that will help his HOF credentials.

Great call! I didn't think Kovalev could mentally overcome the stoppage loss but the trainer change this time around was really good for him. He paced himself better as Ward pointed out, he didn't try to load up on big shots and was content to just land those short effective shots. Bring on Kovalev vs Beterbiev! Kovalev is a very underrated boxer. He proved that against Ward in the first fight even though he lost.

Great call! I didn't think Kovalev could mentally overcome the stoppage loss but the trainer change this time around was really good for him. He paced himself better as Ward pointed out, he didn't try to load up on big shots and was content to just land those short effective shots. Bring on Kovalev vs Beterbiev!