I think when Kovalev fought Roman Simakov on that fateful night , he didn't go for the head as much as he would have. Even Sergei had the heart to lay off a bit and go for the body instead. I think he was left with no choice with the ref not stopping the fight and Simakov trying to punish him on the other hand.
Tough fight to rewatch. Dangers of the sport.
Wlad is good, he just doesn't have that aggressive fighter mentality that Vitali did. Wlad is so uncomfortable if someone throws more than one punch at a time, but Vitali relishes getting in slugfest.
And he did get into one hell of a slugfest with Sanders. Good for him he had that chin or else would've gone the Wlad way. Awesome fight to watch still.
Jeez not a single good word about Stipe here :))
I think he's a good fighter, under rated because he probably isnt as scary as some of the others. But he's a strong fella, with a bug punch and he's not too bad on the ground too. Ngannou found that out the hard way.
I think he'll beat DC this 17th. Waiting for the fight eagerly.
Kovalev hasn't been the most disicplined boxer and i think it might have cost him. He's had issues with booze , i highly doubt GGG would do that to himself. He's fitter and still very strong.
He's 24. Lots of time to improve, he's good a good head on his shoulders and monstrous power to boot. Watch him comeback strong. All the haters can go to hell.
Gassiev is a very smart fighter IMO. Tactical, patient and a skilled boxer; it's not just all about his brawn/physical strength. I think he beats Usyk but i'ts a hard fight to pick in the end.
Kudos to the thread starter, very good post! A simpleton like me would think whoever connects first and connects well will probably get the win. I think both guys have questionable chins and can be hurt. Should be a very interesting fight, and one that isn't particularly easy to predict.
Wladimir for me. I think if it was Wlad that hit Lennox flush like Vitali did he would have gone down for sure. Much harder puncher than his brother although the chin isn't as good.
I rate him. He's a strong guy with a good chin on him. Can go 12 rounds, no problem.Packs good power as well.The 12th round vs Fury was a good example. I think he landed one huge right finally which left Hughie gasping. Shows he doesn't tire easy.
He'll be a good test for anyone in the HW division.
Vitali said Sanders was the toughest fight of his career. Coming from a hard man like Vitali, that's something else. Sander's short left was truly amazing, so much power from hardly any distance.
As for Wlad, the older smarter WK would have beaten Corrie IMO. Wlad went into the first fight like an idiot, expecting to KO Sanders and walk away.
What a load of BS.
Briedis is awesome, am not even going to dispute that. You spoke crap about Gassiev though. He showed a lot of tact, discipline and class vs Dorticos. He's definitely not a case of pure brawn. Heck i wouldn't be surprised if he beats Usyk in the finals.
Vitali's fight against Sanders is a good example of how he used his size and movement to pummel Corrie eventually. He also took no less than half a dozen big lefts from Sanders and took them well. Wonder how Wlad would have done in his place.
Much respect to Corrie Sanders too. That guy had a chin on him.
Oh man did you just say Povetkin is a weak puncher? No way, he's nasty...
Joshua is damn powerful too, i agree with what you say about Wilder, Klitschko ..maybe they can put people to sleep with a punch which he hasn't been doing of late. But he is big, fast and can put anyone down with a combination. Just don't underestimate his strength is what i'm saying.
Yeah he's more of an accumulative puncher. He definitely hits reasonably hard and can KO guys with poor chins like Williams, Hide, Johnson etc but at the top level his power wasn't outstanding.
He just hit you a lot and hit you with good accuracy and that will break down anyone over the course of a fight.
I think he resorted to punching at arm's length after he had his rotator cuff injury, at least that's what i read.
When he punched at shorter distance and went through with it, he usually hurt the opponent. Sanders in Rd5, Briggs in #7 etc.
Apparently he was trying to protect his shoulder from further damage. Agree with your post though, he could wear anyone down with time and was a very strong guy himself. Amazing chin.
Round 12 was an all out schooling. Alvarez was definitely hurt with that combo from Kovalev. Like many other posters here, i agree with the fact that there's surely some finesse to Kovalev's boxing. He's a big puncher but has many other tools in the locker - that beautiful, head snapping jab, footwork & good cardio (my god was i wrong or what thinking he'd gassed) combined with some real discipline to stick to the game plan.
This version of Kovalev can beat anyone in my opinion. I think Gvozdyk would be the hardest opponent in the division at the moment. He looks so fresh and he's not done too many mile, good fitness, power , can go 12 rounds easily no problem. Bivol & Beterbiev are threats too though.
Alvarez had hand injuries so bad that his right hand is permanently deformed.
Good point, Sir. The commentator mentioned this as a matter of fact - apparently he doesn't have 2 knuckles on his right hand and can't even make a fist of it normally. I can imagine this must be so hard to live with as a professional boxer and for him to do this well is something else.