Comments Thread For: Trainer: Kovalev Must Treat Hopkins Like an Old Fighter

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

John David Jackson has fought Bernard Hopkins, losing to him back in 1997. He has worked with Hopkins as a trainer. And Jackson, who now corners light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev, will prepare the power-puncher to face the 49-year-old future Hall of Famer in November - provided Kovalev defeats Blake Caparello on Saturday night in Atlantic City.

Jackson was always OK with Kovalev facing either Hopkins or 175-pound champion Adonis Stevenson, though he leaned toward Hopkins because he feels Stevenson won’t be free to fight due to the pending lawsuit against him and others. Kovalev is the best remaining opponent and the most lucrative option available, the trainer said. [Click Here To Read More]

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Easier said than done

[thuggery]

Kovalev will know exactly how to handle the old man

[King_]

Hopkins is a true legend of the sport and at 49 deserves mad props for taking this fight.



With that said, he is going to take a brutal beating here and this will most likely be his last fight. He's got absolutely no chance against Kovalev. IMO

[SeekDaGreat]

Easier said than done

Yup, if it was that easy Bernard would be retired right now. With that being said, I think Kovalev has the power and range to accomplish this. And he's a two hand puncher. Murat, who is also a two-hand puncher gave Hopkins trouble early and I hate to use triangle theories but Kovalev > Murat x's 10.

[jas]

Credit to John David. He's trained bhop and says he doesn't think he's on PEDs

[jas]

I'm a huge Hopkins fan and I am feeling confident after these comments by Kovalev's trainer. With that gameplan , Kovalev's gonna get dropped and lose a decision .

[Foreign Soil]

Kovalev can't over commit either. Smart pressure must be applied, i.e. jab and chip away from a distance and move. Throw lots of quick shots and stay out of range so you won't fall into the one-punch-grab routine of Hopkins. Kovalev is capable of doing that since he throws short punches for power. But if JDJ wants Kovalev to just wail away then he's making a mistake.

[churchmouse]

Kovalev and Duva needed this fight badly and I am glad they got it. It painted Stevenson/Showtime into a corner with nowhere to go. Having said that, I think if Kovalev can do what his trainer suggested, then he will win and likely by TKO. Keep pressing and pushing. The advantage for Kovalev is that he does not always punch at a target, he aims for places where his opponent is likely to be, not where he is, and eventually he will connect. Very hard to avoid his punches.

[Foreign Soil]

I'm a huge Hopkins fan and I am feeling confident after these comments by Kovalev's trainer. With that gameplan , Kovalev's gonna get dropped and lose a decision .

Yeah... cos that's the same stuff every opponent says prior to facing Hopkins, then wonder why they're following Hopkins around the ring and get caught. Not a very inspiring gameplan at all. Kovalev can actually box.. they'd be ****** not to come in with anything more than "he just gotta throw".