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

[Sweet Pea 50]

I think the old dog has another performance.

BHop.

By split.

[twosweethooks]

Kovalev will slip a big right in there after all those body and arm shots of which I agree with and da SUCKA will be on his back sprawled out floundering around trying to find his mind, hahahahahahaha

[twosweethooks]

hmmmmmmmmm Rocky Marciano vs Archie Moore :

B Hop the Sucka will do some stuff but like Moore did to Rocky, but ROCKY GOTTEM !!!!!

[BoxingFan82]

“You have to make him move faster, punch more often. You got to hit him in his arms, hit him in his shoulders, hit him in his chest, hit him everywhere an old body doesn’t want to be hit, because once we get older we can’t take that kind of punishment. The body wasn’t built to take that. The way Sergey hits? Hit him everywhere. Don’t aim for the head. Chop the body, the head will fall. Make him fight the first six rounds. The other six? It’s your fight. Bernard has not had a hard fight probably since Trinidad.”

The problem with this approach is that it assumes a) Bernard is a stationary target who doesn't dispense punishment of his own and b) Kovalev will be the better conditioned fighter.

On the first point, Bernard has enough pop to keep his opponents honest, and he knows how to place a shot. Everybody wants to see how The Alien will react to Krusher's punches, but how well will the Krusher react to Bernard's offense?

On the second point, Kovalev has never fought beyond the eighth round, and he's only gone seven rounds twice. His average fight lasts less than four rounds. Kovalev's ability to maintain the type of pace that Jackson seems to believe would trouble Bernard is far more questionable than Bernard's conditioning and proven ability to go the full 12 rounds. Bernard trains and prepares for fights like nobody else.

Bernard has fought Kovalev before. The young, strong opponent with a big punch is nothing new to Hopkins. Kovalev has never fought anybody with anywhere near the experience and skill of a Bernard Hopkins.

As for Bernard not having a hard fight since Trinidad, hindsight is 20/20. Many had Hopkins an underdog when he faced Tarver, Pavlik, Pascal and Cloud. Heck, young, prime Pavlik was supposed to knock Bernard into retirement. Just because Hopkins made beating these guys look easy doesn't mean that it was.

But if Jackson really believes that Bernard hasn't been in a tough fight since Trinidad, what can he say about his own fighter? When was his last tough fight? He won't know what "hard fight" is until he steps into the ring with Bernard.

[Slowhand]

Kovalev will have to cut off the ring and be patient, BHop would love to make Kov punch himself out. Great fight, who ever wins will be the true LHW King. Stevenson will be just a duck with a trinket..

[Inkanyamba]

The only issue with that is BHop doesn't function like an old man. He has the body and mind of a guy in his early 30's. If Kovalev thinks he can do what Porter did to Paulie he's in for a treat.

[Tobi.G]

Verry good fight! Kovalev is propably the hardest opponent that Hopkins could fight right now. I doubt Hopkins will be able to go 12 with Kovalev but Hopkins has suprised the boxing world so manny times already, you should never bet much Money against Hopkins! Kovalev has Jackson in the corner and Jackson knows Hopkins verry well, he fought him and he trained him. So they should know about Hopkins weaknesses and bring the best possible gameplan. And Kovalev is not just a Puncher, hes a huge Puncher with boxing ability. He has flaws in his defense but i doubt Hopkins can hurt him. I say Hopkins gets knocked out for the first time in his Long great career but of course Hopkins could suprise the boxing world again. Kovalev is far better than Shumenov or Cloud, thats for sure.

[Build That Wall]

That is horrible advice. That is a former trainer of his and co trainer, and opponent. That is the Bitter opponent in him that got knocked out.

[bojangles1987]

Easier said than done

Of course.

I think Kovalev's the guy to do it, though.

[mistermartin]

This is an excellent fight for EVERYONE involved. Duva gets a big fight...GBP gets a high profile fight (after schaefer's departure) Nard gets to go for history & legacy fighting a beast of the division. Kovelev gets to become indisputed & raise his resume & profile. The network wins...We, the fans win. EVERYONE wins. Just an excellent matchup.

So many things make this fight interesting from the size of the fighters...the age...the styles. The fact that KK's trainer was once apart of the brain trust during hopkins' prime fighting yrs. ANNND was an opponent of bernard's. The fact that Krusher is feeling unbeatable right now. The fact that he's never been past 8 as a pro. I mean wow. Talk about a mind ****. So many variables. To me...KK only has one option as a game plan...exactly what JDJ said in this piece. But just keep in mind what the concensus was wen Ali fought Foreman going into the fight.....& we all know how that one ended. I expect a ton of surprises come Nov.