Comments Thread For: Kovalev: I'm Going To Kick Bernard Hopkins' Ass!

[E. O. Wilson]

[beez721]

waaa,,,,I took a little light poke to the belly. give me my breather mr ref and let me clear my head. im a poor old man always getting fouled by these dirty youngins

[soul_survivor]

I'm like 55-45 in favour of Kovalev, because that power he carries is match changing and fight ending. I can't see how Hops can take it if he gets hit clean. But the question is, can Kov hit him clean? I believe, at some stage in the fight, he will and then it may well be lights out.

[beez721]

I'm like 55-45 in favour of Kovalev, because that power he carries is match changing and fight ending. I can't see how Hops can take it if he gets hit clean. But the question is, can Kov hit him clean? I believe, at some stage in the fight, he will and then it may well be lights out.

im not a big fan of either but id much rather kovalev win as hes more exciting and can make for great fights down the road with a victory but I cant help but feel Hopkins is going to smother and foul the hell out of him and get sympathy from the ref again. I think he may get a close decision but its a tough one to call. hopefully the ref wont put up with any bs from him

[MDPopescu]

I sensed a lot of frustration from Kovalev in the Agnew fight, the longer it dragged on. It wasn't so much "Oh no, Kovalev is ready to blow! This guy is just making him madder!", but more like... Kovalev looked genuinely out of ideas until that body shot, as if he was just going through the motions by punching away and hoping something would hurt. Sure, he found that body shot eventually, but Hopkins won't just open up and offer his stomach like that. No fuckin' way.

Kovalev's only chance is to go full-on Maidana, charge in, not get caught with something ****** (eg. Caparello) and hit everything available - legal and illegal. No boxing from the outside, no trying to be cute and time the old man. He has to be that nasty Russian brute everyone makes him out to be. It worked as well as it could for Maidana, so...

Did it cross your mind that Kovalev needed to spend some more rounds into the ring against an U.S. undefeated fighter? Agnew was 26-0... Kovalev frustration materialised in dropping Agnew in the 2nd, the 3rd and the 7th rounds... (Kovalev's style has nothing to do with Maidana's.)

[E. O. Wilson]

waaa,,,,I took a little light poke to the belly. give me my breather mr ref and let me clear my head. im a poor old man always getting fouled by these dirty youngins

I think there he was fighting a not-so-young Roy Jones and despite winning the fight rather comfortably he felt the need to spend a good 2 minutes rolling around on the ground when anything touched him.

Roy stood in the neutral corner laughing at the pointless dives. It was very hard to watch.

[MDPopescu]

Kovalev is a much better boxer than many people believe. He places his punches carefully and thinks about what he is doing all the time. I don't see him being mugged out of this fight by Hopkins' mind games and spoiling tricks, he's too clever for that. He seems to cut easily though, and I think that is the only weakness that Bhop could exploit. I wouldn't be surprised if he uses his head on Kovalev in the clinches, and I'm not talking about "thinking" here.
If he doesn't get cut, Kovalev will win this fight. His power will be too much for Hopkins.

I guess that many people agree on that -- even if they express it or not. Kovalev usually figures out the way his opponent opens when he tries to throw something and then counters him... Kovalev is able to wait in the distance and assess Hopkins' dynamics, as Hopkins has to throw something eventually...

(A prime Hopkins would have been the real deal for Kovalev -- as Hopkins was extremely fast and elusive... Kovalev is very precise, powerful, but not that fast... And Kovalev was not taught "old school inside boxing" or "rough house"...)

[MDPopescu]

Kovalev needs too much space to set up his shots. BHOP's inside game is going to be a nightmare for him.

It's no brainer that Kovalev will stay at the distance... Rough house and inside boxing aren't his game -- Kovalev is no Mexican... Those who think that Kovalev would charge in permanent assaults are wrong...
On another hand: Hopkins will have to throw some punches, eventually...

[HEND]

Kovalev can outbox Hopkins the same way Dawson did. He can overpower Hopkins the same way Pascal did in the early rounds and he can outhustle him like Calzaghe did.

Sorry, no offense, but this was serious? No way on Earth that he can outbox Hopkins. Well Kovalev is definitely better boxer than the Rosados, Angulos or other simple brawlers of the world but comared to Hopkins his boxing knowledge is just tiny. And outhustle? How?
The only way that he can win this fight is the way as he usually wins his fight: Overpowering the opponenet and KO him or the maximum what I can imagine that he drops Hopkins multiple times but can't end the fight with KO hence he get a UD. This is his only chance.

But I doubt it will happen. His skills are not bad in turn they are vastly overrated (example: you think that he can actually outbox Hopkins). He improved his offense and it worked so far against C or maximum B level competition but Hopkins is a different beast, and Kovalev as he said never adapt (as fr he haven't got to...) he just goes with the same gameplan to every fight and he hasn't got plan B or plan C. So no way that he will actually outbox or outhustle Hopkins. Sign me up for that!

[bojangles1987]

I truly can't believe Hopkins has this many people fooled....

Dude hasnt beat anyone in years.

I agree. People have this belief that Kovalev hasn't fought anyone. They should take a look at who Hopkins has actually beaten lately. He's beating some really mediocre fighters that have lost to Campillo and Cleverly, who Kovalev slaughtered. Kovalev is by far the best fighter Hopkins has fought since Pascal, and maybe even more dangerous than Pascal.

Thing is, Hopkins has been here so many times, and no one can be sure how Kovalev will handle the moment. I can't bring myself to say who wins this fight with any surety.