Comments Thread For: Weights From Atlantic City: Hopkins 173.5, Kovalev 174.5

[Levity]

The threads after this fight are going to be hilarious. All Kovalev is banking on is Hopkins looking his age. That's it. He brings nothing to the table that Hopkins hasn't seen before and hasn't handled with ease before. The definition of tailor made. Better holla at Father Time and beg for some help.

When has Hopkins easily handled elite LHW power?

[IMDAZED]

When has Hopkins easily handled elite LHW power?

When he fought Antonio Tarver.

[Levity]

When he fought Antonio Tarver.

Tarver was never an elite puncher.

[IMDAZED]

Tarver was never an elite puncher.

In your opinion. I'd say he absolutely was from stopping Jones and Harding. I'm still waiting for Kovalev to KO an "elite" fighter, thus making him an "elite" puncher.

[Levity]

It is my opinion, just like everything in your post is your opinion even though you also stated it as if it were factual. Tarver was a skilled fighter with solid pop but I don't see much evidence that his power was elite, and I think his skillset was a bigger factor in his stoppages than it is for Kovalev.

I think your logic about stopping elite fighters making someone an elite puncher is flawed. Elite fighters don't necessarily hold their shots well, and how good someone's power is a reflection of how easily they can hurt opponents when they land. Jones was a P4P superstar for years but he never showed solid durability during that period because he didn't have to, as opponents hardly touched him. When his reflexes diminished and he started getting hit more he was regularly hurt/stopped, so I don't think stopping him makes Tarver an elite puncher, not to mention that he failed to stop Roy despite hitting him plenty in the other two fights. I also don't think Harding was ever an elite fighter and he didn't have problems with Tarver's power in their first bout despite being hit regularly in 4-5 rounds.

So the Jones KO coupled with the win over Harding aren't enough for me to label him an elite puncher when he was taken the distance or into the later rounds in so many other fights This wasn't just against opponents with demonstrable durability, but also people like Chris Johnson and Lincoln Carter, and while not chinny Montell Griffin was stopped three other times in his career and before he faced Tarver he was halted in just four rounds by Darius M. A fairly durable fighter in Clinton Woods extended him as well, but if his power were truly elite I suspect he would've done more damage given how often he landed.

Kovalev hasn't beaten the best opposition, but he's consistently destroyed B level opponents early in a way that Tarver never did even though the latter probably had a better skillset to employ. I'd say that someone like Nathan Cleverly, while not an elite fighter, was more durable than Jones and roughly as durable as someone like Woods or Elvir Muriqi, yet he was ruined by the end of the third round, almost as soon as Kovalev started landing cleanly.

Hopkins beat Tarver eight years ago anyway, and since that time he was dropped and/or hurt numerous times by Pascal, another fighter that I think Kovalev hits harder than. Even if Hopkins has seen elite LHW power at one time, I don't think he has at nearly 50.

[Corelone]

This under card is weak. I mean, OK fights for a guarenteed spectacle, but what if the main is a stinker, or a blow out? Glad this is not PPV.

[IMDAZED]

It is my opinion, just like everything in your post is your opinion even though you also stated it as if it were factual. Tarver was a skilled fighter with solid pop but I don't see much evidence that his power was elite, and I think his skillset was the biggest factor in most of his stoppages.

I think your logic about stopping elite fighters making someone an elite puncher is flawed. Elite fighters don't necessarily hold their shots well, and how good someone's power is a reflection of how easily they can hurt opponents when they land. Jones was a P4P superstar for years but he never showed solid durability during that period because he didn't have to, as opponents hardly touched him. When his reflexes diminished and he started getting hit more he was regularly hurt/stopped, so I don't think stopping him makes Tarver an elite puncher, not to mention that he failed to stop Roy despite hitting him plenty in the other two fights. I also don't think Harding was ever an elite fighter and he didn't have problems with Tarver's power in their first bout, despite being hit regularly in 4-5 rounds.

So the Jones KO coupled with the win over Harding aren't enough for me to label him an elite puncher when he was taken the distance or into the later rounds in so many other fights This wasn't just against opponents with demonstrable durability, but also people like Chris Johnson and Lincoln Carter, and while not chinny Montell Griffin was stopped three other times in his career, and before he faced Tarver he was halted in just four rounds by Darius M. A fairly durable fighter in Clinton Woods extended him as well, but if his power were truly elite I suspect he would've done more damage given how often he landed.

Kovalev hasn't beaten the best opposition, but he's consistently destroyed B level opponents early in a way that Tarver never did even though the latter probably had a better skillset to employ. I'd say that someone like Nathan Cleverly, while not an elite fighter, was more durable than Jones and roughly as durable as someone like Woods or Elvir Muriqi, yet he was ruined by the end of the third round, almost as soon as Kovalev started landing cleanly.

Hopkins beat Tarver eight years ago anyway, and since that time he was dropped and/or hurt numerous times by Pascal, another fighter that I think Kovalev hits harder than. Even if Hopkins has seen elite LHW power at one time, I don't think he has at nearly 50.

In other words, Kovalev hasn't KO'ed anyone of note. Something Tarver has. Let's say they're equal for the sake of argument. Nothing Hopkins hasn't seen before.

[sugarsmosley]

In other words, Kovalev hasn't KO'ed anyone of note. Something Tarver has. Let's say they're equal for the sake of argument. Nothing Hopkins hasn't seen before.

Bhop is a unified world champion and fighting at a high level right NOW... key word NOW... if kovalev beats him props to him no1 is saying hes prime but give the man some fcking credit

[Levity]

That wasn't the point at all. I already addressed Kovalev's opposition and your logic of stopping elite fighters = being an elite puncher in the post, so perhaps you could give a more specific and detailed response rather than simplifying and distorting my arguments.

And again, the Tarver fight was 8 year ago and since then Pascal dropped and/or hurt BHOP several times.

[jas]

Tarver was never an elite puncher.

What are you talking about



Another bandwagon kovalev fan who doesn't know **** about boxing