Kovalev vs Stevenson - who wins?

[LSKennedy]

Who do you think wins? Break it down.

Stevenson's speed is his biggest asset and if he catches Kovalev clean, he surely goes down. The other way around has to be true too. I think Kovalev's 'slowness' is overstated. I don't think he's THAT slow, I just think we haven't seen him feel threatened yet so he's not throwing as fast (and possibly as powerful) as he could.

I saw on the graphic before the Hopkins/Kovalev fight that Kovalev has a massive reach advantage over Hopkins but when I look at Hopkins' & Kovalev's boxrec pages, it says Hopkins has a superior reach, so I don't know if it's accurate. Does anyone have proof of Kovalev's & Stevenson's reaches?

[Baltimore]

I think Kov would stop Stevenson late maybe round 10. He showed more discipline on Saturday then I thought he had. Really either guy could knock the other out but Kov has now proved himself way more to me than Adonis has.

[dan_cov]

Either guy inside 4 rounds, 60/40 Stevenson - Southpaw, speed advantage, K.Ovalev is a bit too upright for my liking. I think Stevenson has a good chance of walking him onto one.

[Tom Cruise]

I give slight edge to Stevenson, though i think Kovalev is overall a better fighter.

Kovalevs tendency to square up when coming forward and retreating is what makes me think Stevenson would be more likely to get the ko. However Kovalev impressed me against Hopkins with his patience and boxing skills, he could easily win this.

Also Stevenson hasnt been fighting as tough opposition as Kovalev has, so it is hard to tell at this stage.

[IronDanHamza]

Stevenson has a punchers chance. I don't know how Kovalev's chin is and I heard he was knocked out a few times in the Amateurs.

But I'd pick Kovalev by brutal KO.

[Beercules]

Kovalev puts Stevenson to sleep inside 8.

[Hougigo]

Stevenson even avoids the hypothetical rematch

[teddycanyon]

I can't believe anybody has picked Stevenson. Cut and dry, Kovalev destroys him.

[BOXEO _]

Killa Kov inside the distance.


We all know that Quackenson will never fight him though.

[Derranged]

Bumping this thread as it was the most recent one with this topic that has a poll.

I'd rather not start a new one and there probably should be a master thread on this.

After watching Stevenson yesterday-- I hate to beat a dead horse but all Stevenson really has is that counter left hand. Granted, its a great punch and he might be able to hurt Kovalev, but if Stevenson's only chance is to land a series of hard left hands, he's in trouble. Stevenson's jab sucks and he slaps with his right hook. If all Kovalev really has to worry about is that left hand, it shouldn't be too difficult to properly prepare for it in training.


Also, Stevenson has iffy stamina. If Kovalev can land to the body early, Stevenson might gas out by round 7, which is when Kovalev can step on the gas and go for the knockout.

And don't even try that "Oh well Stevenson hurt Bika several times and he takes a better punch than Kovalev so that means Stevenson knocks him out" crap either. That's a weak argument and furthermore, Kovalev seems to take a pretty good punch. I don't think he was ever hurt from Pascal's counter shots, but rather those punches looked more effective than they were because Kovalev was off balance, which is an issue for him I admit. And after a couple of rounds of getting tagged, Kovalev adjusted and began slipping those counters.

In conclusion, I picked Kovalev by TKO between rounds 8-11.