The Hopkins who beat Tarver would have beaten Kovalev.

[Haterfree]

Hopkins couldn't beat Jermain Taylor or Chad Dawson. They both fought a better version of Hopkins than Kovalev did.

[beez721]

That version of Hopkins was unstoppable.

oh please dude. hops could look great against certain styles but there's been plenty of guys who beat him and it wouldnt have turned out any differently that night

[jas]

Kovalev's own trainer said the middleweight version beats kovalev p4p

[Doctor_Tenma]

Pascal 1 would have been enough, he could at least initiate the action, afterwards everything went down hill.

[jas]

I agree that Hopkins that fought tarver beats kovalev

But the one that fought Dawson and pascal gets beat by kovalev

If Hopkins was under 40 and went to light heavy to fight kova , Hopkins wins

[beez721]

I agree that Hopkins that fought tarver beats kovalev

But the one that fought Dawson and pascal gets beat by kovalev

If Hopkins was under 40 and went to light heavy to fight kova , Hopkins wins

I disagree. kovalev would have been all wrong for any version of hopkins. too strong and his boxing ability is underrated. jeez,,,how many losses does hopkins have and some people seem to think hes better than hagler

[jas]

Hopkins couldn't beat Jermain Taylor or Chad Dawson. They both fought a better version of Hopkins than Kovalev did.

Kovalev couldn't beat Boone the first time around

[$Bullsfam$]

I think this is obvious. Hopkins aged finally showed as he couldn't pull the trigger at all. His body wasn't moving the way he wanted it too so he couldn't find any opportunities to get shots off and it frustrated him.

[BigZigga]

I think Kovalev beats any version of Hopkins. He's a bad style match up just like Taylor and Dawson.

[Citizen Koba]

Kovalev couldn't beat Boone the first time around

He could and did - close but clear win.... hard to find much detail on the fight but best accounts say that Kovalev dominated the first 4, gassed badly and got KDd in the 5th and just about hung on through the 6th. Unlike the Ward fight though Deezol has never (to my knowledge) contested the result - furthermore the fight was in Boones hometown at a time when Sergei was a literal nobody - there's no reason to suspect preferential judging for Kovalev.