True or false: Sergey Kovalev could hold his own against any Light heavy in history?

[Boxingwizard]

LOL... Kovalev doesn't beat Dawson, who was a sitting duck to right hands throughout his career eh? Dawson struggled with old fighters like Glencoffe.. but yeah, Sergey couldn't handle dat. Reality check, Chad gets torn apart by Sergey. Terrible match up for "Bad" Chad. Dawson doesn't even have Kovalev's boxing IQ, but the prejudice continues.

Just like the HW division, the LHWs are traditionally American so it hurts too much to admit a foreigner could compete with them.

I was a fan of Dawson but Kovalev would **** him up. I'm not sure Dawson has a single advantage there besides speed. And the Caparello KD was because his foot was stepped on and tripped him.

The Dawson that beat Adamek? Keep in mind Dawson is 6'3 and he is actually taller and larger than Kovalev. Chad boxes well on the outside, and he has the height and reach to keep Kovalev at bay, and he can fight on the inside as well if he needs to. Kovalev hits harder than Adamek, but he does not have Adamek's chin. The amount of punches Chad landed on Adamek, Kovalev would not not able to take that.

Chad's skills deteriorated over the years from switching training too much. This was first evident when he fired Floyd Sr and than hired Eddie Muhammad. His first match under Eddie was against Glencoffe and not only did he look terrible but also different. That was a different Chad under Eddie, compared to when he was with Floyd Sr.

[Dr Rumack]

Insanely deep division. Kovalev's a good fighter in his own era and fun to watch, but there are no 'all time' level achievements just yet.

[Pac=Duran]

Insanely deep division. Kovalev's a good fighter in his own era and fun to watch, but there are no 'all time' level achievements just yet.

For sure man, his resume isn't deep enough to say he would whip the best Light heavyweights, but the question was would he hold his own. Considering his skills, power and how cool-headed he is I'd say it's safe to say he would be a good fight for all the greats.

[kiDynamite92]

I see a fight against Spinks ending very badly for Kovalev.

[Redd Foxx]

FALSE

His current record is a tad overrated,he's a hell of a boxer/fighter but he just hasn't had the opponents

^This. People are wishing him to be this incredible beast but who has he beat? Geriatric Hopkins?? Pasqual who hasn't looked good in years and his last 'win' was a robbery he should have lost. If he gets through Ward (which is a major "if") and Stevenson then he has 2 noteworthy wins. That's a major hurdle he's unlikely to accomplish but people are already giving him credit as if he did. Right now he's another guy who is being hyped from crushing cans and has-beens. Let's dish out credit when and where it's deserved.

[jas]

obviously true

i dont see how you can say no

skillful and powerful. tall and rangy and mentally strong

[Foreign Soil]

The Dawson that beat Adamek? Keep in mind Dawson is 6'3 and he is actually taller and larger than Kovalev. Chad boxes well on the outside, and he has the height and reach to keep Kovalev at bay, and he can fight on the inside as well if he needs to. Kovalev hits harder than Adamek, but he does not have Adamek's chin. The amount of punches Chad landed on Adamek, Kovalev would not not able to take that.

Chad's skills deteriorated over the years from switching training too much. This was first evident when he fired Floyd Sr and than hired Eddie Muhammad. His first match under Eddie was against Glencoffe and not only did he look terrible but also different. That was a different Chad under Eddie, compared to when he was with Floyd Sr.

The Adamek that Dawson beat just got a gift decision over Paul Briggs. He was done at the weight.

Dawson is more of an athlete than a great boxer, as his IQ is quite limited or else he wouldn't have struggled to the group of guys that he had clear physical advantages over. He got dropped and hit far too often in his prime to even consider getting through Kovalev without being broken down, and it'd be a pretty quick dismantling.

As far as Dawson's physical stature, his former trainer started a thread on how big Kovalev looked when he met him in person. Dawson would be shell shocked in the ring.

[////]

It seems like people are answering 2 different questions based on what they think "hold his own" means

He gives ANY lhw a dangerous/competitive fight win or lose so yes he holds his own

Those of you saying no what are you saying, that historical LHWs would have just blown him out in 1 round? sure thing

[Boxingwizard]

The Adamek that Dawson beat just got a gift decision over Paul Briggs. He was done at the weight.

Dawson is more of an athlete than a great boxer, as his IQ is quite limited or else he wouldn't have struggled to the group of guys that he had clear physical advantages over. He got dropped and hit far too often in his prime to even consider getting through Kovalev without being broken down, and it'd be a pretty quick dismantling.

As far as Dawson's physical stature, his former trainer started a thread on how big Kovalev looked when he met him in person. Dawson would be shell shocked in the ring.

Kovalev has never fought anyone in the level of Chad in his prime. To say that Kovalev would annihilate Chad just he like would annihilate Ismayl Sillah or Cleverly is not a fair comparison. As a matter fact the only A level boxer Kovalev has fought is Hopkins, most of the opponents Kovalev has fought are C and D level.

True Chad is mentally weak and can be easily distracted, but he made up for that with his amazing talent, unfortunately he also has a poor attitude too which is evident by the constant change of corners. Chad never fought to his potential because he was always changing trainers and you saw that when he fired Floyd Sr, and in the Hopkins fight too he looked worse under Scully. I still think Chad would give Kovalev one hell of a fight when he peaked in 2007 under Floyd Sr.

[Foreign Soil]

Kovalev has never fought anyone in the level of Chad in his prime. To say that Kovalev would annihilate Chad just he like would annihilate Ismayl Sillah or Cleverly is not a fair comparison. As a matter fact the only A level boxer Kovalev has fought is Hopkins, most of the opponents Kovalev has fought are C and D level.

True Chad is mentally weak and can be easily distracted, but he made up for that with his amazing talent, unfortunately he also has a poor attitude too which is evident by the constant change of corners. Chad never fought to his potential because he was always changing trainers and you saw that when he fired Floyd Sr, and in the Hopkins fight too he looked worse under Scully. I still think Chad would give Kovalev one hell of a fight when he peaked in 2007 under Floyd Sr.

That was quite a short peak then... I just don't see this matchup being favorable for Dawson in any category. Good fighter, no doubt, but wasn't great at any one thing other than having quality hand speed. And even then I heard stories of Andre Dirrell whipping Chad in sparring back in the Floyd Sr days. Floyd Sr used to call him "******ed", so yeah, I think Chad was wise to move away from that environment.