Comments Thread For: Sergey Kovalev Smiles, Reveals His New Trainer

[.:: JSFD26 ::.]

Too bad coaches can't give you the most important thing of them all, HEART.

[g27region]

So the Euro trainer who just helped a guy win a gold medal in boxing is a nobody coke addict? His gold medal pupil must have lucked out or something to have such a bum for a coach.

This trainer is definitely not "Euro" by any definition

[Lou Cipher]

So the Euro trainer who just helped a guy win a gold medal in boxing is a nobody coke addict? His gold medal pupil must have lucked out or something to have such a bum for a coach.

I dont know who he is but I know he isn't a top rated professional coach/ Seems obvious that what JDJ said about Kov wanting to dictate his own training holds some truth for him to hire an amateur coach. Remember too, Amateur Boxing is scored much different, thus training is different. This guy is a novice when it comes to pros.

[DeadLikeMe]

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Kolovev should have hooked up with roach..

Roach is excellent with offensive fighters

[Bronx2245]

You know what trainers of amatuers don't know much about? Fighting on the inside! Good luck with that champ!

[WesternChamp]

he's smiling but crying on the inside. this wont help him at all LOL.

[Tobi.G]

How dare the Russian boxer who barely speaks enlish hire a Russian trainer! If he had only hired an American trainer, I would have rooted for him to destroy Ward, but since he hired a Russian trainer, I'm so glad Ward lost to him and then hit him in the balls! Yesss!!!! And now I just hope Artur Beterbiev, the next great American superstar, also beats up Kovalev! Yess!!!!

I dont get you man. Who is Beterbiev's coach anyway? Not a Russian?

I dont get why everyone blames Kovalev for the JDJ thing. It seems to me like JDJ is the one who doesnt know what he's doing. They have an outdated "more is always better" attitude towards physical training, which is probably what burned Kovalev out. The miles he was running some days was absolutely insane. Secondly, JDJ was giving Kovalev horrible advice about hitting Ward's ribs inside until he "broke Ward's ribs." In reality, clinch shots almost never break ribs at that level of boxing, so all that advice actually did was help tire out Kovalev's arms, and give Ward a chance to fight inside, the only area Ward was having any success in their two fights.

Kovalev has also said in many interviews that he actually DOES want a teacher, and that the real problem with JDJ was that JDJ didn't teach him anything, that basically Kovalev's amateur coaches were much better than JDJ, and that everything JDJ was trying to teach him were things he'd already been taught better elsewhere and weren't helping him. In support of this theory, we can see that JDJ has no other top level boxers in his stable, and that his best current boxer, Curtis Stevens, just came off a brutal knockout loss under his stewardship.

So, none of us will really know the exact story unless we were in camp with them, but as much as you see a pattern of Kovalev being an untrainable a**hole, I see just as much or more of a pattern of JDJ not being a good trainer, and of Kovalev complaining about that, and simply being honest about how he wasn't unhappy with the low quality of teaching he was getting from JDJ. The only thing that makes me lean towards blaming Kovalev, like you do, is that Abel Sanchez also had a falling out with him, but guess what, Abel Sanchez is also known for, essentially, overtraining boxers, in high altitude at that, and now we are seeing GGG decline at an insanely high rate in his early-and-mid-thirties, so once again it begs the question, why automatically believe the trainer? Because as I said, I see just as much or more evidence that not only JDJ, but also Abel Sanchez, may not know what they're doing, as I see evidence that Kovalev is to blame.

So, it might not be as simple as you think.

I agree. I lost all repect for JACKSON and he sucks as a trainer, couldnt teach Abdusalamov any boxing skills and now look what happened to that guy. I think its good that kovalev has a russian coach now i think its better for him.

[future hendrixx]

kovalev can hire who he wants he will always be his own trainer. and just because he lost to ward doesn't mean he's done. with ward out the picture kovalev is still the man at 175. ill favor him to beat anybody there.

[Sledgeweather17]

I totally agree with you about Abel Sanchez, who over-relies on scientific data to direct the approach he takes. I think he tries to change the DNA of a fighter according to the opponent rather than let a fighter keep his natural talents.
Case in point: When he took on Miguel Cotto, Cotto's natural strengths of his hooks and other trademark Cotto moves started to disappear.

As soon as Cotto I think got back with Freddie Roach; Freddie said: 'right let's get back to working on what you do naturally best', which worked as I think Cotto when on a win streak with Roach, after suffering losses with Sanchez.

A win streak against cripples and drained bums? That's the win streak you're talking about?