Comments Thread For: Kellerman: Alvarez Disconnected Kovalev's Head From His Legs

[BIG GUNZ]

It's good to be optimistic, but it's better to be realistic.
Based on his power, Kovalev may have been overrated in the first place. Without getting into a debate about his level of opponents during his unbeaten run, we can agree that he showed questionable conditioning & an inability to adjust during the first fight with Ward. During the second fight he showed a lack of will. He managed to put together a couple of comeback wins, but he seemed like a shell of himself last night. As Kovalev gets older, It's hard to think he will be able to get into better physical condition than he was in last night. If he was psychologically damaged by the losses to Ward, as some fans suggest, then how will he be able to deal with being devastatingly dropped and definitively stopped by Alvarez?

I disagree completely on him being overrated. He was a legit feared opponent by many in his weight division. He was definitely an elite fighter for many years, it’s just as he’s gotten older his conditioning has started to go. I do think it’s possible the Ward fights took something out of him. It’s very debatable about the first fight. I watched that fight like 3 or 4 times & had it either Ward by 1 point or Kovalev by 1 point everytime I watched it. I think Kovalev has 1 last chance still though since it’s not like he was down on the scorecards & than got KO’d. He was up by 3 or 4 rounds. His career comes down to whether he wins the Alvarez rematch or not. If he loses it than it’s time to call it a day.

[Lemonhead_Jeff]

It seems as some of the sources around Kov are eluding to the fact that his taste for vodka seems to out weigh training

Those rumors have dogged him for awhile, and it would not be unsurprising if they were true. I was going to go into a rant on the effects of alcohol, but I don't want to give you the impression that I'm a boozehound lol

[Boxingfanatic75]

You don't have to stop appreciating him! Kovalev or Matthyesse.
You just have to appreciate them for what they were.
They both had excellent careers and gave a lot of excitement in the ring.
I'm not a Kovalev fan but I have to respect his credentials. Like Arturo Gatti, should you not appreciate somebody just because they were not among the very elite of all time? Nah. Guys like Kovalev, Matthyesse, and Gatti made the boxing world go 'round. The Elite fighters might be filet mignon, but your dinner is not complete without the delicious potatoes too. And maybe sometimes you just want some potatoes. Or even just a greasy bag of chips.

Couldn’t have been said better 👍

[_Maxi]

Yes

Also I thought Kovalev looked mediocre at weigh in and he tired and Alvarez caught him but maybe Alvarez is on something too, has he looked as strong before at age 34?

His camp was on Colombia. Was there any testing for this fight?

[Lemonhead_Jeff]

I disagree completely on him being overrated. He was a legit feared opponent by many in his weight division. He was definitely an elite fighter for many years, it’s just as he’s gotten older his conditioning has started to go. I do think it’s possible the Ward fights took something out of him. It’s very debatable about the first fight. I watched that fight like 3 or 4 times & had it either Ward by 1 point or Kovalev by 1 point everytime I watched it. I think Kovalev has 1 last chance still though since it’s not like he was down on the scorecards & than got KO’d. He was up by 3 or 4 rounds. His career comes down to whether he wins the Alvarez rematch or not. If he loses it than it’s time to call it a day.

Respect for your assessment of the first Ward fight. I think I remember having Ward ahead by 1 round, but I knew it was competitive and I thought the decision would probably go the other way.

[Boxknowledge75]

I knew from the 1st rd that Alvarez had a chance if he got past the first half of the fight. Ko artist who knocks opponents out early usually fatigues when taking deep. I see this with wilder and Joshua. ( same with bivol)

[baroidi]

everyone now knows that Kovalev can't take body shots, Alvarez was targeting the body early on and that's what gave him the opening for the KO. Good fight!

[HarvardBlue]

Kovalev was shot to ATG status for beating senior citizen Bernard Hopkins. Some people didn't take into consideration BHop was knocked out of the ring by a construction worker soon after.

When Ward nullified his offense in the second half of the first fight people ignored that and cried robbery. When Ward got within a inch of knocking Kovalev out the same people only saw low blows. Another light punching fighter damn near killed him and yet those same people are talking about he was winning the fight. Kovalev need to call it a day. He is who he is and nothing is going to make a more disciplined fighter.

[Lemonhead_Jeff]

Couldn’t have been said better 👍

Yeah, but now I'm hungry! lol

[BIG GUNZ]

I knew from the 1st rd that Alvarez had a chance if he got past the first half of the fight. Ko artist who knocks opponents out early usually fatigues when taking deep. I see this with wilder and Joshua. ( same with bivol)

I can see this possibly happening with Wilder vs. Joshua. If Wilder doesn’t KO Joshua early than I can see Joshua winning by KO/TKO.