Comments Thread For: Sergey Kovalev vs. Anthony Yarde is Ordered By WBO

['b']

Good fight if true. If I had to hedge a bet on who pulls out I'd say Yarde, his 'promotah' might not think he's ready (he is).

I think Kolovkin wins

[VatoMulatto]

Yarde has never fought anyone close to Kovalev's level before nor has he put on any performances in the ring that would suggest he can beat someone like Kovalev, so it's hard to pick him to win. However, it's boxing and Yarde can definitely crack. Make the fight happen and let's see what Yarde is made of.

[john l]

Kovalev fans that I know anyway never did. I certainly never have. In fact I've been seeing this ****storm brewing for months now. At first, Yarde was viewed as the cant miss next big thing at 175. Then he had ONE off performance. Plus he talks too much while still just being a prospect, it turned all the UK fans against him. Instead of saying he's the next big thing that would KO Kovalev, like they and even some American boxing fans were saying a couple years ago, they've turned to saying he's a joke now. This in turn has rubbed off on American fans who think he's a joke even though they've never seen him fight just because they see the UK fans talking about what a joke he is.

So now if Yarde KO's old Kovalev, which he has a real chance at doing, Kovalev fans like me are going to be inundated with a ****storm of casual fans saying "Kovalev got KO'd by the joke Yarde! You guys said he had no chance but look what happened!"

No no, YOU guys said he had no chance. Not me. At least, you guys said that after previously saying he would KO him and everyone else at 175.

So no, I see the danger in someone with good (inconsistent but good when he does it) head movement, elite speed, and elite or near elite power, experience or not. How could you not? And vs someone who was KO'd just two fights ago. If this fight gets made, it will be one of the most exciting matchups on the calender. Two of the most talented boxer-punchers in the sport, Kovalev and Yarde. One experienced but aging, one totally unproven but it's still clear to see the talent that is there, even if the lack of experience also means he has some technical flaws still. Maybe in Kovalev's prime those technical flaws would be a dealbreaker, but with Kovalev not punching as hard anymore, all it may really mean is Yarde has to walk through a few shots before getting the KO. It doesn't mean he can't win.

Well thought out post but I don't see the talent in Yarde you do.I see a strong young prospect(still)but one with quite a few flaws yet.He has bad defense and wild a bit with his shots because of his not very good balance.He has an unproven chin not saying bad matter a fact his body would suggest at least decent one but its still unproven.He seems like he is a tough guy but also has not REALLY had to show it yet.And although he has CLEAR power im not sure its next level which is what he needs with his defects imo.I think its too soon but then again MAYBE their looking to cash out not saying that's the case but would not be 1st time a promoter/manager KNEW from inside knowledge that he might get beat moving him so lets get one good payday.

[Fabes88]

Fight isn’t happening next. I predict a late notice yarde injury

[Boxing Logic]

This is a smart play by Team Yarde is any case. Win, and the reward is obvious. Lose, and Yarde is still only 27, hasn't had 20 fights yet, so they can say he simply lacked experience and that it was a good learning experience. Even with the loss, his name recognition will skyrocket from the opportunity to share the ring with one of the Mt. Rushmore faces of the post-May/Pac era (so far mine would be Loma, GGG, Kovalev, Usyk... Chocolatito. OK my Mt Rushmore has an extra slot lol. And I swear I'm not just picking all HBO guys on purpose, I just truly believe those are the best 5 boxers of this era so far), and the loss will buy him more time with the fans to rebuild himself, "I just took a big risk and a big loss, I deserve another 5 tuneups for development now, you guys understand, you can support me again now please" etc etc, and then when he comes back for another shot, he will have that experience, he will make more money because he will be more well known, and by then there might be someone easier to beat with the belt or who knows.

Also, winning OR losing to Kovalev now is a great way to get the jump on Yarde's domestic rival, Buatsi. That's always been a bankable strategy for UK fighters. Instead of taking the domestic UK fight when it's logical in terms of the sport, figuring out who is best between #1 and #2 at the domestic level before going to the world level, you do it in the opposite order, you go make a bigger name in the US vs a top world class guy, then even if you lose, you can come back to the UK domestic level and fans will still want to see the domestic rivalry, and now you can get paid twice as much for it because you've been featured in a major world level fight and increased your brand.

What Team Yarde is doing is basically like putting all your poker chips in on a 40% chance because they're house chips. They give them to you, you can only use them on this hand, otherwise they're forfeit anyway and you're back to having to risk your own money. This way, they play the house chips, if they win, amazing, if not, they lose nothing really, losses mean nothing anymore look at the two biggest DAZN signings, Canelo and GGG, both have losses (or "loss" in GGG's case), and they still actually gain a lot in experience, name recognition (i.e. money), oh and the MONEY the payday, Yarde will get life-changing money for this fight, probably at least 500k.

So for everyone shocked they're doing it, to me it was obvious they wanted this fight, and obvious why. They wouldn't have called him out and put the spotlight on themselves if they didn't want it. The only thing I thought, and still wonder about, is that they wanted it late 2019, not next. And I figured the sanctioning body would side with the US/Mex/PR/UK boxer over the eastern bloc fighter like they usually seem to, at least from what I can gather. But maybe the WBO knows something we don't, maybe they know Canelo really was serious about fighting Kovalev and that it will happen sooner than later so they want Kovalev to keep the belt so they can get that big sanctioning fee lol... I mean WHO KNOWS that's the least likely reason but I'm just saying, it could be anything... more likely, maybe they want a Kovalev-Bivol/Zurdo/Beterbiev sanctioning fee rather than Yarde taking the belt back to the UK to fight 10 more cab drivers to develop more as he thanks his lucky stars that his 35% puncher's chance connected that one lucky night.

That would be my case. Anyway, Kovalev-Yarde is no Kovalev-Bivol or anything, in terms of fights I want to see, but it is, actually, the most exciting, and most significant, mandatory we have seen in the sport of boxing these last 5 or 10 years EXCEPT FOR 1. Lomachenko vs GRJ, the fight that changed boxing history otherwise Loma might still be frozen out to this day and until his mid-thirties like GGG was, 2. Klitschko-Fury and Stevenson-Gvozdyk tied, as it depends what Gvozdyk and Fury go on to do in their respective careers going forward before we can say which was more significant to the sport, historically.

But in terms of interesting fights for fans, you could even argue Loma-GRJ and Stevenson-Gvozdyk should be tied #1, and Klitschko-Fury behind them. In any case, those were a level above, basically the highest level mandatory matchups you ever get in boxing at least anymore, but Kovalev-Yarde is just one level below that, which means it's still 100 levels above the usual mandatory crap we get (Lomachenko-Crolla anyone?), and stylistically, it's probably 100 levels ABOVE even the other BEST ones, like Loma-GRJ and Stevenson-Gvozdyk, so... as much as I complain about boxing, you know what, this ain't bad.

I criticized ESPN a lot for their handling of the 175 division when they cheapened out and wouldn't pay for a unification in the summer for no apparent good reason, and they still deserve the criticism, but Im just saying, short of unification, if all they're going to give boxing fans is budget fights at 175 for the summer (which again, is no real commitment to boxing at all, is it? So still big criticism warranted, but let me get to the point), then Kovalev-Yarde and Beterbiev-Hot Rod are like kind of super cool boutique fights. They're like somewhat minor hardcore historical fantasy fights that hardcore fans talk about ten years after the fact, "what would have happened if those random but cool style guys would have fought?" but the fights never happened because they WERE so random, except in this case, those fights might happen.

So we're not getting a great matchup, which usually also means we're not getting good matchups, but this time, if the trade is instead of one great matchup, we get two really good matchups with super fun style contracts and intriguing story lines (like how does Beterbiev compare to Browne? How does Yarde so stepping up?) that lead to the great fight, the unification, right afterwards, then I like that a lot. It's just I hope that unification involves Bivol, because due to inactivity and age and a poor last performance, it's starting to feel like the gap between the top 3 at 175 and Beterbiev is growing, and that he's not as relevant to the top of the division as he used to be.

[Pigeons]

Good fight.

[Oldskoolg]

Kovalev fans that I know anyway never did. I certainly never have. In fact I've been seeing this ****storm brewing for months now. At first, Yarde was viewed as the cant miss next big thing at 175. Then he had ONE off performance. Plus he talks too much while still just being a prospect, it turned all the UK fans against him. Instead of saying he's the next big thing that would KO Kovalev, like they and even some American boxing fans were saying a couple years ago, they've turned to saying he's a joke now. This in turn has rubbed off on American fans who think he's a joke even though they've never seen him fight just because they see the UK fans talking about what a joke he is.

So now if Yarde KO's old Kovalev, which he has a real chance at doing, Kovalev fans like me are going to be inundated with a ****storm of casual fans saying "Kovalev got KO'd by the joke Yarde! You guys said he had no chance but look what happened!"

No no, YOU guys said he had no chance. Not me. At least, you guys said that after previously saying he would KO him and everyone else at 175.

So no, I see the danger in someone with good (inconsistent but good when he does it) head movement, elite speed, and elite or near elite power, experience or not. How could you not? And vs someone who was KO'd just two fights ago. If this fight gets made, it will be one of the most exciting matchups on the calender. Two of the most talented boxer-punchers in the sport, Kovalev and Yarde. One experienced but aging, one totally unproven but it's still clear to see the talent that is there, even if the lack of experience also means he has some technical flaws still. Maybe in Kovalev's prime those technical flaws would be a dealbreaker, but with Kovalev not punching as hard anymore, all it may really mean is Yarde has to walk through a few shots before getting the KO. It doesn't mean he can't win.

It turned the uk fans against him but they love Hearn? Doesn’t that just speak volumes about my home kingdom

[steeve steel]

Whatever... give them their belt back and fight Bivol for good money.

[lefthooklead]

They won't fight. Kov will fight Beterbiev in a unification next.

[Nusky]

Doubt it happens next.