Comments Thread For: Kovalev Contests Criticism He Can't Take Body Shots

[Boxing Goat]

They were low blows and should and the result should have been changed to a NC. Video proof exists, end of story.

[PittyPat]

Fuck, I love this fight more and more the closer it gets. :box2: We can speculate endlessly about body shots, but we just don't know what's going to happen when they face off. It's just a weird match-up.

Alvarez might finally get hurt for the first time since he was a kid – even from a well-placed hard jab, ya never know – or Kovalev might suddenly crumple from one of those long right hands Alvarez throws, or that whipping body left hook.

[Ray*]

He definitely cannot take them, he and Thurman are the two boxers of recent who visibly show you they are hurting from bodyshots.

[richardt]

Love the jacket Canelo is wearing! Really nice!

[Boxing Logic]

This notion comes from Kovalev complaining about body shots to the belt line earlier in the fight vs. Ward. Plus JDJ keeps barking that Kovalev can't take it to the body and he was his trainer for a long time.

Honest question, is "beltline" legal though? The rulebook says bellow the "navel" (belly button) is illegal. That's because the pelvis area is much weaker, the bones there are much weaker, so it's not just the nuts, anything bellow the navel is supposed to be low.

But on the flipside, you see Mexican brawlers going beltline all the time, and it increases the punches they can throw and land, and makes for great fights. And they take it fine. Of course, how many Mexican brawlers have you seen at 175? Light heavyweight is a different game than lightweight, the punches are a lot harder.

To complicate matters further, Kovalev comes from the Russian amateur system, where rules are strictly enforced. He doesn't speak fluent english. I'd wager he's never seen a pro rulebook in his life, and may assume that pros are the same as amateurs, in terms of rules. And by the book, they're supposed to be in this case, but the way the rules are enforced in the pros, it's usually NOT the same.

So we could have a simple misunderstanding here, where no one ever bothered to explain the pro rule ENFORCEMENT to Kovalev. That's a coach's job. In the NFL the rulebook says you're not allowed to hold at all, but coaches are supposed to study how the rule is actually ENFORCED, in fact they even have seminars or something like that in the NFL between officials and some coaches, the "play committee" or whatever it's called, where they go over how the enforcement works, what is allowed and what isn't specifically. And a good NFL coach will then teach the blockers, "it says holding isn't allowed, but in reality, you are allowed to grab here on the jersey, but not here. If you grab here, you have to let go before he gets across your body, or after 1 second, if you dont want the ref to call it."

I bet you JDJ never had a convo with Kovalev like that, and I doubt Buddy has either. These trainers and fighters come prepared for everything in the ring except the ref. GGG was the same way vs Canelo and even Derevanchenko, shocked his opponent was allowed to hit him low, just standing there looking at the ref while the opponent kept hitting him. He didnt tap his cup to tell the ref it was low, he didnt go down and grab his cup to make it very clear, he didnt move, he just stood there and made a face to the ref while getting hit on.

That's not being prepared. So yes, the rulebook needs to be enforced, otherwise if that's not the rule anymore, or it's not a good rule, change it. And yes, Ward low blowed Kovalev many times. And yes, the refs always favor the A-side. But at the same time, the likes of GGG and Kovalev have been fighting in North America for like a decade now. At some point, you have to be prepared.

[chaosisme]

All you ever hear is "[insert fighter here] doesn't like it to the body". Who are all these guys who do like getting hit in the body?

There must be some highlight video of a guy pulling a Mayorga and inviting dudes to wail on his liver, right?

[DuckAdonis]

Kovalev has never been knocked down by a bodyshot: fact

[Shadoww702]

Short story you and most fighters have body shot issues you long and lanky can’t take it. I’m sure Buddy will give you best advice possible when Canella fades in second half like always try and land blinding jab right cross finisher

The older you get the harder it is getting hit in the body! Guess who now is getting criticism he can't take body shots anymore??? GGG

[TonyGe]

Honest question, is "beltline" legal though? The rulebook says bellow the "navel" (belly button) is illegal. That's because the pelvis area is much weaker, the bones there are much weaker, so it's not just the nuts, anything bellow the navel is supposed to be low.

But on the flipside, you see Mexican brawlers going beltline all the time, and it increases the punches they can throw and land, and makes for great fights. And they take it fine. Of course, how many Mexican brawlers have you seen at 175? Light heavyweight is a different game than lightweight, the punches are a lot harder.

To complicate matters further, Kovalev comes from the Russian amateur system, where rules are strictly enforced. He doesn't speak fluent english. I'd wager he's never seen a pro rulebook in his life, and may assume that pros are the same as amateurs, in terms of rules. And by the book, they're supposed to be in this case, but the way the rules are enforced in the pros, it's usually NOT the same.

So we could have a simple misunderstanding here, where no one ever bothered to explain the pro rule ENFORCEMENT to Kovalev. That's a coach's job. In the NFL the rulebook says you're not allowed to hold at all, but coaches are supposed to study how the rule is actually ENFORCED, in fact they even have seminars or something like that in the NFL between officials and some coaches, the "play committee" or whatever it's called, where they go over how the enforcement works, what is allowed and what isn't specifically. And a good NFL coach will then teach the blockers, "it says holding isn't allowed, but in reality, you are allowed to grab here on the jersey, but not here. If you grab here, you have to let go before he gets across your body, or after 1 second, if you dont want the ref to call it."

I bet you JDJ never had a convo with Kovalev like that, and I doubt Buddy has either. These trainers and fighters come prepared for everything in the ring except the ref. GGG was the same way vs Canelo and even Derevanchenko, shocked his opponent was allowed to hit him low, just standing there looking at the ref while the opponent kept hitting him. He didnt tap his cup to tell the ref it was low, he didnt go down and grab his cup to make it very clear, he didnt move, he just stood there and made a face to the ref while getting hit on.

That's not being prepared. So yes, the rulebook needs to be enforced, otherwise if that's not the rule anymore, or it's not a good rule, change it. And yes, Ward low blowed Kovalev many times. And yes, the refs always favor the A-side. But at the same time, the likes of GGG and Kovalev have been fighting in North America for like a decade now. At some point, you have to be prepared.

It's both the trainer and fighter who are responsible for dealing with that crap. I watched the Derevyanchenko
fight twice and both times I was surprised at the lack of retaliation from Golovkin and his corner. If Manny was in that corner Derev never would have got away with the fouling with no response. If the corner won't deal with it then the fighter has to do something on his own. That includes head butting, foot stomping and low blows.

[texasboi15]

Love the jacket Canelo is wearing! Really nice!

Oh you like that?

It's Daniel Jacobskin