What next for Kovalev??

[ViperSniper]

No. I feel Kovalev is a bad matchup for any version of Hopkins at 175!

[Method]

Prime BHop beats Kov.

[JD]

I don’t really see a prime Hopkins struggling with Kovalev.

Hopkins would get inside and do the dirty work Kovalev hates.

[Warlord]

Yes, the Hopkins that beat Tarver beats Kov. He was too good a tactician and too good at breaking guys down for Kovalev, I think.

I don't think Kovalev beats Hops, Toney, or Roy in their primes. He's lucky he didn't fight in the 90's.

[the ollie reed fan club]

(08-06-2018 10:19 PM)Warlord Wrote:  Yes, the Hopkins that beat Tarver beats Kov. He was too good a tactician and too good at breaking guys down for Kovalev, I think.

I don't think Kovalev beats Hops, Toney, or Roy in their primes. He's lucky he didn't fight in the 90's.

Can you imagine how much guys like Hopkins and particularly Toney would've got inside Kov's head? they both would've had the win before the first bell, again as per Meth I'm referencing prime Hopkins.

[lloyd mayflower]

Yeah, regardless of what you think of Sergeys fights against Ward, Hopkins makes the fight be exactly what he wants it to be and wins accordingly. Kovs toolset is nothing Hopkins hasnt seen before.

[blackbelt2003]

Yeah, my thoughts too. Mentally, Hops was too strong for Kovalev and would have broken him up in the second half of the fight.



Black

[ViperSniper]

I see the Hopkins that fought Tarver being used as Hopkins in his 175 'prime'. Does anyone disagree & feel Hopkins looked/fought better against someone else other than Tarver at 175 ?

Also at what point did Hopkins stop being in his prime and started declining? After the Calzaghe fight? Dawson fights? What was the first thing to go?
I say his punch outout was the first thing to fade & then his legs which were clearly evident in the Smith fight.

I feel the only time Hopkins looked old was in his final fight, which was ironically his longest layoff of his entire career lol. Roy Jones said that's the reason Hopkins lost because when boxers are still fighting at an old age the very worst thing they can do is be inactive as it ages the body even quicker.

[JD]

He said he is going to fight on.

[Method]

Prime Hopkins was ~98/99-2003, but fuck, he was top level for a long time...Im not calling Tarver his prime, but Id pick that version of BHop over Kov. Who knows.

I have respect for Kovaliev and I am NOT discounting his victories. Really, I give Hopkins more credit for taking that beating moreso than I do Kov for administering that beating, but Kov accounted for himself well in not playing into Ex's games and fuckery (no doubt John David Jackson helped a lot in that prep...Im sure of it).

Sergei really needs to decide if he wants to FULLY rededicate himself. Go work w Virgil Hunter, Naazim, Freddie...get a legit team and dedi8cate yourself. Then if you lose, you know you've maxed out.

Problem is, Alvarez has a chin like Mayorga.