Comments Thread For: Kovalev Dominates Hopkins, Unifies WBA/WBO/IBF Belts

[MisanthropicNY]

BTW, this fight also showed me why Stevenson ducked Kovalev... Yes, he ducked Kovalev while still on HBO to fight Bellew or whatever that bums name was, I'm not talking about the second duck when he ran to Showtime...

We also get a glimpse of why Andre Ward made a lame excuse for not fighting Kovalev either when both fighters are on HBO, Ward beat everyone at 168, and Ward could not move up one division...

[SUBZER0ED]

Man I'm not sure Stevenson would fight him, so if not him, who ? This division is pretty dry.

Stevenson already knew Kovalev was the real deal last year. That's why he pissed himself and ran to Showtime when HBO was trying to set up a big fight between them.

[Russian Crushin]

I was laughing at some of Roy's shots at Bernard he did give him his due but couldn't help but think how he must of enjoyed that.

He called him son at one point lol

[bigjavi973]

Respect for bhop. Great win for kovalev. Now if only Stevenson takes his balls out his purse.

[cupocity303]

Admirable finish from Hopkins. Not a bad way to go out! I got a sense of pride from it all, I could hang onto that as Bhop final ring memory.

This guy gets it. To the several posts that blabered on about how Kovalev could have done what he did in the 12th at any point of the fight, and have gotten the KO -- wasn't it obvious that the only reason we saw what we saw in the 12th is because Hopkins chose to get off the bicycle and defense, and took a risk because he knew he was behind. Obviously it didn't work and 'The Crusher' got the better of him but all of that happened because of what Hopkins chose to do in the last 3 minutes, NOT because he was ready for the taking at any point.

Some of you guys just have a tendency to sensationalize the hell out of certain events like it's some Fantasy Marvel movie.

[kiaba360]

I always was curious what people saw to make them think Kovalev is this (Hopkins words) slow footed predictable solely a power puncher it's almost like they convinced themselves it was true.

The straight definition of delusional.

Some fans looked at B-Hop's resume and figured that because he's beaten other punchers (Trinidad, Pavlik, Pascal), there's a good chance that he'd beat Kov too. Forget about his age when he fought those guys. Forget about the fact that Tito was coming from 147/154, that Pavlik was coming from 160. Let's ignore that Kovalev is fully prime, stopping full-fledged LHWs with ease.

This was Kovalev's fight to lose, and I would've been highly disappointed had he blown the opportunity. He stuck to the game-plan, applied steady pressure and never let B-Hop into the fight. He didn't let B-Hop ruin his coming out party with his bag of spoiling tricks. B-Hop has a tendency of making his opponent look bad, but Kov avoided all the traps.

[cupocity303]

I can't believe the disrespect Bernard gets on this board.

It was a good win for Kovalev and there's no shame losing to a guy that powerful and in his prime.

Bernard Hopkins is a legend who carried boxing on his back in the 90's along with Jones Jr and Toney and and even carried it further after the millennium.
He has defied father time again and again and proved his critics wrong for almost a decade when they said he was getting "too old".

Like a said, there's no shame in losing to a younger, hungrier and stronger fighter.
He has had an illustrious career and was already considered 'a terror' and one of the greatest fighters before he took Trinidad's crown. That was 13 years ago.

It's time for Bernard Hopkins to pass The torch. And it will be exciting to see where Kovalev goes from here.

Good post, therefore I'm 're-sharing' it.

[Citizen Koba]

All props to BHop - a legend and ATG with a chin of granite.

But goddammit... masterclass by Sergei. Cong**** Krusher - now get your ass back to Florida and go spend some time with your newborn son. I'm guessing Natalyia might have another present for you too!

[cupocity303]

Many were underestimating Kovalev's athleticism. I remember a prediction on youtube (picking B-Hop to win) saying that Kovalev was slower than Murat/Cloud/Shumenov, ****ing delusional.

This is true. But then there are 'fans' and Low IQ 'observers' on this forum who are misinterpreting what they saw the other way around.

I.E. Kovalev could have Ko'd him whenever he wanted to because of what he did in the 12th. Ehh, WRONG.

Certain people are ******ed and their observational skills aren't that great.

[cupocity303]

That has always been the main thing that impressed me about Kovalev. He punches very hard but he doesn't just load up on one shot. He's got power in both hands and actually throws in bunches. A rare skill to have.

Having said that, Hopkins was virtually done tonight. He needs to retire.

This is true. He has good straight punches, he also has good hooks when he knows that it's time to throw them. Very good jab to the midsection to keep an opponent occupied (and it even knocked out a guy once).

And as Hopkins acknowledged in the post-fight interview --- underrated footwork seeing how he stepped out of danger after he finished throwing.