"Krusher" Kovalev vs RJJ@ 168-175lbs/12-12.5 Stone. Who wins?

[BOMB ZQUAD]

Kovalev has yet to peak? Ehm, since when? He's at his peak right now, he's 30 odd years old.

Klitschko was in his prime late 30's...

Kovalev still has a career to build. If Kovalev beats Ward then Stevenson... Ward alone is better than any nutjob RJJ has fought.

It's funny how people say Kovalev has no chin or a "suspect chin" excuse me, did you see the shots he ate from Pascal? Please, rewatch that fight for me ffs.

Kovalev is the real deal, all we have to do is wait and watch what he turns into. He's improved significantly

[robertzimmerman]

People are quick to talk about Jones chin but lack to state the facts that Kovalev has got hurt by wide swinging Pascal and dropped by much lesser opposition in Caparello. Jones at 175 before the move up to 200+ was showing such dominate performances many believed he was unstoppable at 175. A Prime 175 Jones Jr, finds wholes in Kovalevs offense (which in my view can often be one dimensional). Personally I'd go with Jones by TKO/KO mid to late rounds. Unfourtanitly Kovalev has yet to be in with Prime Elite opposition, after Stevenson (who isn't much better) or Ward (who posses a stylistic problem) I feel more fans will get a better assessment of what Kovalev's future as a ATG maybe. Till then, it would be idiotic to think a mans who's best win is against a 50 year old ATG (although still great at what he did, his age finally showed).

I feel the same with any current Boxer outside of the current greats who are soon to leave. Mayweather,Pacquiao, Klitchko, Hopkins, Jones, ect....

Great post.

[BOMB ZQUAD]

Kovalev is very good indeed. But he couldn't stop a 50 year old Hopkins, i can't really see him doing anything to a prime RJJ.

Oh no, you're right he couldn't stop a freak of nature Hopkins who's 50.. but fights at 38. He didn't KO him, but he beat hopkins on every round :\ bummer

This was bizarre, no one ever in Hopkins career made him look like a hype job.

[robertzimmerman]

Ruiz WAS a BUM. FACT. Why do you think Roy fought him? Because he was a killer? Hahaha!!! Learn your boxing kid. You sound like one of those posters who think Roy was an ATG or God. He was neither and wasn't tough enough to beat SK. You so called fans seem to forget to mention things like that. I don't care who you are, you WILL take punishment from SK. He's that smart. Roy's speed would not be enough and you know that. His chin gets checked.

Are you trolling?

If only you could see the irony in you stating that other posters should learn boxing.

Roy is a proven ATG.

As yet, Kov hasn't done much and he's got lots of question marks surrounding him.

Yet you're telling us that Roy wouldn't have had a chance?

Okay.

[Ryn0]

Anything can happen in boxing when a legitimate clever power puncher like Kovalev is involved. But prime Roy would obviously be the favorite.



Come on though. Kovalev could have demolished Hopkins. He carried him.

Don't believe that in the slightest, Kovalev was trying to take him out the 12th hard.

Can't believe after everything Hopkins has done people still doubt his defensive abilities.

[robertzimmerman]

Actually, I just sparred 8 rounds this morning. My nephew did as well. I know boxing. The hype of a fighter, the media, etc doesn't factor into my calculated opinion. Prime Roy fought a lot of body guards, ex cops, firemen, etc. I KNOW that and you KNOW that. He ducked plenty of fights man. The Nunn and Body Snatcher fights in particular. Now, why do you think he did that? Roy was never looking for a "fight". He was never touched in his prime because outside of James Toney and pre prime Hopkin's, he never wanted to fight the best. He was a **** talker like Floyd but didn't back it up in the ring. He made a lot of amateurish mistakes that an A Level fighter would take advantage of. You wanna talk boxing? Let's talk boxing but do realize that I KNOW boxing. I'm no Fanboy who just started watching 5-10 years ago. I am a legit boxing fanatic and fan of the sport who understands all aspects of the fight game. Roy was overrated just like Floyd is overrated. They are not ATG's. They are mere HOF'mers who ducked top level opposition. It's not hard to look great against B/C Level guys. You see what happened to Roy against Joe right? But just a fight earlier, he looked like legend against the same guy Joe owner, in Jeff Lacy. End thread.

Again, I have to ask, are you a troll?

You're either a troll, or you're an arrogant poster who doesn't know even half of what you think you know.

Roy did fight a lot of subpar opposition, as everyone does, but 90% of them were mandatories. But he also fought a lot of top ten ranked guys, as well as the likes of Hopkins, Toney, Hill, Griffin, Johnson, Harding, Gonzalez, Woods, Ruiz and Tarver etc. It's a very good resume, especially if you allow for the fact that he started out at JMW-MW, and he beat most guys with ease, barely losing rounds while in his prime.

Which fighters did he duck?

He never wanted to fight the best? I've seen proof that he tried to fight Liles, Evander, and a Hopkins rematch, amongst others.

What does Roy fighting Joe have to do with anything? He was 9 weeks from his 40th birthday. Joe was a scavenger. He wanted nothing to do with Roy when he was prime. He only fought him because he knew he was shot and possessed no threat. Also, Roy fought Lacy after Joe, not before. Yes, Roy looked great against Lacy. But Lacy wasn't an elite fighter, and he was also shot at that point. It doesn't tell us anything. Boxing is defined by levels, and the timing of the fights. Joe was an elite fighter. And at that stage, Roy was no longer capable of beating top level guys. Going into the fight with Joe, Roy hadn't had a top level win for 5 years. But I don't know why you've made reference to the fight. What point are you trying to make exactly?

[Ryn0]

Klitschko was in his prime late 30's...

Kovalev still has a career to build. If Kovalev beats Ward then Stevenson... Ward alone is better than any nutjob RJJ has fought.

It's funny how people say Kovalev has no chin or a "suspect chin" excuse me, did you see the shots he ate from Pascal? Please, rewatch that fight for me ffs.

Kovalev is the real deal, all we have to do is wait and watch what he turns into. He's improved significantly

Bigger men tend to be able to fight into their last 30's it also helps that Klitschko has seldom been hit hard since Peter. Kovalev is prime right now, he has a few years left to run but he doesn't have the defensive abilities to fight into his last 30's as a dominant LHW.

[Caught Square]

And you don't think that Roy would have been all wrong for Kov?

He was faster, harder to hit, used more variation, and he too had genuine one punch knockout power.

Also, why is it insane to think that Ruiz could have beaten Kov?

Styles make fights. Kov doesn't possess the speed that Roy had. Roy beat him easily by having superior speed. He could pot shot him at will. For Kov to have beaten Ruiz, I think he'd have had to have beaten him by fighting him and not boxing him. It could have been a hard nights work for him. Ruiz wasn't garbage, he was just awful to watch. He was a spoiler. But he was 230 pounds and a lot of decent HW's had hard nights against him.

Good posts but you're asking questions to a guy who's banned so don't expect a reply from him any time soon lol.

[robertzimmerman]

Yes, I do. I purposely mentioned the ducking aspect because Mike wasn't a Light heavyweight. He was fat and OLD. Why do you think Roy fought him, man? I know they fought but the fight was irrelevant because of WHEN they fought. Prime MM beats Roy Jones.

In my opinion, Mike was a genius in his prime. He could well have a beaten a young version of Roy at JMW/MW. But Roy didn't duck him earlier. A fight was never viable. Roy was wrapped in cotton wool by his father and he missed out on a lot of potentially great fights. Roy's career didn't take off until he split from his father and he signed with HBO in 92.

You can't simply say that Roy ducked the guys who he didn't fight. You have to take into account what the circumstances were at the time.

Yes, Roy didn't want to fight Nunn when he was his mandatory at LHW. But before you cry 'duck' you need to look into why. Roy respected Nunn, and he didn't want to fight him for the money what was on offer. But after Roy relinquished his title, he pursued a fight with Evander Holyfield. Along with his advisor at the time Greg Fritz, he went to Atlanta to meet Evander and his attorney Jim Thomas. Jim Thomas has given a first hand account of what happened in his book, titled - The Holyfield Way. Roy asked if there was any chance of a fight, but Evander respectfully declined the offer, because he thought he was in a no win situation at the time. At which point Roy turned his attentions to a Buster Douglas fight that would have been worth around $6m dollars, whereas a Nunn fight would have been worth around $1.8m.

The Douglas fight was set, only for Roy's father to step in at the last moment to talk him out of it. It was the first time they'd spoke to each other properly for around 6 years. So Roy then fought Hill at a catchweight for $3m. Personally, I believe that Roy would have fought Nunn under different circumstances. In 1996, Roy tried to fight Frankie Liles who'd beaten Nunn, and who'd also beaten him in the amateurs. But Roy fought other good-great southpaws such as: Reggie Johnson, Eric Harding, Antinio Tarver and Joe Calzaghe. And I believe that fighting Tarver at 35 after dropping back from HW, as well as fighting Joe at almost 40, had to have been bigger challenges than fighting a faded Nunn when he was 28.

[vorgaphe]

Kovalev has a puncher's chance nothing more. RJJ would have a very real chance of stopping Kov too.