Kovalev's skills
Kovalev's skills... How do you rate them? If we go by his recent fights, this is my analysis:
Chilemba: Kovalev was neither able to stop Chilemba nor easily outbox him. That's not a bad sign, just shows that Kovalev's skills are not extraordinary.
Pascal: Pascal, a shot fighter, was nailing Kovalev with brutal shots and Kovalev would fall over his own legs while trying to hunt down Pascal. Kovalev won this war due to superior punching power, but it showed that his defense and balance are horrible.
Hopkins: A 49 years old fossil who had just fought one average guy after another in hard matches. Some say that Kovalev outboxed him, but it was more a case of Hopkins not being able to open up due to Kovalev's power and the lack of speed that comes with the lack of youth. The fact that Kovalev could knock him down in the first round shows that his power could hurt and stop Hopkins, but he simply didn't have the offensive skills to push for the stoppage. This fight showed that Kovalev is limited and can't adept to complicated defensive opponents. WTF is he gonna do against Ward, then?
Caparello: He knocked Kovalev down, though the knockdown was more a result of Kovalev's horrible balance issues and lack of defense. Kovalev won, as he should, but this was the first sign of Kovalev's weaknesses that just got confirmed further in his later fights.
That's basically how I see Kovalev. A very hardhitting guy who can box, but in a very flawed and limited way. It won't work against a young, fast, skilled and slick opponent.
Chilemba: Kovalev was neither able to stop Chilemba nor easily outbox him. That's not a bad sign, just shows that Kovalev's skills are not extraordinary.
Pascal: Pascal, a shot fighter, was nailing Kovalev with brutal shots and Kovalev would fall over his own legs while trying to hunt down Pascal. Kovalev won this war due to superior punching power, but it showed that his defense and balance are horrible.
Hopkins: A 49 years old fossil who had just fought one average guy after another in hard matches. Some say that Kovalev outboxed him, but it was more a case of Hopkins not being able to open up due to Kovalev's power and the lack of speed that comes with the lack of youth. The fact that Kovalev could knock him down in the first round shows that his power could hurt and stop Hopkins, but he simply didn't have the offensive skills to push for the stoppage. This fight showed that Kovalev is limited and can't adept to complicated defensive opponents. WTF is he gonna do against Ward, then?
Caparello: He knocked Kovalev down, though the knockdown was more a result of Kovalev's horrible balance issues and lack of defense. Kovalev won, as he should, but this was the first sign of Kovalev's weaknesses that just got confirmed further in his later fights.
That's basically how I see Kovalev. A very hardhitting guy who can box, but in a very flawed and limited way. It won't work against a young, fast, skilled and slick opponent.
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