Is Stamina still a problem for Kovalev?

[Thraxox]

With Kovalev going to twelve rounds in his fights such has Bernard Hopkins and a Cruiserweight in Isaac Chilemba does he still have Stamina Problems? I see in the Bernard Hopkins fight when he was much relaxed on the outside, picking his shots, waiting for an opening where he used little energy against the old man. And in Isaac Chilemba where we see Kovalev exert great energy on the early rounds trying to KO Chilemba but still has enough energy in the late rounds to score some points, rounds and wobble Chilemba.

Thoughts?

[Sugar Adam Ali]

It's always going to be a problem with aggressive punchers.. Guys like Kovolev, Maidana, lacy, etc always slow down in the 2nd half of fights. It's nearly impossible for guys to throw bombs with such velocity over 12 rds. Trinidad is about the only aggressive puncher that I can recall that would get stronger and more active as the fight wore on..

It's not to say they 'gas' just that they are not as explosive punchers as they were earlier in the fights which is a big part of their game

[Redd Foxx]

He got tired against Chilemba because he was missing a lot. That will exhaust you. Hitting a target (even a blocked shot) puts a bit of energy back toward you and doesn't require as much effort. When you miss, your balance gets slightly thrown off and it requires more effort form your entire body to straighten back out.

I don't put too much stake into the Chilemba fight as a lot of the mistakes he made thre were things he didn't do against Hopkins and I doubt he'll do against Ward. However, I do expect him to be missing a lot since Ward has one of the highest defense ratios in all of boxing. Kovalev will get tired if this goes past 8 rounds.

[Thraxox]

Hi got tired against Chilemba because he was missing a lot. That will exhaust you. Hitting a target (even a blocked shot) puts a bit of energy back toward you and doesn't require as much effort. When you miss, your balance gets slightly thrown off and it requires more effort form your entire body to straighten back out.

I don't put too much stake into the Chilemba fight as a lot of the mistakes he made thre were things he didn't do against Hopkins and I doubt he'll do against Ward. However, I do expect him to be missing a lot since Ward has one of the highest defense ratios in all of boxing. Kovalev will get tired if this goes past 8 rounds.

Sergey Missed against Chilemba a lot because of the Head and Body movement, Chilemba bob and weaves like crazy, and Andre doesn't do that a lot, he may do that sometimes in the fight but not like Chilemba did, and also Chilemba looked huge in that fight.

But I do agree with your assessment, he will miss against Ward but I don't think he will commit the same mistakes against Chilemba in the same against Ward.

Chilemba is a top figher but Andre Ward is better.

[Redd Foxx]

Sergey Missed against Chilemba a lot because of the Head and Body movement, Chilemba bob and weaves like crazy, and Andre doesn't do that a lot, he may do that sometimes in the fight but not like Chilemba did, and also Chilemba looked huge in that fight.

Ward has always used subtle defensive movements, even more so now that he's at 175. You won't see him exaggerating like Chilemba. It's all about the economy of motion, to save energy and keep yourself in the position to counter.

It may look like he's being hit but many shots are grazing a shoulder or something else inconsequential. For instance, in a fight in which some people claim they saw Ward get "hit a lot", Barrera only landed 15% of all his punches. That's with Andre mostly standing right in front of him, at range, just subtly slipping and blocking.

[dan_cov]

No it never was a problem either.
His gas tank is fine. He is a decent sized LHW at the end of the day he's not exactly a small bloke.

Yh he was a bit fatigued vs Chilemba but I didn't see anything to worry about only positives.

[Madison Boxing]

it was never a problem

[daggum]

yes it will be a problem. he's never fought someone who hugged him and drained his life force before

[Butt stuff]

He didn't tire against b-hop because his opponent hardly did anything for 12 rounds

[soul_survivor]

With Kovalev going to twelve rounds in his fights such has Bernard Hopkins and a Cruiserweight in Isaac Chilemba does he still have Stamina Problems? I see in the Bernard Hopkins fight when he was much relaxed on the outside, picking his shots, waiting for an opening where he used little energy against the old man. And in Isaac Chilemba where we see Kovalev exert great energy on the early rounds trying to KO Chilemba but still has enough energy in the late rounds to score some points, rounds and wobble Chilemba.

Thoughts?

what? since when has Kovalev had stamina issues?