Sergey Kovalev VS Bernard Hopkins is on!

Ambrose

Master
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Messages
2,630
Location
New York
I have a lot of confidence in Sergey beating old Hopkins. If Murat and Shumenov can hit Hopkins why can't Sergey. I think this fight is going to end with Hopkins conceding a TKO or faking an injury. I really doubt Hopkins is going to stay in there and take a beating or risk getting stretched out.
 

white is right

Hall of Famer
Joined
Feb 16, 2006
Messages
10,163
I have a lot of confidence in Sergey beating old Hopkins. If Murat and Shumenov can hit Hopkins why can't Sergey. I think this fight is going to end with Hopkins conceding a TKO or faking an injury. I really doubt Hopkins is going to stay in there and take a beating or risk getting stretched out.
Hopkins of course will stall and hit on the break. He will also claim rabbit punches and low blows on anything borderline. Even when he was easily beating Jones in their rematch he stalled and rolled on the ground claiming a foul to the cup. He is a master of creating a foul, similar to flopping in basketball or soccer. Sergey needs to hit him with clean shots to the chin and fight him on the outside and beat him with the vigour of youth. If Dawson can beat Hopkins like this then Sergey should too.
 
Last edited:

Ambrose

Master
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Messages
2,630
Location
New York
Hopkins of course will stall and hit on the break. He will also claim rabbit punches and low blows on anything borderline. Even when he was easily beating Jones in their rematch he stalled and rolled on the ground claiming a foul to the cup. He is a master of creating a foul, similar to flopping in basketball or soccer. Sergey needs to hit him with clean shots to the chin and fight him on the outside and beat him with the vigour of youth. If Dawson can beat Hopkins like this then Sergey should too.

I agree, Sergey needs to keep his distance, and he will mostly -like you said its Hopkins who will try to stall. I would add Hopkins will try to stink, smother, whine, whimper and corrupt.
 

werewolf

Hall of Famer
Joined
May 6, 2011
Messages
5,995
Kovalev has to knock the old toothless bastard out and he's never been knocked out.No judge is going to give him a decision win over El Negro Magnificento. I wouldn't be surprised if ole man had Adelaide Byrd in there as one of the judges so she could do the same thing as in the Calzaghe fight. Hopkins will hold the entire fight.


Ha ha - sounds about right! But I expect K to beat up on the black bum like a heavy bag so that the bum eventually decides that it might be in his best interests to not come out for round eight - so that's my prediction.
 

Charles Martel

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
8,484
Hopkins actually has the longer reach, 75 to 72.
Negroes generally do have longer arms and legs than people the same height of other races.

It's especially true for Sub-Saharan Africans who have no mix of white or American Indian heritage.

I remember the HBO tale of the tape for several Klitschko opponents: despite Wlad being taller than Hasim Rahman and Tony Thompson, Wlad actually has shorter arms.

Arm length is an important advantage in boxing, and accounts for much of the negroes' success over the years. And longer legs help in moving around the ring. There is a myth that blacks are more athletic, but it's not true, in fact they seem to be less athletic. I think that without having proportionally longer limbs, negroes would have little success in sports.
 

white is right

Hall of Famer
Joined
Feb 16, 2006
Messages
10,163
Negroes generally do have longer arms and legs than people the same height of other races.

It's especially true for Sub-Saharan Africans who have no mix of white or American Indian heritage.

I remember the HBO tale of the tape for several Klitschko opponents: despite Wlad being taller than Hasim Rahman and Tony Thompson, Wlad actually has shorter arms.

Arm length is an important advantage in boxing, and accounts for much of the negroes' success over the years. And longer legs help in moving around the ring. There is a myth that blacks are more athletic, but it's not true, in fact they seem to be less athletic. I think that without having proportionally longer limbs, negroes would have little success in sports.
Yes some of the freakier Stretch Armstrong clone type boxers have been boxers that have been close to full blooded Africans. Ie Panama AL Brown who fought at bantamweight at 6' tall. In recent history Tommy Hearns had a slightly more filled out frame then him but a 6'1" welterweight is pretty freaky too, also Paul Williams had similar dimensions.
 

Charles Martel

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
8,484
Will the referee be fair to Kovalev, or will he be fighting two men in there?

A biased ref helping B-Hop could a frustrating distraction for Sergey.

article-0-1903295A00000578-908_634x423.jpg
 

celticdb15

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jul 24, 2007
Messages
8,469
I hope Kovalev handles grampa Hopkins easily.
 

whiteathlete33

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Messages
12,669
Location
New Jersey
I always get nervous when any white fighter fights Hopkins. The Kelly Pavlik fight always comes back to mind. Here was a guy on top of the world and the old man schooled him. I think Kovalev is quite a bit more athletic and certainly has more power then Pavlik, but anything can happen. The old bastard will hold non-stop. If Kovalev is pounding him with heavy shots I expect old bastard to fake some kind of low blow or try and get Kovalev disqualified. The old bastard never goes down without a fight.
 
Joined
Dec 7, 2011
Messages
1,434
Location
Calgary, Canada
I always get nervous when any white fighter fights Hopkins. The Kelly Pavlik fight always comes back to mind. Here was a guy on top of the world and the old man schooled him. I think Kovalev is quite a bit more athletic and certainly has more power then Pavlik, but anything can happen. The old bastard will hold non-stop. If Kovalev is pounding him with heavy shots I expect old bastard to fake some kind of low blow or try and get Kovalev disqualified. The old bastard never goes down without a fight.

Interesting comments, man.

Fortunately, I think BHOP has aged since the Pavlik fight and is not as good as he was then. He was outworked by Joe Calz, outboxed by Chad Dawson and even his recent fight with Shumenov I thought was close to a draw (Predictably the judges gave the old man a UD).

Bernard is slipping.

I also think Kovalev is better than Pavlik. Kovalev appears to be the hardest puncher in the sport (Wlad and GGG also notable but their power is more accumulative whereas Kov just needs to land once). Pavlik at that time was great but he also was dropped hard in the first Taylor fight. Amateurwise Sergey is more experienced and I think he's much better technically.

In my opinion Sergey should win. Bernard can hold all he wants but Sergey just needs litrrally one punch to change the fight. Sergry is a killer and if he catches BHOP BHOP wont be able to recover.

Sergey should also know Bernards 2 weaknesses: He starts slow, and has low offensive output. Sergey must start fast (Id recommend all out attack in round 1) because BHOP usually develops a rhythm as the fight goes on.

As for a prediction its hard to say. I could see Sergey catching the old man and literally knocking him out cold. I could also see Bernard win a decision by making Srrgey miss. I could also see Bernard faking an injury.

Power is the great equalizer though and Sergey only needs to land once to put BHOP down, out, or on queer street. It may be difficult for Bernard to time a fake injury because of this.

Sergey should win this if he lets his hands go a lot, fights with confidence, and the right gameplan.
 

whiteathlete33

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Messages
12,669
Location
New Jersey
Interesting comments, man.

Fortunately, I think BHOP has aged since the Pavlik fight and is not as good as he was then. He was outworked by Joe Calz, outboxed by Chad Dawson and even his recent fight with Shumenov I thought was close to a draw (Predictably the judges gave the old man a UD).

Bernard is slipping.

I also think Kovalev is better than Pavlik. Kovalev appears to be the hardest puncher in the sport (Wlad and GGG also notable but their power is more accumulative whereas Kov just needs to land once). Pavlik at that time was great but he also was dropped hard in the first Taylor fight. Amateurwise Sergey is more experienced and I think he's much better technically.

In my opinion Sergey should win. Bernard can hold all he wants but Sergey just needs litrrally one punch to change the fight. Sergry is a killer and if he catches BHOP BHOP wont be able to recover.

Sergey should also know Bernards 2 weaknesses: He starts slow, and has low offensive output. Sergey must start fast (Id recommend all out attack in round 1) because BHOP usually develops a rhythm as the fight goes on.

As for a prediction its hard to say. I could see Sergey catching the old man and literally knocking him out cold. I could also see Bernard win a decision by making Srrgey miss. I could also see Bernard faking an injury.

Power is the great equalizer though and Sergey only needs to land once to put BHOP down, out, or on queer street. It may be difficult for Bernard to time a fake injury because of this.

Sergey should win this if he lets his hands go a lot, fights with confidence, and the right gameplan.
Back then in 2007 before Pavlik fought Jermaine Taylor, I felt Taylor was the best middleweight in the world. I had Pavlik down a round when he knocked Taylor out in the 7th. The second Taylor-Pavlik fight Kelly was able to just outbox Taylor to a comfortable decision. It seems as if Taylor was afraid of losing by knockout again.

Some boxing fans are saying Hopkins sees a flaw in Kovalev and that's why he took the fight. Where as Kelly Pavlik was mostly a brawler, Kovalev is much better in that he can come at you at all different angles and has a great body punch. Sergey can absolutely not let this go to the cards in a close fight because we know Hopkins gets the win then. I will say it now, Kovalev should win but it's certainly not guaranteed. There is however no excuse. I don't care that they call this fool Hopkins a legend and all. He's almost 50 and Kovalev is only 31 and certainly in his prime. There can be no excuse.
 

whiteathlete33

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Messages
12,669
Location
New Jersey
Will the referee be fair to Kovalev, or will he be fighting two men in there?

A biased ref helping B-Hop could a frustrating distraction for Sergey.

article-0-1903295A00000578-908_634x423.jpg

Word is that Stevenson wants the winner of Kovalev-Hopkins. Stevenson has taken alot of crap and is being accused of ducking Kovalev. My guess is Adonis is only saying this because he thinks Hopkins will decision Kovalev and then he would fight old bastard.
 

Charles Martel

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
8,484
Hopkins cut many of his opponents with deliberate head butts. For example:

Cloud
Wright
Dawson (nasty cuts, but he still won)
Calzaghe
Murat
Shumenov

I'm sure he'll try to cut Kovalev with illegal headbutts.

http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:1659595

In Round 4, a headbutt, ruled to be accidental by the referee, opened a big gash on the outside of Dawson's left eye. In Round 8, a cut opened to the outside of Dawson's right eye.

"I took a lot of headbutts. Like I said though, he's a dirty fighter. It's what we worked for, we knew he was going to headbutt. He hit me with like eight headbutts. I kept my composure, but it was obvious that he was doing it on purpose." - Chad Dawson

 

Charles Martel

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
8,484
The referee will be Dave Fields.

32507d1129855415-referee-images-fields_david.jpg


The judges are New Jersey’s Lawrence Layton, New York’s Carlos Ortiz and Rhode Island’s Clark Sammartino. Here's Layton:

94174d1184787526-judge-photos-layton_lawrence.jpg



Will they be fair to Kovalev?
 

Westside

Hall of Famer
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
7,703
Location
So Cal
I have seen Fields ref before. He has demonstrated himself to be a good to great ref. But once a black HOFer is involved this could change.
 

Wes Woodhead

Mentor
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Messages
1,104
This fight is a lose lose for Sergey. Hopkins is so old now that it IS a legitimate excuse. I wouldnt fight Hopkins under any circumstance. If you knock him out your just a bully for beating up an aold man. If he beats you your a joke, and need to hang up the gloves.
 

Charles Martel

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
8,484
This fight is a lose lose for Sergey. Hopkins is so old now that it IS a legitimate excuse. I wouldn't fight Hopkins under any circumstance. If you knock him out your just a bully for beating up an old man. If he beats you your a joke, and need to hang up the gloves.
True, but Hopkins does have those two world title belts, the IBF and the WBA.

If Kovalev wins, he'll have three (WBO, WBA, IBF) of the four light heavyweight belts.

That would be truly awesome, and the pressure would be on WBC titleholder Stevenson to finally fight him!
 

Westside

Hall of Famer
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
7,703
Location
So Cal
True, but Hopkins does have those two world title belts, the IBF and the WBA.

If Kovalev wins, he'll have three (WBO, WBA, IBF) of the four light heavyweight belts.

That would be truly awesome, and the pressure would be on WBC titleholder Stevenson to finally fight him!
Carcharias, this fight should end like your current GIF. No excuses. Sergey is a young powerful man.
 

Charles Martel

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
8,484
Carcharias, this fight should end like your current GIF. No excuses. Sergey is a young powerful man.
True, in a fair fight Hopkins would have no chance.

But let's not forget Hopkins is gifted with the ability to deliver vicious, cutting illegal headbutts to the ridge of his opponents eyes.

And there will be no PED testing for this fight. Hopkins looks better now than he did when he fought Calzaghe and Taylor, is it because of designer PEDs that make a 49 year old fight like a 25 year old?

Keep in mind that all the officials are from the same part of the country as B-Hop and the ref is an African-American. I'm certain the old witch doctor B-Hop will pull some dirty tricks, and the ref will likely co-operate.

That being said, if the referee is fair, B-Hop will lose by KO or DQ.
 

Charles Martel

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
8,484
[video=youtube;aH053p5IQg0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aH053p5IQg0[/video]
 

GiovaniMarcon

Mentor
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
1,231
Location
Westwood, California
In my opinion, the only way Kovalev wins this fight cleanly is if he catches Hopkins with a good shot before he really realizes he's in danger, and knocks him out.

Otherwise, the more likely scenario is one of the following:

a. Koralev gradually establishes that he's just too young, strong, and fast. This causes Hopkins to go into panic mode. The pace is too fast for him to sneak in a dirty headbutt, so he instead dreams up some weird illness or fakes a low blow (Super Joe, déja vu) or just runs out of the ring or stops fighting and says he got hit with a mysterious illegal blow. The fight ends in controversy, and Hopkins of course will say a lot of racist things and not give Koralev ANY credit. Hopkins will find a way to claim victory.

b. Hopkins wins on cuts, thanks to illegal headbutting.

Whether A or B, Hopkins will CHEAT.

That's his only chance, unless he catches Koralev with his amazing knockout power (L, O, effing L).

Hopkins is a cheater and a phony, and was exposed by Calzaghe.

Koralev needs to either knock him the F out, or be prepared for some weird, professional wrestling style dramatic ending.
 
Top