Kovalev stands too straight for me, he isn't hard to tag and he is a long puncher no short stuff. Louis beat 9 world champions and a shed load of contenders. Kovalev has beaten a 50 years old man. The jury is still out on him, beating a 50 year old man tells us nothing.
based on fitz footage i don't think he belongs on that list. judging the fight based on the names on his resume is just speculation
kovalev and triple g for that matter might run into trouble if they run into a good defensive fighter. hopkins was 50 years old and a naturally smaller fighter. everyone falls in love with the ko but there's lots of guys throughout history that would give both these guys problems. andre ward might be able to beat both of them.
I think that people might read too much into the fact that the Hopkins fight went the full 12. Kovalev fought an uncharacteristically cautious fight and completely dominated him with no inklings of trouble whatsoever. Relegated Hopkins to the role of completely harmless sparring partner. My take was that he and Jackson knew that Hopkins' only (remote) chance of beating him would be if he rushed in and got timed with some of Bernard's sharp counters. Just my take...
A younger Hopkins. A prime Tarver and Jones. The jury is still out on whether Stevenson can too. A "pre Ward" Bad Chad would be in the conversation if he wasn't so lethaegic at times. Ward if he ever moves up.
We are not trying to compare Kovalev in any way to Louis are we? K is a huge puncher but that's where the comparison ends. Louis was the most complete hwt champion in boxing history.
Kovalev has concussive power at the end of his long punches, but I have not seen him throw short punches with any authority. To compare him with Joe Louis is plain silly. Louis hit with trip hammer force with his short combination punching with devastating effect. Kovalev reminds me somewhat of Bob Foster as a lightheavyweight puncher...Now that would be a fantasy fight yessir...
The Hopkins fight showed us Kovalev knows how to box and the Pascal fight showed us he can handle some pressure, no more, no less. It's not enough to formulate a proper opinion just yet. As it is with Golovkin, politics remains the chief obstacle in getting answers. Stevenson's reluctance has shaped the narrative, but fans don't want the fight because they envision a blow-out. Adonis' smooth boxing and heavy left-hand counter poses a real threat. Manny Steward thought a great deal of him (as a boxer) and no doubt would have loved to be his second in a showdown that's already a couple of years overdue. Then there's Beterbiev who may be next. For all we know this dark horse could be the man... Good as Kovalev looks it's hard to know exactly what we're dealing with. I get the sense he's not the force Golovkin is at middleweight.
I wouldn't call Adonis a smooth boxer personally.he's a fast athletic fighter with a top-notch left hook, but his overall boxing skills leave a lot to be desired. Definitely a fight that needs to be made though, before he gets any older.
A better question would have been has Kovalev done enough yet to be ranked with the greats at 175lbs ? And imo, the answer is a resounding NO!
People are overating him for sure but then again every light heavyweight that ever fought 10 years ago and before would beat him.