Nobody is better. Nobody is more relentless. Nobody is more exciting. Nobody is accomplishing what he is accomplishing right now in the sport. Nobody is more appreciative. Nobody is more humble.
As far as stalking/punch power goes, I rate Golovkin and Kovalev higher than Roman. I think Gonzalez is a more complete fighter compared to those 2 guys. But as far as stalking and intimidating opponents, I don't think he's on the level of the Krusher or GGG.
That's a fair point but Gonzo has been doing better for longer than those two and in much more meaningful fights and moving up in weight.
It's the first time he looked vulnerable. What he's doing is extraordinary because he's doing it against bigger men. He went after his 4th title in his 4th weight class with abandon against a bigger man, and paid for it, but he clearly won. Those are the types of fight that we need to see Kov and Ward in.
Completely agree. It was painfully obvious that Yaegashi, Arroyo, and Cuadras were all bigger than him on fight night.
Sorry I have to disagree. You have to take into account that Roman is not at his original weight any longer and has fought better competition than GGG and Kovalev while MOVIN UP. He is stalking and hitting much bigger men. If he stayed at his original weight he would look as dominate as GGG or Kovalev but he didn't.
The title of the thread has nothing to do with traversing weight divisions. I'm sure if ROman was in his original division, his shots would have a lot more pop to them than they do at 115 lbs (he's still been a strong guy even as he's moved up.) My point was when guys feel Kovalev or Gennady's power, they go into running mode. Cuadras was a live dog all the way into the championship rounds last night. And as I stated before, I rate ROman higher than Kovalev and Ward, but if we're talking about "stalking" style and overall intimidation level, he's not on par with Kovalev or GGG. There's no shame in that, neither of those men have ever left their original weight classes whereas Roman is already in his 4th.
Some of the reason I think why Roman's shot might not has as much effect is that he's not always wearing Winning gloves. Sometimes he's wearing Everlast gloves and they simply aren't as good of gloves as Winning gloves and aren't as much of a puncher's glove. He was wearing Everlast against Cuadras and Arroyo I believe. Just kind of putting that out there.
Gonzalez almost always had Cuadras in his sights and that's because Cuadras was a slick devil himself, sometimes coming in at different angles with superior speed, but Chocolatito was dodging and defending some countershots as he was going forward. The first half Chocolatito was puttin a masterclass on Cuadras, but once he abandoned the body attack, Cuadras was getting the better of Gonzalez in the late rounds. Chocolatito's fluid footwork and high ring IQ help him glide across the ring and be one step ahead of most of his opponents, and he did a great job with Cuadras, but turns out Cuadras could be a great fighter himself.
It absolutely does because you have to look at the level of competition they are stalking and the fighters they are hitting. Roman has been able to stalk and hurt men much bigger than himself. We have not seen that from GGG or Kovalev. Cuadras is MUCH bigger than Roman and he was on the run not to mention he is 4 divisions above Romans original weight. Its hard as it is bringing your power up 3 weights and he pushed for four. While GGG and Kovalev most likely would not be stalking and hurting fighters above their weight like they are doing at their original weight. The size of the competition and the quality of opposition certainly does matter. If your stalking and hurting guys your size thats fine and dandy but Roman has been stalking and hurting guys much bigger than himself. Imagine GGG or Kovalev fighting someone with a size advantage comparable to what Cuadras had over Roman with Cuadras natural talent, hand speed, footwork, and chin. Kovalev and GGG would get eaten up. GGG most likely would not be able to do what he does 2 divisions up and Kovalev would not be as good 1 division up. Not to mention they would not be intimidating anyone above their natural weights.
