It seems that any serious prospect is, at this stage in his career, a potential upset in the making for Kovalev. I recall Kovalev looking off and distracted the last time he was fighting in Chelyabinsk, and would not be surprised at all to see the same again. He turned in a fine boxing performance against a fairly limited opponent in Alvarez last time out. Still, he didn't exactly show the world that the Krusher of old is back. The question is then: is Anthony Yarde the serious prospect to snatch the advantage on the declining booze hound? I was curious until I saw a video of what goes on in the gym he trains out of. It's hilarious. Yarde reminds me of crossfit guys who walk into a gym and light up a bag with terrible form and a would be bad boy vibe who soon see their moment of truth in the first minute of their first spar. Oh wait, Yarde doesn't spar. Wearing a grill while your trainer slaps your gloves with mitts and horses around with you in the ring probably won't make you a champ; we'll see how hungover Kovalev is fight night.
it depends. If it's the Kovalev from the first Alvarez match, he violently KO's Yarde. If it's the Kovalev from the second Alvarez match, Yarde doesn't see the second round.
Kovalev will put on a show. he's taking this fight very seriously. Just watched his brand new interview (it's in Russian) but he seems focused, and he says it's a huge responsibility to fight in your hometown.. lots of people will be there. It's not gonna be easy for Yarde to beat him.
I like many others am confused about this "no sparring" training that Yarde and his coach are saying they are approaching their fights with. I have nothing against Yarde and would actually like to see him win and achieve what he has been saying all along. There isn't much that gives me confidence he is ready or able to make this fight competitive. If Kovalev hasn't got his mind right I can see him making it harder for himself. I was surprised in the Alvarez rematch where Kovalev was what seemed to be overly cautious and he didn't seem to be the puncher he was around the Campillo/Cleverly fights where he was a legit LHW that others in the division wanted no part of.
Yeah, that's the other thing. Yarde hasn't actually looked as good as he is made out boxing wise in his fights so far. He might not have lost many rounds but he looks limited. Also they keep mentioning how few amateur fights he has had. Lining up reason/excuses like that at this stage shows that they aren't actually as confident as they keep making out. All the crap talk about him being in the same league as prime RJJ is not believable at all. He is flashy in that he looks in good shape compared to the people he is in the ring with and has some charisma but that won't win him meaningful title fights.
Kovalev has his demons but I think it's going to take someone a lot better than Yarde to upset him again. Yarde gets stopped inside 4.
the most impressive thing about him is his physique to be honest... he kinda reminds me of a smaller Anthony Joshua, except even more limited... and untested.. have u seen their training camp videos? him and his trainer are laughing and giggling non stop like little girls... maybe they know something we don't lol ..
None. I give him a 100% chance of blitzing the first round like he did in his previous fight, followed by 3 rounds of total failure, and ended by a big smack on the chin and a swift fall to the canvas. He's a bum and doesn't deserve to even be in the same ring as Kovalev. He has hardly any experience as an amateur or pro, and that will show. Kovalev may be old and past it, but he's country miles better than Yarde.
The whole issue is this... Against who has Yarde ever shown that he would be able to hang with someone on Kovalev's level? Let alone beat him. The guy has a couple of lower end top50 wins on his resume, while Kovalev hasn't even fought such low level opposition since years before Yarde even turned pro. There's a chance Yarde turns out to be very good, but it's just guesswork until we see him fight anyone worth a damn. And now he's taking the leap from the likes of Averlant, Sek, Sequeira and Reeves towards a Kovelev fight.
