Kovalev has one top level in since 2016 if we are honest. Mikhalekin and Shabransky are both fringe contenders and Yarde isnt even proven at domestic level as yet. I wouldnt say Kovalev is better in a 12 round fight, maybes over six but then he gasses and looks on the verge if being put to sleep anytime anyone lands on him, anyone who has has landed has had him out or in dire straights since the Ward fight and its been fairly clear to see. Donaire over twelve hurt Franpton late and was still competitive with Magdelano late. I think if we were to assess who you would fancy to fair better against the top five in their respective divisions now that more people wouod expect more success from Donaire than they would Kovalev.
I actually give Inoue a lot of credit for this win. It was really impressive and he showed a lot of heart. Still, he's not Top 4 p4p and is overrated by many. This is not to undermine him, as I'm his fan, but I can't put him higher than Loma, Crawford, Usyk, Canelo and even Spence. Probably, he's around 5-7, which is still very good. The problem with many people in this forum as they would think I'm taking any credit away from him, which I don't - it's just that I don't think he belongs to top 4.
Ward I and Eleider II were good performances and Donaire hasn’t been performing at that level lately. smaller weight fighters will usually look better because their size allows for less sloppiness and better cardio, but Kovalev is actually more of a standout in 2019 among the talent at 175. Eye test? Maybe not. But a bantam will look better compared to a 175 even if they aren’t consistently beating guys in the top 10.
If your best win is a nearly 37-year-old Donaire who can't beat guys like Jessie Magdaleno, you cannot be considered the best fighter out there. With that, I still like what I saw in Inoue. He gained great experience from this fight.
STRONGLY disagree. Inoue was landing some nice leather downstairs, and Donaire was seemingly absorbing these shots effortlessly unlike any Inoue opponent I recall to date. But, I think Nonito has a pretty stern poker face, because the one that clearly did hurt him, he still was trying to maintain that poker face until the pain reverberated throughout every fiber of his being.
This content is protected IS this you? Look, ish like this want to root and support Inoue even more. Inoue has a new fan because of these haters from a certain community.Inoue, let's go!
Good thing this guy & the internet wasn't around when Duran beat Ray. Ray would've been exposed as a deeply flawed fighter losing to a past primer based on that video! LOL! He backs straight up (like Ali) He loops his punches (Like Ruiz against AJ) I tuned out after that.
Dude is straight up hating. Made factual mistakes. He said Nonito is about 40, error. ND and Inoue are both southpaws, another error. I don't even think he watches foreign boxers besides his beloved boxers.But he loved the fight even though Inoue is not his cup of tea. So he isn't in his pnd for pnd list.. His idea of a great boxer is probably the hit and run type. But dude should give credit to boxers who give the fans what they want to see and its a warfare kind of action.Not this running, hugging and clinching BS. Inoue has defensive lapses so what? No fighter is perfect. This guys is just being a lil B about it.
He's like a bantamweight version of GGG.... If he focused too much on defense, his offense wouldn't be that good...
Being a top P4P fighter doesn't mean you're always going to breeze through your competition. Everyone has off nights, injuries, poor game plans, comes up against an opponent who fights the fight of their life etc. So many permutations, the slightest of which can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Boxers walk a razor's edge every time they step into the ring, so simply winning and doing so clearly cannot be undervalued. Inoue fought through a bad cut and a possible broken nose from early on, and still put on a show for his hometown fans, badly hurting and dropping a former P4P star and naturally bigger man while getting hurt himself. It's clear he could have played it safe as he was totally outboxing Nonaire early on, but Inoue seems like the type of fighter who really goes for it and that's going to expose you to counter shots more than other styles. The level of guts and daring he showed fighting that type of fight is the stuff future legends are made of. Anyway, this whole thread is a lot of fuss about nothing. You don't want to put him on your P4P list? Fine. But don't begrudge those that do. He's clearly a very special talent.