Kovalev is already an ATG in my opinion. Mostly because I think he beat Andre Ward. But also because at his peak he was an absolute H2H Monster. He was already 33 and slipping by the time of the first Ward fight. He was already hitting the bottle hard back then and shortly before he looked uncharacteristically rusty against Chilemba. Even trainer John David Jackson was dropping hints that Kovalev had slipped in the lead up to fighting Ward. He had a short prime because of the bottle. But at his peak I think he beats, or rather is favored against every single fighter of the 21st century from 175 pounds on down. That's how high I rate him H2H. Was a master technician with massive power.
He is not a favourite against every LHW of the 21st century man. I love Kovalev as much as the next guy, but that praise is too high imo.
A lot of the forum is going to change their tune when Bivol polishes Beterbiev. Although he won't get as much credit because Beterbiev is 40 and in retrospect losing rounds to fighters like Yarde made it obvious he wasn't exactly the GOAT
@lufcrazy Hopkins? Are you serious. Let's take the Hopkins from the Tito fight against the Kovalev from the Cleverly fight. That is a mismatch. First, Kovalev is a more skilled technician than Tito. Second, the power differential is absurd.