Not to agree with Kellerman, who should not have a job calling anything. The Russian favored against anybody at 175, Adonis, Pascal, Hopkins, Ward, whoever.
F#kkin Easter Island chin right there. Nonetheless...whilst I favour Kovalev, there's no way to be sure. This is the only fight that HAS to be made at the higher weight classes.
I think Kovalev is a threat of being a two division champion at the same time. I can see him lifting a title off Jones or another cruiserweight and still remaining close enough to light heavyweight to keep a LHW title. Bellew definitely did not win but he did show Stevenson has some serious shortcomings. If Stevenson is forced to lead he loses some effectiveness. I can imagine the fight would have been drastically different if Bellew had Kovalev's punching power or maybe punching effectiveness may be a better term. Kovalev vs Stevenson might look like a rerun of Golovkin vs Curtis Stevens. Post fight interviews made me as well as many others think that Stevenson doesn't want any part of Kovalev. There's less risky money to be made.
Stevenson said he wants Carl Froch. I hope Carl doesn't use that as an excuse to not fight Groves. I have a feeling Carl is gonna go why would I fight Groves when I could have a LHW title shot. Groves would smash either of them to bits! Carl is gonna beat all the Canadians. Pascal, Bute, next Stevenson because he don't want nothing to do with Kovalev and Stevenson has a glass chin.
I think most people would agree it's a pick-'em fight, but that Kovalev has a slightly better chance of winning. Everyone wants to see this fight, and that's mainly because it's a relatively even fight.
One of the big factors in this fight for me would be Kovalev's chin, and how it stands up to Stevenson's punching power. Stevenson has good movement for a LHW and I think he could make Kovalev miss and get inside him to land the left hand. But last night there seemed a point when Bellew troubled Stevenson, he seemed tentative for a while after getting hit with a decent shot, and that attitude would spell curtains against Kovalev. I also think Kovalev would be wise to utilise his jab against Stevenson. He has the reach to stay on the outside early and measure Stevenson who carries his lead hand very low. The low lead could be used effectively against Kovalev however, its fast enough to allow Stevenson to dictate. Whoever imposes the jab early would stand a great chance. I agree with the sentiments that Kovalev would have finished Bellew much earlier. Don't see it a 50/50 fight myself, I'd favour Kovalev handily when all is said and done.