It is very good, but perhaps looks even better than it is. In my breakdown I've Stevenson and Kovalev roughly equal in honours so far this year and there's still the question of next Saturday. First off, his early KO of Boone, OK not really a huge deal but it was good to avenge the KO loss and while he is perhaps dropping off a little, Darnell Boone has been the gatekeeper to more than a coupla champions. Dawson, hard to say, but realistically Chad was coming off a 9 month lay-off and more significantly a bad beatdown at the hands of Ward. Although Chad was considered the LHW champion and had beaten Hopkins the Pascal TD loss had shown there were vulnerabilities even before then. Finally, whilst Dawson is undoubtedly a great scalp, I'm always wary of reading too much into KO1s - simple fact is Dawson got caught cold - it just happens, doesn't really tell you much about who is the better fighter. Tavoris Cloud was unbeaten (on paper) prior to the Hopkins loss, but anyone who has an interest in the division knows that he had previously been comprehensively outboxed by Gabe Campillo. The point was underscored by Hopkins simply tying him up and bruising him over 12 rounds. Cloud has a decent chin and can bang pretty well, but simply isn't much of a boxer. Stevenson showed at the very least both greater skill and speed than Tavoris, and it was for my money a significant win for him. In summary, Stevensons year has been very, very good, but this year, until Nov 30th he will have only fought guys coming off a loss. Both Dawson and Cloud are great names to have on his resume, but a closer look shows that possibly neither were as good as their rankings seemed to suggest. On Saturday, of course, he's due to fight Tony Bellew, who isn't a walkover by any stretch and should be coming to ring both confident and hungry. I see Bellew keeping Adonis at bay through the early rounds, but eventually getting caught and stopped by TKO rnds 7-9. Arch rival Kovalev has (in spite of the rankings) probably a considerably more dangerous fight in Sillakh, a fluid fighter with genuine KO power of his own. Whichever of the two young turks (Stevenson or Kovalev) pulls out the best performance on Saturday gets my vote for FOTY.
I agree with Koba post for the most part. Also, B-HOP pretty much gave the blueprint for beating Cloud. Cloud has a couple major holes in his game he needs to sew up before stepping back in with top level guys. I will say that Stevensons latest comments about Kovalev needing to win more fights to prove they should face off is BS though. Hope Stevenson isnt trying to duck Kovalev, since I think that matchup is one of the best that can be made in boxing right now.
Indeed^. And for Kovalev, whilst White is sometimes overlooked he was 4, 5 and 8 in the ABCs and 9 for boxrec. So Campillo, White, Cleverly in the top 10. Basically between the two of them Stevenson and Kovalev have, by dint of frequent fighting and scary KO power, managed to completely destroy the established order at 175. I don't really recall such a revolution in such a short time in any division (tho feel free to correct me). Of course, I'm kinda assuming that both Kovalev and Stevenson win (and by KO) on Saturday, but if they do: In 2013 each have 4 Fights; 4 KOs each, 3 top 10 opponents each, 1 Former champion each, 1 reigning champion each. How are you supposed to split that? I'm honestly mystified that people have anyone other than these two as Fighter OTY candidates. EDIT: The only real names left at 175 are Hopkins, Shumenov, Bute and Pascal. With Bute and Pascal fighting early 2014 and BHop and Shumenov with GBP, there is literally nothing left at 175 for it's two young guns. Except each other....:bbb
If Stevenson-Kovalev, Floyd-Manny, AND Quigg-Frampton happen next year, 2014 will be a great year for boxing.
both Dawson and Cloud were coming off losses, but they were still quality wins. Dawson losing to Ward wasn't really a loss due to him losing so much weight for the fight. his head may have been a bit all over the place, but he was still facing an inexperienced fighter who had just moved up in weight. apart from the Don George win, there isn't anything to really speak of. so all the advantages were with Dawson. Adonis blew him away. so i'm going to call that a great win because it was for the top spot. Cloud had lost his last 2 fights going into the Adonis fight to any one who had a pair of eyes. Campillo was robbed of victory. but that doesn't mean Cloud isn't a good solid win for Adonis because it was. if he beats Bellew this weekend, that's another good solid win for him right there. so all in all, he's got himself a real good resume. no doubt.
resumes are really meaningless as all that matters in boxing, for active fighters, is the here and now. resumes come into play during HOF deliberations.
Kovalev beat Campillo who beat the crap out of Cloud, exposed Cloud, Don King made certain that Cloud got a decision in a fight he lost...........Kovalev also beat Cleverly.................. Stevenson wants to fight Ward, has been calling Ward out, but Ward refuses to even answer....................Ward will only fight in his home town with his referee, judges, boxing commission, etc.......... Dawson did beat Hopkins. Stevenson knocked Dawson out in the first round.......Cloud was not a very good opponent................but Stevenson is trying to get Ward to fight him, I won't hold my breath, even at 168..........
