Roy didn't cherry pick at 175. He'd only have sparked Roy had he have had the perfect opportunity. But would he have had it? Kovalev couldn't spark Ward in 2 attempts, and he was easy enough to hit. Look at some of the shots that Pascal landed. Roy was very elusive with his unorthadox style, and extremely fast.
I don't think that kovalev was overrated in his prime I just think that his decline was similar to RJJ's in that his reflexes and then the punch resistance just went very fast. Kovalev was a serious force in his prime but RJJ at his peak from 94-99 is still the best p4p since lightweight Duran
Ward was far more hittable than Roy, and he didn't possess Roy's speed or power. Of course Ward fought a prime Kovalev. Ward just exposed him as a bully. He tried to intimidate Ward, but Ward laughed it all off which clearly unsettled him.
In the Weight-in Ward was acting like a bully, it's funny when you have some power you are classified as a bully. The bully is not the one who use of illegal blow ? Ward never fought a prime Kovalev, Kovalev was past it after Chilemba.
Kovalev could give it but he couldn't take it. He tried to psyche Ward out, but Ward wasn't having any of it. After the first fight, he told Ward that he hit like a woman and that he was going to be made an example of in the rematch. But what we saw, was Ward systematically break him down, both mentally and physically. He was desperately looking at Tony Weeks for help, even when he was tagged with shots that were 100% clean. How many times did Ward actually land illegal low blows? Because 90% of those body shots were legal. And nobody mentions how many times Kovalev punched Ward behind the head. I didn't hear anybody claim that Kovalev was past it against Chilemba. Many people think that he won the first fight against Ward.
No. He wasn't. 'Slipped a little'... I could buy into. But 'past it'? Such statements, weaken arguments...
There were only a few really low blows. The others were either on the line or perfectly legal. I knew Kov was done when Andre hit him with 2 crystal clear body shots and Kov looked at Weeks in pure desperation.
Roy is a far greater light heavyweight than Sergey, and I say that as Krusher's longest-running fan on this forum. HOWEVER ...in a h2h match-up, in terms of stylistic and physical attributes, Kovalev is all the the fuck wrong for Jones. It would be sort of like how Forrest >> Mayorga, but the Matador just had the Viper's number h2h.
not that Kovalev wasn't exciting and I'm not saying he's bad. but He seems to be the most overrated boxer in a while (on this forum and many others at least.)
Kovalev would end up unconscious all hunched over in the ropes like he was when Canelo knocked him TFO.