Make a thread with a poll if you're so confident on that!! Kovalev was far more talented and successful.
Yes, he belongs in the HOF but won’t get in. He was robbed against Ward, and suffered a low blow quick stoppage in the second fight with the privileged American. If he were an American, he’d be voted in.
Talented maybe but successful ? Why do you say that ? Timothy Bradley resume Manny Pacquiao controversial win Juan Manuel Marquez Joel Casamayor way past his prime Lament Peterson Ruslan Provodnikov Jessie Vargas Junior Witter Kendal Holt 11 world title wins 2 weight division champion Jr Welterweight, Welterweight. Sergey Kovalev resume Nathan Cleverly Bernard Hopkins almost 50 years old Jean Pascal x2 Blake Caparello Cedric Agnew Anthony Yarde Eleider Alvarez Gabriel Campillo 12 world title wins Light Heavyweight. I wouldn't say there's much between them Bradley was also rated in the top 10 P4P for 6 years compared to 3 years for Kovalev. Bradley also certainly has the best single win over Juan Manuel Marquez.
Marquez was several years older than Joe Louis was when Marciano knocked him out. Kovalev's deserved win over prime Ward should be taken into consideration, and let's not forget the ESPN and Ring P4P rankings are usually biased in favor of American boxers.
I think Kovalev’s case for the Hall of Fame is strong enough, though not without some caveats. At his peak, he was the clear #1 light heavyweight and unified titles, which is significant historically. Wins over guys like Hopkins (even an old version), Pascal, and Cleverly, plus the sheer dominance he showed for a few years, make his prime pretty impressive. The losses to Ward don’t hurt his standing much because Ward is an all-time great, but the way his career declined afterwards, getting stopped by Eleider Álvarez, Canelo, and looking shaky against lower-tier opposition, does tarnish the back half of his resume a bit. Still, HOF induction isn’t about being flawless; it’s about achieving a high enough peak and maintaining relevance, both of which Kovalev did. He’s not an all-time great, and he’s not first-ballot material, but over time I think he’ll get in. His prime version was legitimately one of the scariest and most complete fighters in the division’s modern history.
That's true, Stevenson did hold the lineal title after beating Dawson and technically, he was the man at 175 for a while. But realistically, by the time Kovalev unified belts and was smashing guys, most of the division and most of the serious rankings had Kovalev as the real #1. Stevenson stalled his momentum fighting second-tier challengers while Kovalev was stacking quality wins and hunting unifications. Lineal is important, but it’s not the only thing that matters, activity level, quality of opposition and dominance all come into play too. Kovalev was clearly seen as the best light heavyweight between around 2014-2016 before Ward edged him. So yeah, Stevenson was technically lineal, but Kovalev was the real top dog in the eyes of most hardcore fans and analysts.
In my mind, Stevenson and Kovalev cochaired the division, and then Ward was on top after beating Kovalev while Stevenson got old.
I don't think he did enough IMO. I think if he had gotten the Ward decision then yes. But prior to Ward, his best win was like a 50 year old Hopkins. I don't see how that is HOF worthy. I rate Kovalev from an eye test standpoint but the resume isn't there for me.