Could Kovalev go .500 against these 12 LHWs of Classic Past?

Regarding the list, lots of serious P4P GOAT contenders in a weight zone they raised hell at. With all due respect Kovalev's most realistic shots are at Foster, Johnson, Conn, and Qawi. Jones Jr is an interesting one, I'm not sure he could take some of the punishment Ward did but he's better overall than Ward.

My issues with Kovalev is he is an excellent boxer with deceptive hand speed and absurd power. And while he out boxed Ward and the second fight had a farcial ending, he still showed some vulnerabilities that some of the monsters on this list could really exploit.

 

Believe I've watched all this sad stuff.

I actually I think this is one of the insanest discussion I've ever seen. And I truly mean insane. As in delusional. As in mass hysteria.

You can read in previous posts why I think so.

 

The Doug Jones (19-3-1, 182lbs) & Mina (45-2-2, 180lbs) were Foster's 10th & 13th pro fights.. and he weighed 175 lbs. Mina has always been recognized as a good fighter that should have achieved more at his 52-3-3 record. Some people remember the same Doug Jones (188lbs) 5 months later almost beating some young fighter named Cassius Clay (202lbs).

 

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The fight was stopped on a blatant foul low blow .
You'd be delusional if you say otherwise.

Arguments such as "it wasn't in the nuts" and "Kovalev wasn't tough enough" etc. etc. may well be true and/or debatable but the fight ended with a foul being deemed a legit winning punch.
It's ridiculous that people would try to obscure or minimize that fact.

It's worse than Dempsey-Sharkey (where Sharkey actually went down from the legit hook to head) or Duran-Buchanan (where Duran's low blow may in fact have been influenced by the referee touching his punching arm as he threw it).

 

It's interesting how boxing has progressed though.
In the old days fighters could foul out quite easily with low blows.

Nowadays they'd have to unleash a Golota-esque series of nut-sack combos for the referee and fans to think anything untoward is going on !

 

The three punches (prior to the KO blow) landed on Sharkeys midsection were not low.

Kovalev was complaining of low blows during the fight from punches very obviously on the belt-line.

The last blow was borderline and the last video I posted explains why.

Beltline is an imaginary line that connects the hip bones.

 

The last blow was low.
Below the belt line.

There's no such thing as "borderline" when you have a clear camera view like that.
This isn't tennis where you are called "IN" by having a fraction on the line when the rest of the ball is "out". It's not an arbitrary rule.
He's being punched below that imaginary line, and it's not even disputable.
End of story.

 

No not at all. Kovalev was bent over and if you watch that video what you see is that the dark part of his trunks (the area below the beltline) crunched up ABOVE the beltline visually changing where the beltline indeed and in actuality was. Blow looks low but if you keep in mind the above it's a borderline body blow. Nevada athletic commission deemed it as such upon review of the tape of the fight.

 

My point is that he never beat anyine good who was bigger than light heavy. There are other instances. Kovalev is bigger that the light heavies back then.

 

Kovalev contributed to that call being made by wincing , cowering down and looking to Weeks for breaks in the action from legal body blows in the rounds prior.
He made Weeks doubt his willingness to be in the fight and by the time he cowered over again in another fetal position Weeks decided he had seen enough.
It was a bad call , but its not like one low shot went in and Weeks rushed in and ended the fight. It was multiple legal body blows that lead to the stoppage , not sack shots like the Ward haters are claiming.

 

I was a big Kovalev fan. I went to Atlantic City for the Hopkins fight. When the Ward fight was made, I was ecstatic because I thought it was on paper a fight that could go either way. I thought Kovakev's superb jab and range control coupled with the mere threat of his frightening power would be the toughest challenge of Ward's career (exhibit #1 Kovalev breaks Agnew's rib with jab).

My biggest concern was that like many European fighters, Kovalev's tendency to orthodoxy and minimal inside skills were possibly exploitable. I also knew Ward as an envelope pusher. I basically envisioned a fight much like Ward vs a bigger, better Kessler. I'm not a fan of dirty fighters, and was rooting for the Russian.

Come the end of Kovalev vs Ward 1, I score it a draw. But many of the Ward rounds he just edged, while Kovalev won more clear rounds. I rewatched it, and scored it for Kovalev by 1 the second time.

In the build up to the second fight, the Kovalev camp was a mess. According to John David Jackson and Kovalev's conditioning coach in interviews after the 2nd Ward fight, Sergei's commitment to training had become less with each fight after Hopkins. This was a big red flag for those in camp. The second flag was the growing public rift with John David Jackson. Sergei didn't want to dance with the girl he brought to the prom. And when you have a problem with two top trainers like Sanchez and Jackson, well...it says something about you.

After watching Kovalev vs Ward 2
Kovalev has tremendous talent, but I question his will. His will to receive criticism, his will to work on holes in his game, his will to train as hard as possible when your legacy is on the line. I wanted to believe Kovalev was the victim, but after rewatching film ad nauseum, I thought most of those shots were legal, although the last shot looked low . Although I had Kovalev winning the 2nd fight, I thought he was burning gas too fast and Ward was punching holes in that gas tank. I saw Kovalev face his first real adversity, and I didn't like what I saw. He was looking to the ref for help far too much. If he thought he was being fouled, he should have gone into Abner Mares mode.

With day before weigh ins, Kovalev is 15 lbs heavier and could win against any one of them. But if weight is an even playing field, I can't see him going .500 against these guys.

 

I don't agree with all of it, but you do make some valid points. Kovalev seems to be missing that edge that he had before, for some reason. I actually think that these two questionable losses would have been better replaced by one clear cut, undisputable loss.That way Kovalev has to sit down and admit to himself that he hasn't been training like he should have been and reconsider his approach. But right now it sounds like he's lying to himself that his approach is fine. It probably IS fine ... for 90% of the fighters out there. But when you get to the creme de la creme, he's starting to look suspect.

 

How dare you criticize Golota for his totally legitimate and fair series of body punches! He was completely robbed by the referee who was either half blind or paid off!! TWO TIMES!! This guy could not get a break. The legitimate body punches SEEM low because of the angle and the way Bowe is moving that creates that illusion. Bowe should have won an oscar for pretending he'd been nut punched. Also, let's not forget that the perspective is seen from a camera and not ringside, and that old 90's camera equipment could give a false impression of what was going on because the colours were different back then. Golota should have had two KO wins!

 

Golatas blows were quite obvious below the belt and many in Bowes groin. No one is or was arguing otherwise.

The fight in question however I see no punches in the groin. None in the balls. All on or at the beltline. Certainly the final blow was borderline. Kovalev however was bent way over at the waist before that blow was thrown. Kovalev was obviously in agony anytime he was hit to the body. Earlier one not so powerful hook right on the belt of the trunks bent him over at the waist in agony and he dared complain of a low blow!