yeah, the Eastern Euro guys should all move up a weight class. They are rehydrating like everybody else, but if they do it, it is unfair. BTW don't you mods get tired of playing the race card all day? Must probably be Zakman...
The Cruiserweight limit is 200lbs, not 190lbs. Kovalev re-hydrated to 188lbs. Hopkins was above the LHW limit on fight night too. You are really reaching here.
yes, hopkins was above the LHW limit as well...i'm just saying that kovalev looked much bigger than hopkins. others have noticed this too. 188 was probably taken while he was rehydrating ...he was probably 190 at the very least by the time he entered the ring...at least admit kovalev looked the much bigger man.
...you're trying to minimize the weight advantage. dude, kovlev looked massive compared to hopkins. and if you dehydrate to 174 then rehydrate back up to your natural weight of about 190, it's not "water weight"
Of course Kovalev was bigger. Chavez Jr would've been around the same weight on the night too. Would you pick him to beat BHop at any weight? I wouldn't
Kovalev did look far bigger than the 6lbs weight difference but you can't trust your eyes. People have different skeletal structure and bone density so the smaller looking guy can be just as heavy. Look at Calzaghe, he was scrawny compared to the more muscled and taller Kessler but it's Calzaghe who has always struggled to make super middle. Kovalev is a biggish light heavy at 188lbs, not huge but not small either. Hopkins is a small light heavy or big super middleweight, he only gained 7lbs. But their size and weights had nothing to do with the outcome. Hopkins could have shown up at 190lbs, he still would have lost. Kovalev was too good, pure and simple. I thought prior to the fight that the Hopkins that beat Pascal or Tarver would have beaten Kovalev, now I'm not so sure, Kovalev totally shut him down.
Size thing? Nah. Kovolev is 6' and fought at his heaviest ever at 188lbs on Saturday, but even that ain't particularly big when you've had guys like 6'3" Bellew (191llbs), 6'2" Dawson (193lbs) even Stevenson at 5'11" came in against Bellew @189lbs. In his previous fights he has almost always been the smaller guy on paper - http://basementgymboxing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/sergey-kovalevs-weight-with.html 181 vs Sillakh (6'3" 185), 183 vs Agnew (6'0" 187), 185 vs Caparello (6'1.5" 185) Notheless even in his earlier fights against taller guys like Campillo you'd often hear it commented that he seemed like the bigger guy. IDK what it is - perhaps a fairly upright stance, or his ring presence? Carl Froch's another guy who actually ain't particularly big for his division but always seems to look like a big guy in the ring. Some guys just do. The 'glove' thing is absolutely normal and not even really worthy of mention - these are brand new gloves and a fighter might want to see how it feels to punch in them and to see if the fit is secure or needs ad******g after punching and stretching and tensing the hands. And Hopkins' age? Well of course Hopkins age was a factor, but this was exactly the same Hopkins that beat the even bigger Shumenov only 6 months ago, beat the limited but game Murat and the typically tough Cloud in 2013. Yeah, sure Hopkins is old, but 'Old Man' Hopkins has beaten a good selection of Kovalevs contemporaries in the last few years - and looked good doing it- the simple fact is that Kovalev is a lot better than most of his peers.
well, you were more impressed with kovalev than i was...i think if hopkins did come in at 190 it would have made a difference....being bigger, heavier allows a fighter to impose his strength on the other guy...allows him to take the other guys punches better. a big, strong guy hits harder than a smaller guy...can wrestle and muscle the other guy into position. if hopkins was the same size as kovalev it's a very different fight.
Big, small, young, old. Hopkins still has to take those punches from Kovalev when he tries to get inside
Hopkins could barely get into range to use his normal rough house tactics. He was totally out maneuvered by Kovalev. Being heavier would have just made Hopkins slower and less likely to get into range. He wasn't just out worked or out muscled he was also out boxed. Hopkins uses movement to beat his opponents and then smother them inside and roughs them up. But he needs to be able to control distance to be effective when he's not been able to do that when he's lost and this is what happened with Kovalev. I really don't think the size was an issue at all. I'm a huge Hopkins fans he's my favourite fighter but he simply faced the best fighter he has ever faced at light heavy and at almost 50 that was too much. He's slowed too much and being bigger, heavier and slower wouldn't have changed that.
188lbs and 6'0" (whilst being the heaviest Kovalev has fought) just ain't all that big for a LHW. Dawson was considerably bigger yet was unable to dominate Hopkins (despite many people feeling that he was faster than Kovalev), despite winning. I can't find a fight weight for the 6'2/3" Shumenov, but I'm pretty sure he will have been 188+ lbs plus - like I say it's not massive for a LHW and Hopkins has fought bigger guys. As I've said though 188lbs is heavy for Kovalev who's more usually in the 183/4 range and relatively small. My suspicion is that he wanted the size advantage in the event of the fight turning into more of a wrestling match and was prepared to sacrifice a touch of speed and mobility.
Less explanations, he doesnt need one. Hopkins got schooled by a stiff 1 dimensional bum, hopkins is ****.