I'm not saying Kovalev is the same type of fighter as Murat, as he's obviously more skilled and hits harder, but Hopkins took a lot of punishment in that fight. If Kovalev goes in with the same type of determination Murat did, and is willing to take some shots to land his own, I think he could stop Hopkins. Don't get me wrong, there were times when Murat looked defeated, but he also doesn't have the power that Kovalev possesses. Sometimes when you know you have the power, you have a larger amount of self belief than you would otherwise have. On the other hand, Kovalev has shown some mental weakness in the past, so maybe he doesn't have the mental fortitude to take what's necessary to stop Hopkins. It's a really difficult fight to call, but I just don't know if I believe in Kovalev's will power.
Are you kidding? Did you see the brutally mild and one-gear beating Murat laid on the mighty Leo Tchoula yesterday? :nono
To be fair, B-Hop will fight Kovalev alot different then he did against Murat. Hopkins tried to put on an entertaining performance against Karo, allowing himself to get hit in the process, mostly because he could get away with it against an opponent as mediocre as Murat. Kovalev is a different beast, and Hopkin's knows it. He is going to go full on spoiler mode in this fight, as he should. But you're right in that Bernard did look the most physically declined on the whole against Karo, and that was the fight where I thought that while he is easily the more skilled and smarter boxer, it just won't be enough against physical monsters like Adonis and Kovalev.
No, but I saw Bernard take a lot more shots than I've seen him take in YEARS against Murat. Murat went out there with the right mentality. He went out there with the intention of beating the hell out of an old man. Hopkins won the fight, but it was a very tough fight and Hopkins took quite a bit of punishment.
I also remember Murat barely missing some huge bombs. The diagramm Hopkins>Murat<<Cleverly<<Kovalev would suggest that Kovalev has indeed a chance.
Look up Dempsey vs Willard 1919 in Toledo Ohio and you'll understand the reason for the rule,,, lisaa
:blood This is a copy/paste from a thread about the "neutral corner" rule, wich has nothing to do with this thread. Is this a new way of trolling? :blood on topic: Still funny how many actually favored B-Hop in that fight on the mere idea that he's B-Hop.
