Kovalev Defeats Saad!

Kovalev reminds me of Jeff Fenech. Fenech before the Azumah Nelson fight was been seen as the next Roberto Duran just like Kovalev before the Ward fight was seen as a Top 10 ATG LHW. Like Fenech , Kovalev was never the same after draw. Like Fenech had Kovalev being given the dec Kovalev legacy could have being o so different.

 

Yup!

 

As early as the 2nd round you could see Alvarez measuring him for the right hand over his low left.I think Kova is used to being the bully and when his opponent bites down on his gumshield and doesn't go down he loses some confidence.The Ward fights showed him as something of a front runner ,imo. Saad had too much heart to go with his own power for Kovalev imo.

 

I don't think Kovalev has/would have had the mental strength to hang tough with the Saad of the Johnson/Lopez/Conteh fights.

For Kovalev to beat Saad he would I think have to take control from the start, control the pace of the fight and get Saad out of there before Saad could get into the fight, which I think is a highly unlikely scenario.

I think the likely outcome is that Kovalev has his will and heart broken by Saad in about 8 to 10 rounds.

I think that fighting the relentless, indomitable types like Saad (& Marciano, for another example) must be mentally exhausting. If you don't get them out of there early, you know that what is coming later is horrible, that can swallow you up emotionally.

 

Hard to tell for sure but Kovalev seems significantly "heavier handed" to me. And I think that Kovalev at his best was better at controlling range and landing very hard punches from distance. I think aggressive, high-action offense-oriented fighters, including some of the 70s legends, might play right into his wheelhouse and suit him well stylistically. Guys like him struggle more against more defensively-responsible guys who he has to work hard to land cleanly on, imo. I think Kovalev v. Muhammad is a very interesting fight.

 

Agreed 100%.

 

@Russell my man, you've scored in this thread...and I'm in full agreement!

 

Matthew Saad...in his "blood and guts" prime, had this additional gear that he'd click on...like in the Lopez, Johnson and Conteh bouts...and in the last 1/3 of a 15 rounder that made him IMO, so special, and I think he would have steamrolled Kovalev in the same way. Mind you, I was for a time a big fan of Kovalev...as in "my favorite current fighter"...but his shortcomings were revealed in the rematch with Ward, in that he had no clue as to how to adapt...how to revise his style...and his lack of substance would have been fatal for him in bouts with the great lightheavies of the 70's,...like not only Saad Muhammad, but Eddie Mustafa, Qawi, and especially Galindez...IMHO.

 

More fighters than that---James Scott beats him too. lots of tough fights for him & he'd be asked to absorb & deliver a lot more. I sure do not think that capacity is there & there would be no digging deep but falling apart and floundering instead.

 

Yes, Scott too...I left him out somehow. That was one hell of a time...in the 70's...to be a lightheavy.

 

Saad had very good one shot power from a distance, either with the left hook, right hand or hybrid left hook/uppercut. So did Michael Spinks. Mustafa Muhammad had a very powerful straight right.

I have seen no evidence that Kovalev hits harder than any of those three. And their chins and stamina seem better than that of Kovalev. They were proven against a high level of opposition over an extended period of time.

I pick all three to beat Kovalev and pick Braxton to beat him as well. Kovalev/Marvin Johnson is a better match-up, as he was inferior to the four aforementioned, as is Kovalev. Both have good power, good but dentable chins, and questionable late round stamina. Saad, Mustafa, and Spinks and Qawi simply could not be kod in their primes. I cannot pick the more flawed Kovalev, who also fought in a weaker era, to get the job done.

 

Saad, Mustafa and Spinks could excel inside or outside. Scott and Qawi were very strong and had a way of getting inside because of having good defense.

None of the aforementioned fits into the style you've described except Marvin Johnson. Kovalev may get to him as his chin could be cracked by the very best. But if Kovalev gasses first..

 

As Steve Farhood once opined,

"It takes 15 rounds of missles, not 7 or 8 rounds of slingshots, to fell the man with the oversized heart."

 

I agree with you on most of the guys you’ve mentioned, but I don’t think quite as highly as the guy you named yourself after. Love and respect him as a fighter but I think he was more fallible—even at his best—than most folks around here seem to believe. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if Kovalev stopped him but you and the 70s crowd seem to think that would be a preposterously unlikely upset. Kovalev-Johnson and Kovalev-Scott are excellent matchups (I lean Kovalev but definitely wouldn’t be shocked if he ended up wilting down the stretch), and I think Kovalev would batter guys like Rossman and Lopez.

Rich mid-30s Kovalev doesn’t seem like the guy he used to be imo, and it seems to me like it’s at least partly a product of age and apathy. But who knows?