Yes, he also does look pretty old for a 36 year old. He just wants to pick up as much cash as he can before retirement
As big as a Kovalev fan that I am, Beterbiev destroys him now and very early. I would be very surprised if Kovalev sees the 4th round.
He would wouldn't he. I think Kov will be steered away from that fight and hopefully retire with something winnable, otherwise his team don't give a **** about him, he'll get hurt early as you say.
Beterbiev would probably seriously hurt Kovalev, and that's not something I want to see. Kovalev should have his last two fights against lesser opponents like [url]Dominic Boesel[/url], [url]Badou Jack[/url] or [url]Marcus Browne[/url], or someone good but faded like himself, for example [url]Chad Dawson[/url].
The way he fought and physically looked in his last two fights was alarming, as you say give him a winnable fight and retire but if I’m honest there’s not a guy in the top 10 I would actively champion him over for a concrete goodbye win.
meh... the odds are im gonna eventually get one wrong. you have no idea how many posters are waiting for that moment. years.
Even for prime Kovalev that's not guaranteed. For example, this is how D. Hromov, one of the trainers of the Russian boxing team (at the time) describes the amateur fight between them: "... I remember Kovalev was better at the beginning of the fight, but Beterbiev became very active later. And especially in the last round. ..." And that explanation makes perfect sense and seems genuine. Because a real professional fight between Kovalev and Beterbiev would probably look similar – fresh, active and successful Kovalev with patient and determined Beterbiev in the first rounds. But, unless Kovalev stops Beterbiev it's not difficult to imagine how that fight (of 12 rounds) would end. And I have no idea why you think that this version of Kovalev will stop Beterbiev. This is rather absurd...
i believe kovalevs problem was more mental and tactical than physical. i did not see him as diminished as the narrative that has taken over suggests. beterbieve is a sucker for a straight right, hes no spring chicken, and coming off a tough fight. i think kovalev can carry out the obvious game plan, and if hes comfortable sitting on his punches, he can get beterbieve out of there before it becomes a problem. if the fight gets made, i will give a more detailed break down.
And it won't get made, by the way, most probably. Because Kovalev now contractually has a couple of fights with DAZN. And that will be, I think, one or two showcase fights ("Look, the Krusher is back!") and then Bivol (Kovalev after the fight: "Look, I lost to the better champion, Bivol is the future, blah-blah"). After that (in a year or so from now, that is) Kovalev might decide to go to TR and fight Beterbiev at last. But, will we really want to see that fight?
we should still be able to see how "diminished" kovalev really is, if he decides to finish out the contract. bivol would beat him, in a putrid fight.
