Richard Schaefer: "I've never heard of Kovalev, many people have never heard of him."

Not much of a surprise there...

Duck the extremely dangerous mandatory because the crowd supposedly never heard of him. Pretty sure if Kovalev had been a clawless kitty that somehow became mandatory his exposure towards the general public wouldn't have been any problem.

 

I wouldn't say "there's no way in hell" but BHop knows himself and what styles he does best against. He generally has no problem with power punchers, but Kovalev brings another dimension to the table.
This guy not only punches really hard but he is also capable of consistently hitting the target no matter how small the opening is. He also has suprising hand speed and reflexes. Put all these attributes together and you've got a Lightheavyweight version of Tszyu...with considerably heavier hands p4p. Not exactly someone you want as a mandatory.

 

a younger B-Hop would find a way to decision Kovalev, a 48-year old B-Hop might get seriously, possibly even permanently hurt if Kovalev lands on him, i can see why they don't want this fight