Sergey Kovalev vs. Isaac Chilemba RBR.

He had to face his demons during his tune-up fight with Ward against Isaac Chilemba in front of a live audience?

Did his psychiatrist suggest this?

"Sergey, you need to face your demons. Go back to the stadium where you killed Roman."

"Yes, good idea, shrink. I'll kill Isaac there and it will wash away the bad taste. Isaac hates Russians. It will be like gladiator-sport, you see?"


er, Couldn't he have gone to the stadium and face his demons after the Ward fight? You know, postpone the demon-facing for a couple months? Or maybe do it after he retires? He'll have a whole lifetime to face the demons after retirement.

 

No sarcasm intended or need for an apology but apology accepted regardless.:good

 

The problem with Kovalev is in the less blatant moments, that's what raised flags.

Anyway, I watched fight now passively (haven't been bothered scoring) but Chilemba could probably do better if they met again (providing the trainer gets him to do more of what was successful).

Chilemba wasn't exactly tailoring the game to his favour. He was successful by keeping Kovalev at bay with short spurts and getting out of there. Chilemba didn't make good enough use of the ring. Whenever Kovalev gained momentum, Chilemba did nothing to dissipate it. Also Chilemba when by the ropes and moving laterally in such a predictable way, Kovalev was tagging him rather simply.

Chilemba should have timed Kovalev much better over the course of the fight. Kovalev has a particular range where he feels comfortable to attack from, and he always covers the same amount of distance there every single time. Weave and crack him on the liver. Kovalev is not very good with bodyshots.
I actually did notice Chilemba increasingly time Kovalev's attack by the championship rounds. Head shot and lateral movement away from Kovalev's lineal attack.
This range is Kovalev's bread and butter and he tailors his style with this as his base, it explains his power.

Unfortunately Chilemba centres himself more-so around arm punching. We saw a lot of evidence of that tonight, it doesn't take advantage of his natural abilities. It reflects on his poor KO record and the reason why Bellew had success against him.

Chilemba doesn't have the kind of complexity in his game to set traps effectively beyond the more simple ones. Ward will know what to do.

It's competitive but Kovalev was clearly winning this.

 

I haven't seen the fight but I have viewed several of Chilemba's bouts in the past and noticed he doesn't faint, even when he attempts to faint its more of a hesitation instead of purposefully build to an attack. I'll take sometime to watch tonight.

 

I think the feeling is mutual, sure Kovalev at his simplest and most candid state is prejudice but most of us have some sort of preference and or phenotype that we rather interact with or even approach socially. I enjoy the guy as a fighter he's fun to watch but I doubt we'd be having dinner anytime soon.

 

Kovalev has said some stupid things but people who know him well tend to say he's a really nice guy outside the ring. I'd go for dinner with him

 

Can't wait to see ward fight kovalev....

 

You're alright, we accept you warts and all.

 

Tbh I dot think kovalev had roman in mind more that he was fighting a fighter who is skilled and tough. And Kovalev didn't start off his usual agressive self and he should go back to his krushing ways. In fact he needs to do against ward.

 

So he's Jewish, right? :good