As I wrote in another post, every time that last Russian guy hit Kovalev with a body punch, it looked like he took 3 steps back. I think his reputation for being soft down there is legit. Kovey started looking a little ragged in the last round of that fight also. He looked pretty happy the ref stopped it.
I think he can and he's proven it time and time again. If you're referring to his flash KD against caperrella that was more of a balance thing.
Ward isn't a heavy hitter. He seemed to crumble Kovalev's chin though. Makes me wonder what a power puncher would do if they land on Kovalev.
No I'm referring to Ward tapping that jaw. Ward isn't a big puncher, and Kovalev hasn't really fought any punchers so far in his career. Just wondering how the chin holds up when he finally faces someone who can crack, if they are able to land.
Ward did wobble him a bit in the 2nd fight but that was a perfect shot, Browne has some power but its his chin that I question going into this fight with Kovalev, not the other way around. This may be too much too soon for Browne, well see.
You may be entirely correct. I don't recall having seen much of Browne outside of a few rounds. I wasn't insinuating he would be the guy to test Kovalev's chin. I haven't seen enough of him to say much of anything.
Brown is a good body puncher and as we all know Kovalev can't take it to the body. Plus Brown is a left...Krusher will be shocked and awed by 1) his unorthodox stance and 2) the body shots he will have to endure. Brown by a Kovalev quitting on his stool, round 8 or 9.
Kovalev could be stunned and sat down, but he has the will to get up and come back. Ward did a lot of surgical groundwork to soften his man up and wear him out before he landed that almighty headshot that rocked Sergey in the 8th. That was the best right hand Andre could throw, landed at a point where Sergey was deeply fatigued by the pace an intrepid, composed, clever Ward was setting and the investments he had made to the body for round after round. It's a very rare fighter who could have broken Sergey down as thoroughly as Andre did that night. That said, Kovalev's age is advancing. I'm hoping he still has a couple years of top form left, but it's possible that he could deteriorate over that period and be beaten by a guy who would once have been cannon fodder (someone less generally fancied than a Bivol or a Beterbiev). Browne won't be that guy, however, I'm sure of that. Sergey was sent reeling, but he never went down.
He wasn't floored, he never hit the canvas. He was stunned, but recovered quickly. But those illegal shots to the testicles seriously hurt him.