Sergey Kovalev v Bernard Hopkins

Key is Jackson(Kovalev's trainer)  in every interview he has said Kov must treat Hopkins like the 50 year he is. High workrate dont get lulled in by a slow pace. Hit him anyway and everywhere. 4-5 is too short for me though will be there ringside to enjoy the fight

Ha, you going to Atlantic City sj? That's awesome mate, have a great time.  I realise Hopkins is very good at frustrating the rhythm of his opponent but I just can not see him being able to stay away from Kovalev or clinch him for 12 rounds.  I think Kovalev is much more than just a huge puncher, sure he will bring it to Hopkins and pressure him none stop, but I don't think he will recklessly overexpose himself.  I know i'm not exactly being original in my thinking here but......I can not get away from his age either!  4-5 for the KO doesn't seem that bad a price to me.

Whilst we are at it sj, and I genuinely value your opinion, what are your thoughts on the Eubank/Saunders fight?  It just has far too many question marks for me, I was always a Chris Eubank senior fan and I can't help myself becoming a Eubank junior fan.  I love the sport having characters like this in it, especially if they have the ability to back it up.  Eubank looks fantastic to me, admittedly against taxi drivers but still very clinical.  He's an unknown quantity and could be anything in my mind.

Yeah fly out tommorow mate, cheers Sports Fan.
First of all Kovalev I'm with you mate. Those comparing him to Kelly Pavlik know very little, for starters Sergey wouldnt fail a breathaliser test Saturday night. I think he stops Bernard but just cant bring myself to back at 4-5, make sure you get some headbut insurance with your 4-5 mate you know what Hopkins is like with the bonce.
I've wanted to get BJS for a while but there is something nagging me that Eubank jnr has been forced into this fight rather than wanting it. I to liked his father, but when he talks about him beating GGG already and being a mix between Duran/Roy Jones Jnr and James Toney I question why in his own words he would have liked jnr to have 5-6 more fights before fighting BJS.

Private messaged you mate

sj where'd u get headset insurance?

but lol

weigh in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQXEs80O4Y

For me Bernard is in a world of trouble but you can never completely write him off. It would actually be pretty remarkable to see him  pull it off...of course it would also be nice to see Kovalev put in another devastating performance. Nice to be able to go into fight where either outcome would be pleasing as a fan.

The problem Bernard has in my eyes is Kovalev doesn't look the type to mentally fold when the old tricks come out...the guy seems a genuine psychopath between the ropes and I struggle to see Hopkins diffusing that aggression.

I have to agree on both counts. It would be amazing to see B-Hop at 50 putting up any kind of performance but Kovalev is some fighter. I think this is the night Bernard feels his age.

Why do you guys hope that idiot does well?  He's a disgrace to boxing, I hope Kovalev destroys him. 

I have my doubts Hopkins goes out in an honorable fashion though, wouldn't surprise me to see him pull some nonsense to get out of this before the knockout punch.  Headbutts, low blows, relentless grappling, standard running and the feigning of a foul are all firmly in play.

hornangi.. great to see somebody else on here with sense. hopkins is a disgrace to boxing and nearly as boring as fraud mayweather, sooner there out of the sport the better

But he's old so we must respect and love him...so says the media narrative.  There's a reason this guy couldn't draw a crowd of any sort for virtually his entire career and its directly related to why he's still "fighting" today.

Noticed this disgrace going on about him not being on billboards and recognized more because he's black.  ffs, man is completely detached from reality.

bit harsh I feel, we all know he can throw in a stinker but end of the day he's 49 and getting in with, literally, a killer. Deserves respect for that whether you like his style or not.

I'll save judgement until after the fight (see if he actually doesn't embarrass himself with some cowardly act), and its not like he's doing this for free.  And last two opponents have been Mayweather style cherry picks.

did i hear cherry picking

whens this starting ff

Bunce just said nearer 4.15

Bunce just said a bunch of words, but none of them made any sense!

he's funny thoigh

It's Krusher time

ere we go

Kovalev to spark him within 5

Hopkins to try a headbutt

bang

lol

barely a knockdown tbf

Hopkins looks awful. Slow and week.

*weak

Kovalev looks massive in there

Hopkins trying to rumble in the jungle Kovalev

only people who actually thought Hopkins had a chance were the people who try and act like there an expert.

when in reality they are clueless

More resistance at 49 years of age than both Bellew and Cleverley combined.

One sided beating this tonight

Hopkins only hope is that he somehow last until the final bell and either Dave Parris and Terry O'Connor scoring the fight or the ref slips and replaced by Howard Foster

CJ Ross and Jim Watt aswell

Kovalev blowing a wee bit, could the alien be pulling off a masterstroke?

A shut out so far with Kovalev 8 points clear after 7 rounds

How did Hopkins stay on his feet

The spaceship is warming up to take Hopkins away.

Hopkins looking 50 in there

Must feel about 70

how did he not go down lol

That was like a rocky move at the end Hopkins getting smashed around the ring

Bellew and Clev should note what real heart is.

Both caved in early after taking a fraction of the punches Bhop was hit with tonight

Ref really should've stopped that in the final seconds.  Stayed up all night to lose a big bet like that.  ffs

Fair play to Hopkins he is made of granite

Nov 9, 2014 -- 5:47AM, Horangi. wrote:

Ref really should've stopped that in the final seconds.

tbf the ref probably wanted him to keep his record of never being KO'd

And to think Bellew/Cleverley is ppv

British public complete mugs

He stayed on his feet simply because I had my biggest bet of the year on Kovalev inside 12. 9/10 refs would of stopped that before final bell. Sick.

really enjoyable fight, thought Kovalev boxed tremendous and brave stuff from Hopkins.

Enjoyable fight?  It was a pedestrian paced one sided beating against an opponent mimicking a turtle/goat.

Suppose its fitting Hopkins goes out boring audiences to death with his inactivity...that is his legacy.  A guy who literally stole money from the boxing public time and time again.  Not hard to see how he effortless slips into the promotion business, he'll be able to con his way to even more undeserved compensation behind the curtains.

each to their own mate, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Was nice to see different aspects to Kovalev's game and whilst it was a whitewash there were a couple of moments when you thought Bernard might get into the fight. For all your guff about Bhop stealing money from the boxing public I thought it was fascinating to watch him hang in there and try to eek out openings as best he could when clearly physically overmatched. Perhaps you prefer seeing the likes of our Nath fold up when clipped on the arms a few times?

Couple of moments you thought Bernard was back in the fight? C'mon lol, what when he actually threw and landed a punch?  Those moments were breathtaking, especially given his amazing ko percentage over the last decade+ had me wondering if Kovalev could stand up to them...End Sarcasm.

I'm amazed the support Hopkins gets for being "crafty".  He's a serial cheater who offered nothing to boxing except lackluster main events and a bad attitude.

You're entitled to your opinion, you did however misquote me there to suit your agenda. I'm generally a glass half full kind of person, you seem to be one of the many internet whingers who only see the negative in everything. Fill your boots by all means but if you can't see anything at all to admire from last night then it's your loss imo.

Please spare me the all high and mighty stuff.  As you say you have your opinion and I have mine.  To suggest its my loss I can't see anything in that performance of Hopkins is to suggest you hold a superior opinion to mine.

And to categorize me as an internet whinger and someone who sees the negative in everything based on my ultra negative (based in fact) opinion of Bernard Hopkins is a little much.

I suppose you were still on the milk when Hopkins was stopping pretty much everybody he fought Horangi. You know that time when a fighter is in his prime. Getting old happens to everybody. I prefer to celebrate the fact that he remained competitive at the top level long into his boxing dotage.

Just back, that is the hardest puncher I've seen live. You can hear them THUD. Hopkins really isnt my cup of tea, minus the boring though effective style he's a racist sh it.Fair play to him in the 12th though went out on his shield.
  Anyway brilliant work by Kovalev and perhaps now the yanks will admit the lad can also box. Great gameplan by Jackson so frustrating when people head hunt when their opposition is on the ropes, hit the body it cant move.
He broke him down bit by bit outboxed he showed a variety of skills was patient and can bang, can see why Stevenson avoided him

Nov 9, 2014 -- 3:58PM, alabaster crashes down wrote:

each to their own mate, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Was nice to see different aspects to Kovalev's game and whilst it was a whitewash there were a couple of moments when you thought Bernard might get into the fight. For all your guff about Bhop stealing money from the boxing public I thought it was fascinating to watch him hang in there and try to eek out openings as best he could when clearly physically overmatched. Perhaps you prefer seeing the likes of our Nath fold up when clipped on the arms a few times?

Yes, I always find it interesting when a very technical fighter is outmatched and has to use his boxing IQ to come up with something. Even if he finds nothing, I love watching him try because you know that he is using all his years of ability to come up with something. JMM vs Mayweather was one of those fights I was glued to just to see if JMM could come up with anything. Hopkins vs Calzaghe was another one, although I felt Hopkins was winning that with his counter punching. Lewis vs Vitali to a lesser extent but you were always waiting for Lewis to find something. I kept thinking Gamboa was going to pull something out vs Crawford. So yes, it was fascinating to see Hopkins trying to find something. It only became clear that he was definitely going to lose the fight as it moved into 4-5 rounds imo as Kovalev was showing no signs of slowing and Hopkins was never going to stop him, and knockdowns were needed on the cards.

*the last 4-5 rounds