Hopkins vs Kovalev: Head to head
Tonight, November 8, from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the IBF/WBA Light Heavyweight Champion, Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs), will take on the most feared puncher at 175 pounds, current WBO title holder Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) in the main event of the evening.
(Image courtesy of HBO)
The scheduled twelve round unification contest, Hopkins vs Kovalev, is slated to air on HBO World Championship Boxing, with a start time of 10:45 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, following a ten round, Welterweight preliminary bout between former Olympian Sadam Ali and hard punching Argentine Carlos Abregu.
In what is being labeled as “old school courage,” the 49 year old maverick from Philly has once again chosen to defy boxing’s conventional wisdom and step in the ring with a man who not only owns a literal casualty on his resume, but also possesses some of the heaviest hands in the entire sport.
Although B-Hop has made a comfortable living off of making his detractors look foolish, many ringside observers are truly convinced that he’s finally bitten off more than he can chew.
With only two months and seven days until his fiftieth birthday, can the living legend pull off the improbable victory one more time?
Let’s take a look at the Tale of the Tape!
Hopkins vs Kovalev Tale of the Tape
Bernard Hopkins – The future Hall of Famer from Philadelphia, PA, stands 6’1″ in the ring and fights behind an orthodox position. He utilizes a 75″ reach in the ring and works well behind a series of jabs, while using his footwork as the foundation of his defense.
With notable wins against Glencoffe Johnson, Robert Allen, John David Jackson, Syd Vanderpool, Felix Trinidad, William Joppy, Oscar De La Hoya, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright, Roy Jones Jr., Kelly Pavlik, and most recently Jean Pascal, the living legend has already cemented his legacy as an all-time great prizefighter.
Hopkins is most proficient fighting from mid to long range, continuously keeping his opposition at safe distances and angles. His ability to make his head a smaller target by leaning back and hiding behind his left shoulder makes Bernard’s chin a very difficult mark for his opponents. His primary weapons are his straight right hand and left hook counter, which he likes to set up with a mastery of the entire ring. His understanding of distance and range is unparalleled, and his footwork and upper body movement has amazingly kept Bernard from taking extensive damage throughout his entire 26 year career as a professional.
Bernard’s fights have often been characterized as uneventful, because he is possibly the most proficient fighter in boxing at offsetting an opponent’s strengths while exploiting their weaknesses. He always looks to shut down his opponent’s offense by countering effectively with the straight right hand whenever his foe opens up from mid to long range, consequently forcing his opposition to adopt a more tentative mindset in the ring.
His superb athleticism and reflexes allow him to see punches coming from a distance, which opens up opportunities for Bernard to slip and counter proficiently from various angles. But does Hopkins still have the physical tools at age 49 to overcome an offensive minded machine with extremely heavy hands?
Sergey Kovalev – The 31 year old “Krusher” from Russia stands 6’0″ in the ring and fights behind an orthodox stance. He utilizes a 72 ?” reach in the ring and uses his footwork as the foundation of his defense. The most avoided man in the Light Heavyweight division has an 88.46% knock-out ratio, and can work comfortably for all three minutes of every round. Because Kovalev can hurt his opponents without loading up on any one punch, Sergey’s offensive output is very impressive for a 175 pound fighter.
The five year fight veteran has great balance and possesses very underrated footwork. The Russian native likes use his feet to keep his opponents from mid to long range. From this distance, Kovalev can get an optimum amount of leverage on his shots while working to the body and head with either hand.
If an opponent attempts to close the distance and tries to smother the WBO Champion’s attack, the crafty 31 year old fighter will use his feet and his jab to control range while pivoting around his opposition. Because Kovalev isn’t an explosive fighter, combining speed with power, he doesn’t depend on being flat footed to let his hands go. He is gifted with naturally heavy hands, and can hurt his opponents while moving effectively in and out of range.
Sergey is a deceptively smart fighter who mixes up his punches extremely well to the body and head. He likes to set up his shots by cutting off the ring and closing the distance while working intelligently behind an effective series of jabs. He is a physically and mentally imposing fighter who doesn’t customarily show his opposition much respect in the ring.
But because of Hopkins’ mastery of distance and angles, as well as his ability to land the sneaky right hand counter from mid range, will Kovalev be forced to show the old man more respect than he’s used to giving his opponents? Will Sergey be able to avoid the various traps set by the living fight legend and land enough punches to defeat the 49 year old future Hall of Famer?
Keys to Victory
For Bernard Hopkins to win tonight’s unification bout against a very heavy handed opponent, Hopkins will have to use his feet, moving about the entire ring, while closing the distance suddenly behind the straight right hand to keep Sergey Kovalev frustrated and off balance.
Mind games and intimidation will not be effective in this match-up. Kovalev is a stone cold assassin in the ring, and doesn’t like to show his opponents any respect. Hopkins will have to earn it the hard way by catching the Russian fighter with a straight right hand counter as he’s attempting to close the distance, while subsequently tying him up underneath and smothering his offense attack.
Can the almost half century old fighter keep moving for three minutes of every round while throwing enough effective shots to the body and head to temper the hard punching Russian’s aggression and punch output for twelve rounds at age 49?
He’ll have to if he wants to pick up the WBO Light Heavyweight title. Hopkins’ best chance for victory is to either move laterally while catching his aggressive minded opponent coming in with a sharp counter, or make it an ugly, mauling fight underneath, taking away the distance Kovalev depends on to gain leverage on his punches.
If he can implement a healthy dose of both recommended strategies for twelve hard rounds, Bernard Hopkins could pick up another career defining victory against possibly his most dangerous opponent to date.
For Sergey Kovalev to defeat the always enigmatic fight legend from Philly, he’ll have to treat Bernard Hopkins like any other fighter and try to land shots anywhere he can. Because Bernard’s chin is such an elusive target, Sergey should attempt to merely touch Hopkins to the arms, chest, shoulders, and body…gradually breaking down the 49 year old fighter mentally and physically over the course of the twelve round prizefight. Kovalev has to work with the mentality that the steady drop will eventually fill the bucket and apply intelligent pressure, while working behind the jab and closing the distance. When in firing range, Sergey must work consistently in combination to the body and head. Volume is the primary key to victory for the much younger and harder punching fighter.
Also, Bernard likes to close the distance very quickly and disrupt the flow of action by tying up his opponents regularly. Kovalev must be prepared to anticipate this move by pivoting around the old man while letting his hands go from mid range as he attempts to move in.
If Sergey Kovalev can anticipate the movement of Bernard Hopkins while working patiently behind the jab, and aggressively dictating the pace of the fight, the current WBO Light Heavyweight Champion can pick up two more titles as well as his most impressive victory to date.
Hopkins vs Kovalev Prediction
Although most media members are on the fence in making their respective predictions for this unification bout, a Hopkins victory seems unlikely at this stage of the future Hall of Famer’s career. When one considers Kovalev’s ability to hurt his opponents while putting forth a very healthy and consistent work rate for three minutes of every round, as well as his underrated footwork and technical skills, the forecast doesn’t look good for the Philly fight legend.
Sergey Kovalev TKO 9 over Bernard Hopkins
