Hopkins stands no chance against Kovalev......

[Bard of Boxrec]

C) Hopkins has taken this fight as a conciliatory gesture, knowing that he'll get a shoeing but not caring, to get Main Events to drop their lawsuit against Haymon (brought for breaking the contract for the Stevenson vs Kovalev fight).

Thought it was fairly widely accepted that this was a factor in the fight getting made? I'm sure it's a lot of Hopkins being delusional too though.

[Bricks]

I'd like to see him be KO'd in fact for his racist comment he said about Calzaghe. A white man would never get away with saying that!

It's a tongue in cheek comment made by a mid 40s geezer that offended white 40 something geezers .all of you are so 1970s and were offended as race is important to u.a younger white guy in his 20s at the time like me just laughed

[Counter-puncher]

where does Hopkins fit on the scale of brutally strong 1970s British West Indians? they didn't need HgH then

[SteveDow]

I think Kovalev will find it very hard to land cleanly on Hopkins and will be caught regularly coming in. I see 2 scenarios:

1. Kovalev out works Hopkins over 12 in an ugly fight where Kovalev can't land properly with his power shots but wins a decision solely on account of being the busier fighter.

2. Kovalev is made to look silly, looks totally befuddled and bemused and is shown up as being a level below someone of he calibre of Hopkins and loses a decision.

In my mind what is for sure is that Kovalev won't be able to simply march forward and club away at Hopkins until he wilts (I.e what he did against Cleverly).

I think the best bet is on the fight going the distance.

[orbtastic]

I'd like to hope kovalev can avoid being tied up and his work rate negated for twelve rounds.

Maybe Hopkins thinks he can drag him into deep waters after six or seven rounds as he's yet to go beyond seven but kovalev doesn't strike me as a man who goes balls to the wall looking for an early ok, he's just very heavy handed.

Edit - danger man Boone lost a sd over eight. I thought he'd not gone beyond seven. Point still stans though, only gone beyond three rounds 5 times.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Hopkins has a way of taking other fighters game away from them. I think Kovalev is the favourite and should be, but Hopkins is a master at doing it ugly and spoiling the other fighters tactics. I can definitely see Hopkins winning an ugly decision if he manages to get through the first few rounds without taking a beating.

As said earlier, it's workrate that Bernard really struggles with, as he hasn't got the stamina any more for a fight with a high work rate.

[Sklar]

People may be getting a bit carried away with Kovalev. Who's he beaten?

[jamesmcdonnell]

People may be getting a bit carried away with Kovalev. Who's he beaten?

Also - how many guys as good as Hopkins has he beaten - answer, none.

Everyone looks devastating until they come up against a true great.

I think there's no doubt that Hopkins goes down as one of the greats, his longevity is just ridiculous, he's even surpassed Archire Moore's incredible achievements, though I'd definitely rate Moore higher as a LH and overall - he fought tougher competition than Hopkins. Though at this rate, it's going to be hard not to rate Hopkins top 10 all time if he beats Kovalev, to keep turning back challenges from much younger men is really quite incredible.

[PsychoGamer]

Hopkins said he would go 12 rounds with Kovalev, without getting a scratch... i doubt he'll leave Kovalev 12 rounds to beat him up. Hopkins is going to look for the KO in the first rounds, and he has a chance because Kovalevs defense isn't pretty, and he's been down several times before. Hopkins shouldn't trade though, and if he doesn't get him out early, i'll see him getting stopped late.

[Cyclops]

Hopkins isn't KOing anybody. He's said it before he tries for the KO and it doesn't come. That's why he's the Alien now rather than the executioner, because he just doesn't stop guys anymore.

Hopkins UD.

[Monte Fisto]

Kovalev to win by DQ. Gotta love b-hop. Boxing and comedy legend.

Or rather hopkins to lose by DQ.

[Fatsam]

I'm sure there are people out there at the ready hoping for hopkins first ever stoppage defeat so they can do a mashup with his racist comments from the calzaghe fight. Never liked the guy outside the ring even if it is extremely impressive the way hes been so relevant for so long.

Crusher Kovalev to end hopkins career, this is no kelly pavlik.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Hopkins isn't KOing anybody. He's said it before he tries for the KO and it doesn't come. That's why he's the Alien now rather than the executioner, because he just doesn't stop guys anymore.

Hopkins UD.

Agreed, looks the shots he landed on Pavlik, and still didn't stop him - he's just not got the power any more. He was never a murderous puncher, but at pushing 50, it would be pretty surprising if he stopped Kovalev.

[crusader]

People may be getting a bit carried away with Kovalev. Who's he beaten?

Also - how many guys as good as Hopkins has he beaten - answer, none.

Everyone looks devastating until they come up against a true great.

I think there's no doubt that Hopkins goes down as one of the greats, his longevity is just ridiculous, he's even surpassed Archire Moore's incredible achievements, though I'd definitely rate Moore higher as a LH and overall - he fought tougher competition than Hopkins. Though at this rate, it's going to be hard not to rate Hopkins top 10 all time if he beats Kovalev, to keep turning back challenges from much younger men is really quite incredible.

Cleverly and Campillo were very arguably top 5 in the division when Kovalev mauled them, and he's destroyed some decent fighters in the 10-15 range. It's not so much who he's beaten that's impressive as it is how he's beaten them, and I believe even against the level of opposition he's fought he's shown abilities that Hopkins will struggle with, though that should be clarified when they fight.

I think Taylor was also in a situation where you could ask you he had defeated before facing Hopkins, as was Pavlik for Taylor, and obviously there are numerous boxers who defeat opponents superior to anyone they previously beat. Moreover, while Kovalev may have not beaten anyone as good as Hopkins, has the current version of Hopkins--the one that will fight in November and the one who recently dropped 4 round to both Murat and Cloud in my view--beaten anyone as good as Kovalev? I don't think so.

[lefty]

People may be getting a bit carried away with Kovalev. Who's he beaten?

Also - how many guys as good as Hopkins has he beaten - answer, none.

Everyone looks devastating until they come up against a true great.

I think there's no doubt that Hopkins goes down as one of the greats, his longevity is just ridiculous, he's even surpassed Archire Moore's incredible achievements, though I'd definitely rate Moore higher as a LH and overall - he fought tougher competition than Hopkins. Though at this rate, it's going to be hard not to rate Hopkins top 10 all time if he beats Kovalev, to keep turning back challenges from much younger men is really quite incredible.

Cleverly and Campillo were very arguably top 5 in the division when Kovalev mauled them, and he's destroyed some decent fighters in the 10-15 range. It's not so much who he's beaten that's impressive as it is how he's beaten them, and I believe even against the level of opposition he's fought he's shown abilities that Hopkins will struggle with, though that should be clarified when they fight.

I think Taylor was also in a situation where you could ask you he had defeated before facing Hopkins, as was Pavlik for Taylor, and obviously there are loads of boxers who defeat opponents superior to anyone they previously beat. Moreover, while Kovalev may have not beaten anyone as good as Hopkins, has the current version of Hopkins--the one that will fight in November and the one who recently dropped 4 round to both Murat and Cloud in my view--beaten anyone as good as Kovalev? I don't think so.

Campillo top 5?

[crusader]

Why shouldn't he have been coming off the Cloud robbery? There is a strong argument that he would've been a unified champion had the judging of his bouts with Shumenov and Cloud, both of whom BHOP was well praised for beating, been fair.

[lefty]

Why shouldn't he have been coming off the Cloud robbery? There is a strong argument that he would've been a unified champion had the judging of his bouts with Shumenov and Cloud been fair.

I suppose at the time you're right. I'd put Stevenson, Hopkins, Dawson, Pascal, Kovalev and a few others above him now though.

[crusader]

Right, I was talking about when he fought Kovalev.

[lefty]

Right, I was talking about when he fought Kovalev.

Alright

[denzil1970]

You have got to give credit to the old man
Many would avoid the hard hitting kovalov he really does have big gonads