Hopkins' last fight this Saturday - big defeat!

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

It was one sided but Kovalev seem one dimensional and had no idea at times what to do next, a lot different from his knocking the shite out of Clev by hitting him on his arms.

Hopkins made him miss plenty of times and apart from the few times where he got caught - Hopkins was in no real trouble (even in the last round where he did take some meaty shots but that it should have been stopped?) - he was in the end of the day a 50 year old middleweight but proved something in that Kovalev isn't this destructible wrecking machine that folds anything it hits. He can be beaten and will be with someone in a younger body but with the same smarts as Hopkins.

NB: I thought Hopkins might be able to turn it back, but that was based on me not rating Kovalev all that highly rather than thinking Hopkins can keep going any longer, hopefully, this is where he gets off the ride.

Lol.

You are the guy who thinks a 40 plus year old athlete is in their prime so you 'lol' away.

Find me one quote where I've stated that Hopkins at 49 is in his prime.[/quote]

Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was but six years ago when he dismantled Pavlik (after the Calzaghe defeat) he was pretty damn near his peak.

So you thought at the age of 43 - Hopkins had reached his near peak. Which is laughable in itself.

[crusader]

I thought he looked like he knew what to do. He kept his jab busy and threw it to the body a lot, which is a great way to offset someone with good upper-body movement. He didn't generally load up on his shots, and instead put them together in quick and more difficult to counter bursts while Hopkins was on the ropes. He also deftly took well-timed steps back, which Hopkins conceded threw him off and limited his opportunities, and when Hopkins did through punches Kovalev was fairly active on the counterattack.

Hopkins was also down, and I thought he was rocked in multiple other rounds in addition to being very unsteady and taking a beating in the final round, so I can't agree that he was in no real trouble.

He was rocked and he was hurt for sure, but he was nowhere near to being stopped, in the last round he took a few meaty shots but it was nowhere near being so bad as for him to get stopped. He got hit on the top of his head in the 8th round (I think) that made him stumble. I suppose my point is that the further up Kovalev goes up in class, the less he is going to be able to dictate when fights end with sole brute power - he manage to do that with Cleverly, now he is in the big leagues - more and more problems are going to be posed for him.

He took loads of shots and was unsteady in a bout that he was clearly well-behind in. I would've had no problems with a stoppage at that point.

I don't think Kovalev dictated this fight solely with his power at all, and I don't think it's possible for him to move up much further in class at his weight. Hopkins was dominated tonight, but he wasn't dominated when he fought Cloud, Murat, or Shumenov, so I think he was still among the most capable fighters at the weight. You said that Kovalev looked like he didn't know what to do, but I thought he looked like he knew exactly what to do, and he ended up winning every round against someone many people thought would beat him.

[Ian1973]

[quote=]

Hopkins made him miss plenty of times and apart from the few times where he got caught - Hopkins was in no real trouble (even in the last round where he did take some meaty shots but that it should have been stopped?) - he was in the end of the day a 50 year old middleweight but proved something in that Kovalev isn't this destructible wrecking machine that folds anything it hits. He can be beaten and will be with someone in a younger body but with the same smarts as Hopkins.

NB: I thought Hopkins might be able to turn it back, but that was based on me not rating Kovalev all that highly rather than thinking Hopkins can keep going any longer, hopefully, this is where he gets off the ride


Lol.[/quote]

You are the guy who thinks a 40 plus year old athlete is in their prime so you 'lol' away. [/quote]


Find me one quote where I've stated that Hopkins at 49 is in his prime.[/quote]

Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was but six years ago when he dismantled Pavlik (after the Calzaghe defeat) he was pretty damn near his peak.

So you thought at the age of 43 - Hopkins had reached his near peak. Which is laughable in itself.

[/quote]


Oh dear you've just made yourself look daft by quoting my post which I shall now re=post.

[quote]Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was[/unquote]

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Hopkins made him miss plenty of times and apart from the few times where he got caught - Hopkins was in no real trouble (even in the last round where he did take some meaty shots but that it should have been stopped?) - he was in the end of the day a 50 year old middleweight but proved something in that Kovalev isn't this destructible wrecking machine that folds anything it hits. He can be beaten and will be with someone in a younger body but with the same smarts as Hopkins.

NB: I thought Hopkins might be able to turn it back, but that was based on me not rating Kovalev all that highly rather than thinking Hopkins can keep going any longer, hopefully, this is where he gets off the ride


Lol.

You are the guy who thinks a 40 plus year old athlete is in their prime so you 'lol' away.

Find me one quote where I've stated that Hopkins at 49 is in his prime.[/quote]

Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was but six years ago when he dismantled Pavlik (after the Calzaghe defeat) he was pretty damn near his peak.

So you thought at the age of 43 - Hopkins had reached his near peak. Which is laughable in itself.

[/quote]


Oh dear you've just made yourself look daft by quoting my post which I shall now re=post.

Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was[/unquote]

Right, but my point is that he was sliding at 43 - you thought he was reaching his peak at 43 which is a joke. The fact was Pavlik wasn't all that great to begin with. Kovalev isn't all that hot either. Hopkins is just an old man - a remarkable old man but went to the well once too many times.

[Ian1973]

Hopkins made him miss plenty of times and apart from the few times where he got caught - Hopkins was in no real trouble (even in the last round where he did take some meaty shots but that it should have been stopped?) - he was in the end of the day a 50 year old middleweight but proved something in that Kovalev isn't this destructible wrecking machine that folds anything it hits. He can be beaten and will be with someone in a younger body but with the same smarts as Hopkins.

NB: I thought Hopkins might be able to turn it back, but that was based on me not rating Kovalev all that highly rather than thinking Hopkins can keep going any longer, hopefully, this is where he gets off the ride


Lol.

You are the guy who thinks a 40 plus year old athlete is in their prime so you 'lol' away.

Find me one quote where I've stated that Hopkins at 49 is in his prime.

Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was but six years ago when he dismantled Pavlik (after the Calzaghe defeat) he was pretty damn near his peak.

So you thought at the age of 43 - Hopkins had reached his near peak. Which is laughable in itself.

[/quote]


Oh dear you've just made yourself look daft by quoting my post which I shall now re=post.

Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was[/unquote]

Right, but my point is that he was sliding at 43 - you thought he was reaching his peak at 43 which is a joke. The fact was Pavlik wasn't all that great to begin with. Kovalev isn't all that hot either. Hopkins is just an old man - a remarkable old man but went to the well once too many times.[/quote]


Again i never said he was reaching his peak at 43, I said if he wasn't at his peak he wasn't far from it.

I agree Hopkins is a remarkable old man and i have huge respect for him but he was dismantled today in a fashion that it wasn't purely down to age. Kovalev is a very, very good fighter and fromHopkins' point of view there is absolutely no disgrace in losing to him.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

You are the guy who thinks a 40 plus year old athlete is in their prime so you 'lol' away.

Find me one quote where I've stated that Hopkins at 49 is in his prime.

Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was but six years ago when he dismantled Pavlik (after the Calzaghe defeat) he was pretty damn near his peak.

So you thought at the age of 43 - Hopkins had reached his near peak. Which is laughable in itself.

Oh dear you've just made yourself look daft by quoting my post which I shall now re=post.

Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was[/unquote]

Right, but my point is that he was sliding at 43 - you thought he was reaching his peak at 43 which is a joke. The fact was Pavlik wasn't all that great to begin with. Kovalev isn't all that hot either. Hopkins is just an old man - a remarkable old man but went to the well once too many times.[/quote]


Again i never said he was reaching his peak at 43, I said if he wasn't at his peak he wasn't far from it.

I agree Hopkins is a remarkable old man and i have huge respect for him but he was dismantled today in a fashion that it wasn't purely down to age. Kovalev is a very, very good fighter and fromHopkins' point of view there is absolutely no disgrace in losing to him.[/quote]

You did! You said he was reaching near his peak at 43 after beating Pavlik!

You're talking different eras though mate. Footballers are playing on longer these days, being in your 40's now is not the same as a 40 year old decades ago. Hopkins now at 49 probably isn't quite as good as he was but six years ago when he dismantled Pavlik (after the Calzaghe defeat) he was pretty damn near his peak.

You need to make it clear is he is ascending or descending - from how you written it, it seems Hopkins was ascending towards his peak.

It was definitely down to age - if Kovalev had anything about him - he would have KO'd a fighter who was far older and a lot smaller - great fighters manage that such as Carlos Monzon stopping Jose Napoles. Kovalev beat him through his youth and his size, unfortunately for him, there will be light heavies the same size as him who he won't be able to dominate.

[Ian1973]

[quote]



You have lost me again, which you tend to do. Forget footballers, that was trying to emphasize a point. hopkins was near his peak when he fought Calzaghe / Pavlik but was past his best when he faced Kovalev.

i'm not sure why that is particularly difficult to understand but hey it's early Sunday - drink / drugs / tiredness?

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

You have lost me again, which you tend to do. Forget footballers, that was trying to emphasize a point. hopkins was near his peak when he fought Calzaghe / Pavlik but was past his best when he faced Kovalev.

i'm not sure why that is particularly difficult to understand but hey it's early Sunday - drink / drugs / tiredness?

If someone is approaching their prime - they are near their peak - they are approaching the top of the summit... at 43 - Hopkins was far past approaching the peak of his prime and career. Are you really saying Hopkins was approaching his prime/peak at 43?

If you are trying to say he was slightly over the hill when he beat Pavlik then you need to use your idioms a bit better.

[Ian1973]

You have lost me again, which you tend to do. Forget footballers, that was trying to emphasize a point. hopkins was near his peak when he fought Calzaghe / Pavlik but was past his best when he faced Kovalev.

i'm not sure why that is particularly difficult to understand but hey it's early Sunday - drink / drugs / tiredness?

If someone is approaching their prime - they are near their peak - they are approaching the top of the summit... at 43 - Hopkins was far past approaching the peak of his prime and career. Are you really saying Hopkins was approaching his prime/peak at 43?

If you are trying to say he was slightly over the hill when he beat Pavlik then you need to use your idioms a bit better.

Listen man it is 08:55 Sunday morning UK time, shut the fornicate up and talk to me at a decent time.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

You have lost me again, which you tend to do. Forget footballers, that was trying to emphasize a point. hopkins was near his peak when he fought Calzaghe / Pavlik but was past his best when he faced Kovalev.

i'm not sure why that is particularly difficult to understand but hey it's early Sunday - drink / drugs / tiredness?

If someone is approaching their prime - they are near their peak - they are approaching the top of the summit... at 43 - Hopkins was far past approaching the peak of his prime and career. Are you really saying Hopkins was approaching his prime/peak at 43?

If you are trying to say he was slightly over the hill when he beat Pavlik then you need to use your idioms a bit better.

Listen man it is 08:55 Sunday morning UK time, shut the eff up and talk to me at a decent time. [/quote]

Remember Ian, proper use of idioms for the next time mkay!

[Ian1973]

Remember Ian, proper use of idioms for the next time mkay!

Ha ha. Ok mate.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Remember Ian, proper use of idioms for the next time mkay!

Ha ha. Ok mate.

I am sorry man, it is nearly 5pm in China - I have been awake for nearly 10 hours when some chinese loudspeaker blaring away got me up to Vangelis 'Chariots of Fire'. Hope you get some sleep later on! :)

[Ian1973]

Remember Ian, proper use of idioms for the next time mkay!

Ha ha. Ok mate.

I am sorry man, it is nearly 5pm in China - I have been awake for nearly 10 hours when some chinese loudspeaker blaring away got me up to Vangelis 'Chariots of Fire'. Hope you get some sleep later on! :)

Lol. You are taking the piss now. fornicate off.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Remember Ian, proper use of idioms for the next time mkay!

Ha ha. Ok mate.

I am sorry man, it is nearly 5pm in China - I have been awake for nearly 10 hours when some chinese loudspeaker blaring away got me up to Vangelis 'Chariots of Fire'. Hope you get some sleep later on! :)

Lol. You are taking the piss now. eff off. [/quote]

I'm not! I live on a Chinese university campus and they have erected a big screen with massive loudspeakers near my apartment and they have been playing this fornicating advert on it on a loop for 8 hours, same fornicating advert and chariots of fire for 8 hours solid and it has been doing my head in. I have been drowing the noise out by listening to Abba and Duran Duran.

It has stopped now, positives - CCTV (The Chinese state channel) showed the fight free to air at 1 pm.

[Ian1973]

It has stopped now, positives - CCTV (The Chinese state channel) showed the fight free to air at 1 pm.

To be fair it could be a lot worse Duran Duran and (particularly Abba) are class acts. Abba sold 380 million records worldwide. .

You could be forced to listen to Eminem and all that rap crap. ;;-)

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

It has stopped now, positives - CCTV (The Chinese state channel) showed the fight free to air at 1 pm.

To be fair it could be a lot worse Duran Duran and (particularly Abba) are class acts. Abba sold 380 million records worldwide. .

You could be forced to listen to Eminem and all that rap crap. ;;-)

True man, mind you we are at that age (if 1973 is the year you came into this world - pardon for the insinuation if that is wrong) where we appreciate a decent tune, the crap nowadays is painful to listen to.

[Ian1973]

It has stopped now, positives - CCTV (The Chinese state channel) showed the fight free to air at 1 pm.

To be fair it could be a lot worse Duran Duran and (particularly Abba) are class acts. Abba sold 380 million records worldwide. .

You could be forced to listen to Eminem and all that rap crap. ;;-)

True man, mind you we are at that age (if 1973 is the year you came into this world - pardon for the insinuation if that is wrong) where we appreciate a decent tune, the crap nowadays is painful to listen to.

Lol. Yes mate, born November 27 1973. I expect a happy birthday message at the very least. ;;-)

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

It has stopped now, positives - CCTV (The Chinese state channel) showed the fight free to air at 1 pm.

To be fair it could be a lot worse Duran Duran and (particularly Abba) are class acts. Abba sold 380 million records worldwide. .

You could be forced to listen to Eminem and all that rap crap. ;;-)

True man, mind you we are at that age (if 1973 is the year you came into this world - pardon for the insinuation if that is wrong) where we appreciate a decent tune, the crap nowadays is painful to listen to.

Lol. Yes mate, born November 27 1973. I expect a happy birthday message at the very least. ;;-)[/quote]

For sure! On the day I will drop my commiserations to you! Those grey hairs multiply by the year, I know the feeling only too well my man.

[whiskey]

Kovalev definitely pulled a punch or two at the end, and looked over his shoulder to see why the ref was.

His fists killed a guy already.

Fat Git - Kovalev won every round and two of them were 10-8 rounds. Hopkins landed absolutely nothing and was completely routed. But I get the feeling you weren't impressed ?

[palooka]

I was impressed by both boxers. Kovalev has discipline and intelligence and is very powerful, rangy and strong. Hopkins seemed to know from early on that it would be too hard an ask; he didn't look for a way out and tried his level best. Kovalev will knock out far younger men (in their primes) with similar punches. I thought Hopkins may get stopped in the 12th and was willing him through. He didn't look like a man who'd been in a fight afterwards.

Both men showed class and dignity in the post fight interviews.

[Boxerbeetle]

Just watched the fight, as pointed earlier in the thread it went pretty much how everyone predicted before the hype train started properly.

The only thing I really want to do is give respect to Hopkins for taking the fight in the first place. Surely he's at the very end of his long career now & I can't honestly say I've enjoyed watching too much of it, but no-one can ever argue he's avoided another fighter.

For all the stylistic ugliness he brings at times, I get the feeling B-Hop will be remembered a lot more fondly than Mayweather in years to come, simply because he's challenged himself so much more.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Masterclass from Kovalev. Noone beats him now unless he moves to heavyweight.

Ward? No. At some point, he'd land on Andre, and Ward doesn't have the constitution to get through it. I remember Ward looking uncomfortable in the 12th against Froch and doing the bravado head shake. Kovalev will get to him much earlier.

Don't expect that fight to happen though.

[Bodyshot3]

Kovalev-Ward would be one to seriously savour.......especially as Kovalev is way more of a rounded fighter than I'd previously given him credit for and Ward so badly needs a fight of consequence.

Cleverly, to his credit, hinted that there was way more to Kovalev than just a humongous puncher in some bits and pieces in the media. Okay, so if a guy has beaten you conclusively you're going to rate his abilities.....but Nathan analysed things well in my opinion....Kovalev is patient as well as frighteningly powerful.

Dare we ask the much-repeated question about where Ward is at.....still up to his neck is legal wrangles? There are so many great fights out there which Andre could and should be a part off.

[handsofstone]

Fight panned out pretty much as i predicted,i thought Hopkins would see it through to the end but he was pretty (un)lucky not to get stopped in the last round,i noticed at the start i didnt recognise the ref,which is never a good thing in a big fight,shades of Khan/Peterson

Kovalev was dominant and boxed a pretty smart fight and was pretty methodical in his approach apart from the 12th where he went for the finish,he's shown the people who thought he was just a puncher that he's got more in the arsenal

Hopkins done what i knew he would,survive without trying to force the win,then post fight Bernard saying that he was impressed with Sergey's ability to take a step back after Hopkins tagged him,cant remember that happening too much

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Fat Git - Kovalev won every round and two of them were 10-8 rounds. Hopkins landed absolutely nothing and was completely routed. But I get the feeling you weren't impressed ?

Nope!