Sergey Kovalev vs. Anthony Yarde - 24 August 2019

[Bard of Boxrec]

Jason Matthews was very crude in comparison to Yarde. I don't recall many people predicting world level achievements for him, even after the unexpected Rhodes win.

I barely even remember him, and on checking a couple of early fights I can confirm the above. Crude, brawling, domestic level. Night and day with Yarde.

[kbackup408]

I know the bout is in Russia but think BT have missed a trick with not doing more build up previews/embedded style daily vlogs on fight week

The only people buzzing for this bout are the true boxing connoisseurs

[Counter-puncher]

These are all things you can see with your eyes and all factors that help bridge the gap in understanding that make Yarde a bettable proposition. Yes, we don’t know yet how Yarde will react when he’s hit - that’s the single biggest question mark.

I can- kinda- see your point on the 'eye test' and agree that 'unprovenness' doesn't automatically equate to 'no chance at all'

however i think you're drastically over-correcting in the other direction, and if you think how Yarde will react when he's hit is the biggest single question mark, you're drastically under-rating the importance of ringcraft and experience.

how will Yarde react when he's continually being feinted out of position by Kovalev, i think is at least as big an unknown as his chin. Yarde has never faced anyone who can control distance and timing with use of feints as Kovalev can.

i could see a situation where Yarde takes Kovalev's punches just fine, and still gets schooled for 12 rounds, just like Barrera did in the rematch. so there are many more factors at play here than 'can he take Kovalev's punch?'

i think your own polarisation of the debate, almost choosing to ignore the gap in experience, greatly underestimates that we have no idea at present whether Yarde will even manage to get close to Kovalev. Barrera is significantly more experienced and proven in ringsavviness, and when Kovalev had his boxing head on, Barrera barely won a round.

you're dealing (in Kovalev) with a guy who basically outboxed Ward from the outside, and you're rating a guy's chances against him who's never shown the slightest inkling of doing that at world level. I'm not going to say it's insane as such, but you're hardly even acknowledging that you're making a leap of faith on the basis of your confidence in the eye test, here, you're acting like this is all so obvious, that it's so obvious from the eye test that Yarde can hang with Kovalev; picking Yarde to win is a stretch and I can see from my eye-test that he's never had to fight anyone who can actually employ feints in a tactical manner.

at world level that's a pretty key skillset, never having even fvcking seen that skillset, never mind having coped with it, the bookies are absolutely right to price it as they have.

Kovalev's possible alcoholic decline is the only reason the odds aren't even wider, IMO

[Counter-puncher]

by the way this sounds a lot like the arguments i was having with people before Groves-Eubank

'Eubank will do X, Y', I was told, 'he's never shown any sign of doing that at world level before', I said.

[polecateddy]

Jason Matthews wasn’t that bad at lower levels. He was the underdog but stopped an in-form Paul ‘Silky’ Jones and effectively chased Ryan Rhodes out of the middleweight division. I strongly suspect Yarde’s skills won’t translate instantly to this medium/high world level. I mean has there ever been a UK fighter who has gone from just beating up tomato cans to beating beating one of the premier fighters? Where’s the stepping stones?

[Counter-puncher]

. I mean has there ever been a UK fighter who has gone from just beating up tomato cans to beating beating one of the premier fighters?

good question, Hatton possibly although even Tackie and old Phillips were better than any of Yarde's sacrifical victims I mean opponents

[MightyWarrior]

Good to see you're picking Yarde Riddick, I really want him to do it and recall you picking Kov over Clev, when most of us had no clue who he was..

I'm trying to make a case for Yarde, but with so much stacked against him it's hard, and really come downs to his supposed huge punching taking out a now less than rock solid Kovalev. Coupled with a great chin on the Brit ( he'll need it ) but about that chin, as everyone notes, we just don't know.

No bad signs so far though - but have any of his opponents had real power ? I wish there were some stat heads on here, to tell me who had the highest KO % of the fighters he's faced so far...may be I'll have a look later, but my guess is it wont make good reading..

Maybe I'm forgetting, but have there be many top level light heavies as musclebound as Yarde ? Adonis perhaps..

There is something a bit suspicious about his level of matchmaking here, and then him being stepped up so suddenly.

And he might be half tongue in cheek, but the other half of Tunde is seriously deluded: no serious sparring, plan 9 or whatever the f*** he calls it ?! He's like a wild eyed cult leader who has one devoted follower, and that's Anthony Yarde. His preaching at the press conference yesterday was pretty out there...

But still, there's so many unknowns here that it's going to be edge of your seat come Saturday night.

[polecateddy]

His trainer has had on occasion had other fighters in his camp who I believe have shown no noticeable improvement in form, which again might be another red flag.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Good to see you're picking Yarde Riddick, I really want him to do it and recall you picking Kov over Clev, when most of us had no clue who he was..

I'm trying to make a case for Yarde, but with so much stacked against him it's hard, and really come downs to his supposed huge punching taking out a now less than rock solid Kovalev. Coupled with a great chin on the Brit ( he'll need it ) but about that chin, as everyone notes, we just don't know.

No bad signs so far though - but have any of his opponents had real power ? I wish there were some stat heads on here, to tell me who had the highest KO % of the fighters he's faced so far...may be I'll have a look later, but my guess is it wont make good reading..

Maybe I'm forgetting, but have there be many top level light heavies as musclebound as Yarde ? Adonis perhaps..

There is something a bit suspicious about his level of matchmaking here, and then him being stepped up so suddenly.

And he might be half tongue in cheek, but the other half of Tunde is seriously deluded: no serious sparring, plan 9 or whatever the f*** he calls it ?! He's like a wild eyed cult leader who has one devoted follower, and that's Anthony Yarde. His preaching at the press conference yesterday was pretty out there...

But still, there's so many unknowns here that it's going to be edge of your seat come Saturday night.

I haven’t picked Yarde yet, and I still may not. CP I’ll respond to yours later

[Counter-puncher]

Good to see you're picking Yarde Riddick, I really want him to do it and recall you picking Kov over Clev, when most of us had no clue who he was..

I'm trying to make a case for Yarde, but with so much stacked against him it's hard, and really come downs to his supposed huge punching taking out a now less than rock solid Kovalev. Coupled with a great chin on the Brit ( he'll need it ) but about that chin, as everyone notes, we just don't know.

No bad signs so far though - but have any of his opponents had real power ? I wish there were some stat heads on here, to tell me who had the highest KO % of the fighters he's faced so far...may be I'll have a look later, but my guess is it wont make good reading..

Maybe I'm forgetting, but have there be many top level light heavies as musclebound as Yarde ? Adonis perhaps..

There is something a bit suspicious about his level of matchmaking here, and then him being stepped up so suddenly.

And he might be half tongue in cheek, but the other half of Tunde is seriously deluded: no serious sparring, plan 9 or whatever the f*** he calls it ?! He's like a wild eyed cult leader who has one devoted follower, and that's Anthony Yarde. His preaching at the press conference yesterday was pretty out there...

But still, there's so many unknowns here that it's going to be edge of your seat come Saturday night.

I haven’t picked Yarde yet, and I still may not. CP I’ll respond to yours later

K, interested to see how your eye test suggests Yarde can box with a bloke who outboxed Ward from the outside

[forcefraser]

The key to this fight is distance and not letting Kovalev find his range

Kovalevs right hand will land over that rolling shoulder with ease if Yarde stands off him.

He needs to close the space and work the body hard and then move out of range. Easier said than done though.

Kovalev is a much better boxer than people give him credit for.

[polecateddy]

Yarde started boxing late and only had 12 amateur bouts. Kovalev was on red hot national squads battling the likes of Artur Beterbiev and was 195-18. There’s a frighteningly big experience gap here.

[Kilburn]

I think I'm a little more concerned with Yarde's ability to land punches than take them. I'd hate to see the fight quickly transition into defiance from the challenger rather than a genuine attempt to win the fight. We've definitely seen that in the past..

On the plus side (and if Yarde can land some clean shots), if the second Ward fight was Kovalev's only defeat I'd be thinking forget it Yarde, Ward fought like an absolute animal that night to achieve what he did and even then there was controversy. But the Alvarez KO at least shows that Kovalev can be got at - and suddenly. The rematch doesn't remove that.

A show like this doesn't come to Chelyabinsk very often. I wonder if Kovalev may want to ensure his fans get to see a few rounds of him, resulting in a slower start than usual. Could this be Yarde's window or am I just talking bollex?

[polecateddy]

I think like Herbie Hide against Bowe and Vitali there maybe a round or two of adrenalin propelled success, before reality hits and the much better fighter starts to land punches.

[Kilburn]

Even the most pessimistic side of me couldn't envisage a repeat of the fly swatting in those Hide fights.

[polecateddy]

Bowe actually describes Hide’s flurries as the hardest he’d been hit with, although granted Hide was a mess of knockdowns in both fights. I guess we’ll find out if Yarde has more than defiance and similar desperate flurries in him when the fight gets hard against Kovalev.

[Kilburn]

Yeah I remember hearing that from Bowe, never did believe it.

If Yarde can't find the target and goes negative I suspect we'll see a lot of defensive moves and not much else.

[kbackup408]

I think I'm a little more concerned with Yarde's ability to land punches than take them. I'd hate to see the fight quickly transition into defiance from the challenger rather than a genuine attempt to win the fight. We've definitely seen that in the past..

On the plus side (and if Yarde can land some clean shots), if the second Ward fight was Kovalev's only defeat I'd be thinking forget it Yarde, Ward fought like an absolute animal that night to achieve what he did and even then there was controversy. But the Alvarez KO at least shows that Kovalev can be got at - and suddenly. The rematch doesn't remove that.

A show like this doesn't come to Chelyabinsk very often. I wonder if Kovalev may want to ensure his fans get to see a few rounds of him, resulting in a slower start than usual. Could this be Yarde's window or am I just talking bollex?

I would have thought Kov would be over eager since the bout is in Chelyabinsk

[Kilburn]

I would have thought Kov would be over eager since the bout is in Chelyabinsk

Against an opponent who he likely perceives will struggle to deal with the pace, Kovalev might think things are set up perfectly for him to give his fans a 15-20 minute value-for-money display of top level boxing, topped off with a nice highlight reel KO once Yarde wilts completely.

That's got to be the plan. Where's my phone I need to let Tunde know.

[kbackup408]

I would have thought Kov would be over eager since the bout is in Chelyabinsk

Against an opponent who he likely perceives will struggle to deal with the pace, Kovalev might think things are set up perfectly for him to give his fans a 15-20 minute value-for-money display of top level boxing, topped off with a nice highlight reel KO once Yarde wilts completely.

That's got to be the plan. Where's my phone I need to let Tunde know.

I can imagine Tunde's response - dream it, believe it, become

[Kilburn]

I can imagine Tunde's response - dream it, believe it, become

LOL trust me once I get a couple of stellas in me on Saturday I'll be dreaming and believing to the max

[kbackup408]

I can imagine Tunde's response - dream it, believe it, become

LOL trust me once I get a couple of stellas in me on Saturday I'll be dreaming and believing to the max

That is an excellent plan sir, I shall be opening a few heinkein's on saturday shouting lions in the camp

Just thinking what time is it safe to start the session considering a 7:30pm ring walk - what would a heavyweight suggest?

[Kilburn]

LOL trust me once I get a couple of stellas in me on Saturday I'll be dreaming and believing to the max

That is an excellent plan sir, I shall be opening a few heinkein's on saturday shouting lions in the camp

Just thinking what time is it safe to start the session considering a 7:30pm ring walk - what would a heavyweight suggest?

I'd go for about 2 hours before - not so early that you can't remember the fight clearly, but at the same time not so late that the anti-climactic spectacle sobers you straight back up.

What am I talking about, Yarde is going to do this!

[Coco]

Yeah I remember hearing that from Bowe, never did believe it.

If Yarde can't find the target and goes negative I suspect we'll see a lot of defensive moves and not much else.

If you can't find the target there is nothing else much to do!
Hitting hard is easy, landing them is a different thing!
We will see quite quickly to see whether Yarde is capable of landing and whether we have a fight or not.

[Ricky]

I haven’t picked Yarde yet, and I still may not. CP I’ll respond to yours later

K, interested to see how your eye test suggests Yarde can box with a bloke who outboxed Ward from the outside

Good point. Yarde's chances begin and end and kovalevs vulnerability. I'd give Yarde next to no chance vs the version SOG that Kovalev dropped and outpointed.