Round-by-Round: Sergey Kovalev vs. Anthony Yarde - 24 August 2019

[Ricky]

Interesting you can see that in Yarde but seem oblivious about your hero Anthony Joshua. And Yarde is technically much better than AJ.

I’ve seen some weird comments here but that takes the biscuit. AJ is not my hero... he has terrible stamina and I’ve been saying for donkeys his stamina isn’t good. For the record, I think Ruiz beats ‘my hero’ AJ. Strange strange comment

C'mon now, let's not act like you weren't a wholesale buyer on the AJ hype train that mocked me for insinuating Whyte was better before Ruiz pulled back the curtain. There's plenty similarity of Yarde and AJ, both awesome athletes that look great on the highlight reels bowling over tomata cans despite obvious technical limitations. The "strange" part is you baught the aj hypetrain and not yarde's.

[Heretic]

Kov gonna jab his way to a win?

That's what he did in the end

[margaret thatcher]

I’ve seen some weird comments here but that takes the biscuit. AJ is not my hero... he has terrible stamina and I’ve been saying for donkeys his stamina isn’t good. For the record, I think Ruiz beats ‘my hero’ AJ. Strange strange comment

C'mon now, let's not act like you weren't a wholesale buyer on the AJ hype train that mocked me for insinuating Whyte was better before Ruiz pulled back the curtain. There's plenty similarity of Yarde and AJ, both awesome athletes that look great on the highlight reels bowling over tomata cans despite obvious technical limitations. The "strange" part is you baught the aj hypetrain and not yarde's.

I mean AJ was an Olympic gold medalist and was unified pro champ, with several wins over contenders and a unification win over Parker, who'd already beat Ruiz. And he'd already KTFO the guy you were saying is better than him. I like Yarde but it's hardly as if it's been shown that him and AJ ended up being the same level fighter in the end. It wasn't as if Yarde beat, say, Browne, Pascal, Jack, Chilemba, and Smith before taking that loss.

If you bought into AJ, doesn't mean at all that you should've bought into Yarde.

[Bard of Boxrec]

I’ve seen some weird comments here but that takes the biscuit. AJ is not my hero... he has terrible stamina and I’ve been saying for donkeys his stamina isn’t good. For the record, I think Ruiz beats ‘my hero’ AJ. Strange strange comment

C'mon now, let's not act like you weren't a wholesale buyer on the AJ hype train that mocked me for insinuating Whyte was better before Ruiz pulled back the curtain. There's plenty similarity of Yarde and AJ, both awesome athletes that look great on the highlight reels bowling over tomata cans despite obvious technical limitations. The "strange" part is you baught the aj hypetrain and not yarde's.

Where do you get off on this shit? AJ is proven at the highest level, he’s not ‘hype’ .

[THEBUTCH]

Excellent effort from Yarde and the team. He did the best he could with the experience he had going into the fight. He now knows what it takes to beat the very best.

I think there's general lack of balance being spoken about Yarde and Tunde. They almost dethroned a very good champion in Kovalev, but simply came up short. There's been better challenges from a Brit...and a lot worse.

Whilst Kovalev is clearly on the downward curve, you have to remember the peak was very high, so even with his best days behind him, what's left is still a very good all round champion.

[keithmoonhangover]

C'mon now, let's not act like you weren't a wholesale buyer on the AJ hype train that mocked me for insinuating Whyte was better before Ruiz pulled back the curtain. There's plenty similarity of Yarde and AJ, both awesome athletes that look great on the highlight reels bowling over tomata cans despite obvious technical limitations. The "strange" part is you baught the aj hypetrain and not yarde's.

Where do you get off on this poo? AJ is proven at the highest level, he’s not ‘hype’ .

X2

[keithmoonhangover]

Excellent effort from Yarde and the team.

It wasn't a great effort from Tunde. Some of the worst cornering I've seen in a long time. Little to no guidance, no plan B and I'm not even sure if there was a plan A.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kov gonna jab his way to a win?

That's what he did in the end

Didn’t expect the final punch to be a jab.

[keithmoonhangover]

Superb corner work from Buddy McGirt. The "If you take another one of those punches, I'll stop the fight," speech was inspired. It got Kovalev focused on defence and gave him wake up he needed. He dominated the rest of the fight. Really good work from Buddy.

[gerryd77]

Superb corner work from Buddy McGirt. The "If you take another one of those punches, I'll stop the fight," speech was inspired. It got Kovalev focused on defence and gave him wake up he needed. He dominated the rest of the fight. Really good work from Buddy.

It was but I think it was more of a genuine concern after what happened to his man dadashev than a piece of deliberate motivation. It did motivate kov but that was as a consequence not the primary intention of why he said it imo.

[keithmoonhangover]

Superb corner work from Buddy McGirt. The "If you take another one of those punches, I'll stop the fight," speech was inspired. It got Kovalev focused on defence and gave him wake up he needed. He dominated the rest of the fight. Really good work from Buddy.

It was but I think it was more of a genuine concern after what happened to his man dadashev than a piece of deliberate motivation. It did motivate kov but that was as a consequence not the primary intention of why he said it imo.

With 60 seconds rest between rounds, there is zero chance that McGirt would have stopped the fight if one more punch landed. What Buddy did was classic corner work, classic psychology and it got the desired effect. It was like Dundee's "You're blowing it." to Leonard or Sadler's "This is the last round." to Foreman. It was excellent corner work.

[danconnollyeire]

I’ve seen some weird comments here but that takes the biscuit. AJ is not my hero... he has terrible stamina and I’ve been saying for donkeys his stamina isn’t good. For the record, I think Ruiz beats ‘my hero’ AJ. Strange strange comment

C'mon now, let's not act like you weren't a wholesale buyer on the AJ hype train that mocked me for insinuating Whyte was better before Ruiz pulled back the curtain. There's plenty similarity of Yarde and AJ, both awesome athletes that look great on the highlight reels bowling over tomata cans despite obvious technical limitations. The "strange" part is you baught the aj hypetrain and not yarde's.

It’s strange because I literally have no idea what you’re talking about, it’s weird AF. I’ve been extremely critical of AJ and the whole Hearn train especially. You can’t even spell bought let alone talk about my views on fighters. It’s also strange because wtf are you talking about? I was talking about yarde’s experience on pacing a 12 round stretch and you’re talking about the career of a former HW world champion? Nice connection

I never ‘bought’ the AJ hype train, I just though 12 months ago he was the best in a very weak division. Wilder is technically awful, AJ’s chin has only really been tested once or twice and fury, who I have always said is technically better than AJ, had been out for 3 years and literally no one knew if he’d ever be able to compete at world level again, thus, it wasn’t a wild prediction to say AJ will dominate the division. That all changed when Ruiz chinned him obviously

But how we got from talking about how Yarde paces himself over 12 rounds compared to someone experienced like Kovalev to people’s opinions on the career of Anthony Joshua, God knows. Very strange

[gerryd77]

It was but I think it was more of a genuine concern after what happened to his man dadashev than a piece of deliberate motivation. It did motivate kov but that was as a consequence not the primary intention of why he said it imo.

With 60 seconds rest between rounds, there is zero chance that McGirt would have stopped the fight if one more punch landed. What Buddy did was classic corner work, classic psychology and it got the desired effect. It was like Dundee's "You're blowing it." to Leonard or Sadler's "This is the last round." to Foreman. It was excellent corner work.

What he said has been misreported because the BT commentator got it wrong. He didn't say "one more". He said "if you take more shots like that in this round i'm stopping it."

He would have and it would have been the right thing to do if he had taken several shots like that.

[Ricky]

C'mon now, let's not act like you weren't a wholesale buyer on the AJ hype train that mocked me for insinuating Whyte was better before Ruiz pulled back the curtain. There's plenty similarity of Yarde and AJ, both awesome athletes that look great on the highlight reels bowling over tomata cans despite obvious technical limitations. The "strange" part is you baught the aj hypetrain and not yarde's.

It’s strange because I literally have no idea what you’re talking about, it’s weird AF. I’ve been extremely critical of AJ and the whole Hearn train especially. You can’t even spell bought let alone talk about my views on fighters. It’s also strange because wtf are you talking about? I was talking about yarde’s experience on pacing a 12 round stretch and you’re talking about the career of a former HW world champion? Nice connection

I never ‘bought’ the AJ hype train, I just though 12 months ago he was the best in a very weak division. Wilder is technically awful, AJ’s chin has only really been tested once or twice and fury, who I have always said is technically better than AJ, had been out for 3 years and literally no one knew if he’d ever be able to compete at world level again, thus, it wasn’t a wild prediction to say AJ will dominate the division. That all changed when Ruiz chinned him obviously

But how we got from talking about how Yarde paces himself over 12 rounds compared to someone experienced like Kovalev to people’s opinions on the career of Anthony Joshua, God knows. Very strange

I'm just being spiteful, you mocked my "boxing knowledge" when i told you Miller was going to stop AJ if he had a good enough chin, and you mocked me when i said Whyte was now better. You the compared a fictitious matchup of Chisora vs AJ (which is a pick em) to "Tranmere Rovers vs Man City" - in which i presume Del was the Tranmere. You were a fully-fledged member of the AJ hypetrain, a firstclass ticket holder to the point you scoffed and mocked at the idea Miller or Whyte may beat him, or the idea that Wilder is a better boxer (he is) - and low & behold, like a rat on a sinking ship, you no longer ride that de-railed train. I was merely commending you for not making the same mistake with Yarde. It was petty of me to bring it up though, so sorry. As you were.

[keithmoonhangover]

With 60 seconds rest between rounds, there is zero chance that McGirt would have stopped the fight if one more punch landed. What Buddy did was classic corner work, classic psychology and it got the desired effect. It was like Dundee's "You're blowing it." to Leonard or Sadler's "This is the last round." to Foreman. It was excellent corner work.

What he said has been misreported because the BT commentator got it wrong. He didn't say "one more". He said "if you take more shots like that in this round i'm stopping it."

He would have and it would have been the right thing to do if he had taken several shots like that.

One shot? More shots? No matter. He told his fighter what he needed to hear. That's what proper cornermen do.

[danconnollyeire]

It’s strange because I literally have no idea what you’re talking about, it’s weird AF. I’ve been extremely critical of AJ and the whole Hearn train especially. You can’t even spell bought let alone talk about my views on fighters. It’s also strange because wtf are you talking about? I was talking about yarde’s experience on pacing a 12 round stretch and you’re talking about the career of a former HW world champion? Nice connection

I never ‘bought’ the AJ hype train, I just though 12 months ago he was the best in a very weak division. Wilder is technically awful, AJ’s chin has only really been tested once or twice and fury, who I have always said is technically better than AJ, had been out for 3 years and literally no one knew if he’d ever be able to compete at world level again, thus, it wasn’t a wild prediction to say AJ will dominate the division. That all changed when Ruiz chinned him obviously

But how we got from talking about how Yarde paces himself over 12 rounds compared to someone experienced like Kovalev to people’s opinions on the career of Anthony Joshua, God knows. Very strange

I'm just being spiteful, you mocked my "boxing knowledge" when i told you Miller was going to stop AJ if he had a good enough chin, and you mocked me when i said Whyte was now better. You the compared a fictitious matchup of Chisora vs AJ (which is a pick em) to "Tranmere Rovers vs Man City" - in which i presume Del was the Tranmere. You were a fully-fledged member of the AJ hypetrain, a firstclass ticket holder to the point you scoffed and mocked at the idea Miller or Whyte may beat him, or the idea that Wilder is a better boxer (he is) - and low & behold, like a rat on a sinking ship, you no longer ride that de-railed train. I was merely commending you for not making the same mistake with Yarde. It was petty of me to bring it up though, so sorry. As you were.

Yep and AJ is still better than Whyte and Miller is still rubbish, what’s your point. Anyways, Anthony Yarde fought kovalev in the light heavyweight division...

Anyways it’s a bit weird how you hold on to this months later. Chisora is still many many many levels below Joshua

[forcefraser]

Anybody hear the clip.of Tunde telling Yarde to empty the tank in the 8th round and knock him out

[Ruthless-RKO]

Anybody hear the clip.of Tunde telling Yarde to empty the tank in the 8th round and knock him out

He did try to.. he definitely emptied his tank.. but he didn’t knock him out.

[oogiebe]

Anybody hear the clip.of Tunde telling Yarde to empty the tank in the 8th round and knock him out

He did try to.. he definitely emptied his tank.. but he didn’t knock him out.

I had heard that corner exchange. Tunde would've been better to direct Yarde to keep at the body. The left to the body was available the entire fight. Might've made a difference in the outcome.

[Dan Dares]

It wasn't really possible to criticise Tunde's methods before the Kov fight, because Yarde hadn't lost. However, now it's a different story.

I've heard people say 'fantastic effort etc" and full respect to Yarde for taking the fight in the first place, but he wasn't good enough by a fair distance. Rounds 1-6 was clear rounds for Kov, Yarde wasn't in them. If the tactic was to keep Kov on the back foot and wait him to tire, then he didn't seize the opportunity. He had clean shots at Kov and couldn't put him away in the eighth. He'd only ever gone seven rounds before, and he hadn't fought anyone in the top 30, let alone a former unified champion, albeit a jaded one.

Tunde has taken bits and bobs that he admires from Mayweather, Roy Jones etc and tried to apply these to Yarde. Clearly, it will not work at world level. Yarde does not have quick enough reactions to box the way that his trainer wants him to, and I'd suggest it's maybe too late to change that. He's fairly easy to hit with his jab hand down. This was evidenced in seven rounds against Averlant, who Buatsi got rid of in a round. Assuming Tunde was responsible for the tactics, he got it very wrong indeed. The huge gulf in experience and class was evident from the second round.

You can't really blame a fighter/manager/promoter for bypassing British/European level fights in order to chase a decent payday, but it didn't work. Corny old saying - levels.

Chin - pass
Power - fail
Defence - fail
Engine - fail

[Ruthless-RKO]

Chin - pass
Power - fail
Defence - fail
Engine - fail

His power ain't too bad. Or do you reckon it was Kovalev who was just weak.

[Dan Dares]

Chin - pass
Power - fail
Defence - fail
Engine - fail

His power ain't too bad. Or do you reckon it was Kovalev who was just weak.

I think it's cumulative punches that have put most of his opponents away, not a single shot. The left hook, which had been praised previously and during the buildup, bounced off Kovalev, and he had clean shots at him in the eighth.

[handsofstone]

His power ain't too bad. Or do you reckon it was Kovalev who was just weak.

I think it's cumulative punches that have put most of his opponents away, not a single shot. The left hook, which had been praised previously and during the buildup, bounced off Kovalev, and he had clean shots at him in the eighth.

I still rate Yarde's power as well, you seen early on he was trying to counter Kovalev with that left hook, he just couldn't time it well enough, he never landed the type of shot that shouldve hurt Kovalev or even anyone really, agree with the rest of list though

[ironbeard]

He did try to.. he definitely emptied his tank.. but he didn’t knock him out.

I had heard that corner exchange. Tunde would've been better to direct Yarde to keep at the body. The left to the body was available the entire fight. Might've made a difference in the outcome.

I think that Tunde knew that Yarde was nearly out of gas, and that they had no chance of winning a decision going into the 8th. Therefore, he went all in on stopping or severely wounding the Russian in the 8th.

It nearly worked.

I had the fight 7-3 going into 11.