Kovalev destroys Caparello in 2nd round

By Boxing News - 08/02/2014 - Comments

kovalev4(Photo Credit: Rich Graessle/Main Events) By Jim Dower: In a predictable outcome, WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) destroyed the light hitting fringe contender Blake Caparello (19-1-1, 6 KOs) in defeating him by an easy 2nd round knockout tonight at the Ovation Hall at Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. Kovalev was dropped in the 1st round when his foot was stepped on while he was being hit by Caparello.

In the 2nd round, Kovalev came out on fire in knocking Caparello down three times with huge power shots. The fight was then halted after the third knockdown. The official time of the stoppage was 1:47.

After the fight, Bernard Hopkins was interviewed by Max Kellerman of HBO. Hopkins briefly attempted to stare Kovalev down until Kellerman told Hopkins that he was blocking the camera. Hopkins said that he’s going to make history by beating Kovalev when they face each other next November on HBO.

As good as Hopkins is, you have favor Kovalev to beat him, because he’s capable of throwing with so much power in close. Hopkins has looked good in his last thre fights against mediocre opposition in Karo Murat, Beibut Shumenov and Tavoris Cloud. Before that fight, Hopkins was beaten by Chad Dawson. I expect Kovalev to beat Hopkins as well by pressuring him against the ropes and foiling his shoulder roll defense.

The shoulder roll that Hopkins uses works well against guys that fight him on the outside and try to nail him with power shots instead of jabs. But Kovalev is going to walk right up on Hopkins and nail him at point blank range. About the only thing Hopkins can do in that case is revert to holding, which is trick that he’s used from time to time when facing guys with good offensive skills.



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