Hopkins-Kovalev fight loses some of it’s meaning now that Beterbiev has emerged

By Boxing News - 09/28/2014 - Comments

beterbiev66328888By Dan Ambrose: Before last night, the November 8th fight between IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6, 32 KOs) and WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) was considered to be a fight in which the winner would be seen pretty much as the main guy in the 175 pound division.

But now with Artur Beterbiev (6-0, 6 KOs) coming out of nowhere to destroy former IBF 175 pound champion Tavoris Cloud (24-3, 19 KOs) in 2 rounds last night, the Hopkins-Kovalev winner won’t have proven anything.

The winner of the Hopkins vs. Hopkins fight will still need to prove themselves against Beterbiev, Adonis Stevenson and Jean Pascal before they can say their the No.1 fighter in the light heavyweight division.

Right now, Beterbiev has to be seen as the next highest guy to Hopkins and Kovalev as far as the top fighters in the division. You can’t really factor Stevenson and Pascal into the equation because both of those fighters are flawed and not likely rugged enough to handle a fighter like Beterbiev.

Beterbiev will need to pick up a few more important victories for him to get a shot at the top fighters, because he doesn’t have enough fights under his belt right now for him to be given a crack at a title. Beterbiev needs to get ranked in the top 5, preferably at No.1, and then he can force the likes of Kovalev, Hopkins, Pascal, and Stevenson to fight him.

Hopkins vs. Kovalev is a good eliminator type fight, but it’s hardly a fight that will pick out the overall top guy in the light heavyweight division. With the way that Beterbiev looked last night, I think he could easily have come in and beaten either Hopkins or Kovalev. Beterbiev is a better inside fighter, and with huge punching power, he’d be a nightmare for those two guys.



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