Sergey Kovalev

By Robert Earle Stanton: As the bell rang for the 1st round for the IBF/WBA/WBO Light Heavyweight Unification you saw something abnormal in Bernard Hopkins (IBF/WBA Champion) going down by a right hand, at first not sure if it was a slip but yes, Bernard got dropped by WBO Champion Sergey Kovalev (only the 3rd man in history to drop him, however Hopkins has never lost to a man who dropped him) yet maybe that set the tone. Hopkins, would not only give away the 2nd but hardly threw any punches yet took some and by the end of the 3rd Hopkins was lucky the bell rang. Watching Philadelphia’s Hopkins over the years, now 49, a couple months shy of his 50th birthday, he has proved over and over again that his age held no bearing as we’ve heard “This is the end of Hopkins” before. I especially remember that being said before the Kelly Pavlik fight, as Pavlik was a big puncher yet Bernard would take the young undefeated Pavlik into the deep water and drown him with lateral movement.

by Bob Smith: The light heavyweight championship bout between Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev is perhaps the most intriguing match-up of this boxing year. It pits a devastating knockout artist in his prime against an ageless wonder, a skilled fighter for 20 years now, who has never been knocked out even a single time in his 65 fight career. Will the power and skill of the Krusher prove to be too much for Hopkins, or with the Ageless Wonder, the Alien, somehow find a way to win, even nearly pushing 50 years old?

The first thing to ask is: should Bernard Hopkins even be in the ring with such a devastating puncher as Kovalev, much less do so at 49 years old. Hopkins is a former middleweight, and it was in this division, 15-20 years ago, that he made his greatest mark. The short answer is, yes. Hopkins went the distance against a devastating and much quicker puncher in Roy Jones Jr.; he defeated Trinidad and Oscar de la Hoya; went the distance with Calzaghe and Chad Dawson; and defeated Tavoris Cloud and Jean Pascal. While it may be true that Kovalve is a bigger puncher and man than any of them, it still shows that skill of Bernard Hopkins against world class fighters.

By Ken Woods: The light heavyweight unification bout between Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) and Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) on November 8 is being billed as a highly competitive contest between two of the division’s best. However, the actual contest will be anything but.

Hopkins will absolutely embarrass Kovalev on his way to a unanimous decision victory, making history once again by unifying titles. Kovalev is portrayed as a big bad wolf in the division with dangerous punching power and a seek and destroy mentality. This is mostly hype.

by Jay McIntyre: The struggle as old as time – age vs youth – is about to be settled in Atlantic City on November 8th. Statistically a fighter’s prime years are his early thirties where he is blessed with that perfect mixture of youth and wisdom. Sergey Kovalev is at this phyiscal and mental summit in his career. But as the years and the body wear on, the mind is called upon more and more to find a way to persevere. For, make no mistake, every fighter only has so many fights in him. How many fights that happens to be comes down to the nature of the fights and the nature of the fighter. When one looks at Bernard Hopkins, a 49 year old prize fighter who has lived and seen it all, one must wonder: how many fights does he have left, or is he on borrowed time? His capacity to scorn Father Time seems decidedly “alien”.