PHILADELPHIA (October 23, 2014) – There is one thing that virtually every professional athlete born in 1965 has in common – retirement from professional sports. The only exception is current IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins. On November 8, just two months shy of his 50th birthday, Hopkins will defend his titles against WBO Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ live on HBO World Championship Boxing®.
Hopkins-Kovalev
Hopkins: I’m not going to run from Kovalev, I’ll disarm him
By Jim Dower: IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) says he doesn’t plan on running from WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) in their fight on November 8th on HBO Championship Boxing at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The 49-year-old Hopkins says he’ll take away Kovalev’s offensive weapons.
Kovalev: I’m going to help Hopkins retire
By Dan Ambrose: In less than three weeks, WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) and IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) will be facing each other in a unification match on November 8th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Kovalev says he wants to help the 49-year-old Hopkins retire by beating him to the point where it convinces him that it’s time to hang up the gloves permanently. Hopkins will be turning 50 in three months on January 15th, and Kovalev plans on making sure he still isn’t fighting when he reaches that birthday.
Kovalev sees Hopkins fight as a potentially easy one
By Dan Ambrose: WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) sees his upcoming match against 49-year-old IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) as being a potentially easy fight for him when he steps inside the ring next month on November 8th on HBO Championship Boxing from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
Kovalev feels that as long as he does what he’s done before in his fights and in terms of preparation, then this could very well be as easy fight for him as it’s been in the past.
Kovalev hasn’t had a fight go to decision since 2011, and it’s going to be tough for Hopkins to try and go the distance with him.
“If everything is the same, it will be an easy fight,” Kovalev said to the nypost.com.
Kovalev will likely start off fighting in a relaxed manner like he does against a lot of his opponents, but once Hopkins tried to push the pace then Kovalev will start to unload on him with his ammunition.
Sergey Kovalev – More Than A Can “Krusher”?
By Jay McIntyre: The light heavyweight division has been without a unified champion for some time now. As the alphabet soup of world titles swirl about the sea of competitors, changing hands readily, the fans have been left unfulfilled.
Recently though, Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2-2, 32 KO’s), owner of the WBA and IBF titles has made arrangements to fight Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KO’s), owner of the WBO title on November 8th, 2014.
If Kovalev fights at Hopkins’ slow pace, he could lose, says Jeff Mayweather
By Dan Ambrose: Jeff Mayweather sees the November 8th fight between 49-year-old IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) 175 pound champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) one in which Kovalev could wind up losing the fight if he gets lulled into fighting at the slow pace that Hopkins like to fight at.
Jeff sees this as big test for Kovalev because he’s going to be taking a big step up in class, and he’s also someone who will be in against a very smart fighter.
Adonis Stevenson wants Hopkins vs. Kovalev winner
By Dan Ambrose: WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (24-1, 20 KOs) is saying that he wants to fight the winner of the November 8th unification fight between WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) and IBF/WBA champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs).
Stevenson, who just turned 37-years-old last month, says he’ll be attending the Hopkins-Kovalev fight next month presumably to scout out the winner.
“I will be ringside on November 8 for the fight of Bernard Hopkins vs Sergey Kovalev. I will fight the winner for the unification,” Stevenson said on his Facebook page.
Kovalev: I understand Hopkins’ strategy
By Chris Williams: WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) says he understands IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) boxing style and that he’ll be ready to face him next month in their fight on November 8th on HBO from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Kovalev, 31, says he knows how Hopkins fights, but at the same time he says he doesn’t watch his fights. He doesn’t study his opponents at all, and that makes it hard to understand how he’s going to know how to deal with Hopkins if he doesn’t study the old master.
Will Hopkins make it ugly against Kovalev?
By Dan Ambrose: 49-year-old IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins will be at a huge disadvantage against WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev in terms of punching power and youth in their fight on November 8th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Hopkins hasn’t scored a knockout in 10 years, and the chances are that he’ll never record another knockout for the remainder of his career. If Hopkins chooses to stand in front of Kovalev the way he did his last opponent Beibut Shumenov then it’s quite likely Hopkins will take a terrible beating and either be stopped by Kovalev or by his own corner throwing in the towel to save him the embarrassment of being halted.
Hopkins-Kovalev: History makes it happens
By RMC: When IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins gets in that ring on November 8th we’ll be seeing history in the making in his unification match against WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Hopkins is almost a half of a century years old and still at the top of the game. He said once that he wants to unify the whole light heavyweight division, and for the record, he is not too far from that.
Hopkins has the IBF and WBA titles in his possession, and on November 8th, he will be facing the hard-hitter Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KO) and challenging him for his WBO belt. So that night we are going to have on the line three of the four titles in the light heavyweight division up for grabs.