Hopkins vs. Kovalev

By Wilmar Patino: On Saturday night despite a late start on the eastcoast (midnight) the light heavyweight unification bout between Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev drew in the 2nd highest numbers of views this year for HBO. A highly anticipated match of an established star in Hopkins and a fast rising star in Kovalev.

According to Nielsen Media Research the bout averaged a viewership of 1.328 million! With a peak of 1.397 million views. This makes it the 2nd most viewed fight in the United States for 2014. Only behind the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr vs Brian Vera rematch. Which average 1.390 views on HBO for the fight on March 1.

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Gerardo Granados: Last Saturday night at the Boardwalk Hall at Atlantic City the future hall of fame member Bernard Hopkins lost his WBA – IBF light heavyweight championship titles against WBO light heavyweight Champion Sergey Kovalev. It was not a surprise or an upset to see Krusher win and the betting odds were close enough to assume this was going to be a competitive bout; but I didn’t expect Kovalev to come in to the fight which such good game plan and to be able to execute it so perfectly. Kovalev simply negate Hopkins of the opportunity to use many of his dirty tricks on him; besides of the time he was thrown down, Bernard wasn’t able to exasperate him nor counter him with precision because Sergey studied his style being able to execute his game plan winning the fight by 120 – 107 on my card.

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By Yannis Mihanos: Last Saturday night Sergey Kovalev krushed the hopes of Bernard Hopkins of becoming a unified world champion  at the remarkable age of 49.

Prior to that fight, expectation of Hopkins winning the fight had grown substantially big. Could the old horse pull it off again ? Kovalev was also coming with a big hype as he had crushed all his earlier 23 opponents… even if for some were considered tomato cans. As for tomato cans, even Hopkins said in an interview it takes a certain skill to open the tomato can without cutting your hand…

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By Wilmar Patino (Boxings Finest): First off I want to Congratulate Sergey Kovalev for a brilliant fight vs the ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins. As someone who has been following Sergey Kovalev since his days on NBC Sports back when he dismantled and KO’d Gabriel Campillo ( A former light heavyweight champion). I would like to give him credit for taking this fight and proving to the naysayers that he is more than just a puncher. I would also like to thank Hopkins for taking this fight and for giving us an exciting 12th round by giving his best in the closing round of a much anticipated fight.

With that being said I have read a lot of articles on here and seen a lot of love and respect being given to Hopkins for his career milestones and bravery coming into the fight. As well as some much deserved respect for his attempt at unifying the titles last night. Yet this article will be about a favorite fighter of mine Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev.

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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.

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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.

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