Kovalev Is Doing What Champs Do… Fighting The Best Available

Published

9 years ago

December 9, 2014

In his last fight, he defeated one of the most legendary fighters in history, Bernard Hopkins. He beat him conclusively and for all intents and purpose, retired him. Sure, Hopkins will fight at least one more time, but unless he goes up or down in weight, he won’t be a title holder again. At least not as long as Sergey Kovalev 26-0-1 (23) is holding the majority of the belts in the light heavyweight division. At the post fight press conference, Hopkins was very conciliatory to the new WBA, WBO and IBF light heavyweight title holder Kovalev. How could he not be? Never in 60 plus professional fights did Bernard ever touch gloves with a fighter who had him down, shut him out, and had him looking for a lottery punch to win their fight.

Hopkins said, to paraphrase: Sergey can stay around and on top as long as he wants if he does the right things. Well, it appears that Sergey is taking his advice, as it was recently announced that Kovalev will meet former WBC light heavyweight title holder Jean Pascal 29-2-1 (17) in his next bout, this coming March. What a welcome change it is to see Kovalev, after winning the signature bout of his career, agree so quickly to defend his titles against the next best available and dangerous opponent. Hopefully, others will follow his lead.

It wasn’t long ago that WBC light heavyweight title holder Adonis Stevenson 24-1 (20) was supposed to fight Kovalev, then he was going to fight Hopkins and most recently it was Pascal. All three fights involving Stevenson fell through. So Kovalev and Hopkins fought and now that Sergey has won, he’s going to defend his three belts against Pascal in his first defense. Stevenson was such a hot prospect and now he appears to be a self-inflicted victim of horrible management.

As for Kovalev-Pascal, that’s a very compelling bout. And make no mistake, as terrific as Sergey looked against Hopkins, he’s not unbeatable. Yes, Kovalev has to be considered at the top of the food chain in the light heavyweight division, but Pascal is one of the sharks swimming in the deep and dangerous waters. It’s almost as if it’s been forgotten, but Pascal did have Hopkins down twice in their first meeting that ended in a draw. That’s something even Kovalev, who handed Hopkins his most decisive and one-sided defeat, cannot say. And when you think of the names Hopkins and Pascal, you think of two fighters being on completely different levels, which is of course true. However, the case can be made that Pascal is actually a little bit more treacherous for Kovalev than Hopkins was.

For the last six or seven years when Hopkins has fought, he’s never entered the ring with the thought or intent of trying to win by stoppage. Unless the opponent really made a big mistake, at the worst it was a safe bet that the fight was going to go the distance. Going for the stoppage was too risky in Hopkins’ mind and he always knew he had the tools, experience and toughness to control things in the ring as long as the fight didn’t get too crazy or wide open. And that mindset held form when he fought Sergey Kovalev last month. Bernard knew that if he tried to get Kovalev out of there and tempted fate by trying to stop Sergey, that very easily could’ve backfired on him and he could’ve been stopped. With the hindsight of the bout now behind us, it’s plausible to see how that just may have been the case.

The problem Hopkins had against Kovalev was the fact that he’s not a big enough puncher, especially at age 49, to really freeze Sergey, or any other elite light heavyweight, to the point to where he can go in and unload on a hurt and bewildered foe looking to get the stoppage. The other issue for Hopkins was, Kovalev could do damage and be effective from outside, therefore there was no urgency on Kovalev’s part to go inside, thus nullifying Bernard to get his hands on him and then turn the fight into a street/MMA tussle. As we saw, by the ninth round Hopkins was way behind and looking for a lottery punch…and that isn’t part of his offensive makeup.

When Kovalev faces Pascal, a lot of the same holds true except that Pascal isn’t going into the fight looking to go the distance. Pascal has shocking and KO-level power with his right hand. And I believe Hopkins more than got Kovalev’s attention a few times during their bout. No, Kovalev wasn’t in trouble or close to going down, but for a brief moment he was rattled. If Hopkins can rattle Kovalev, for however briefly it was, one must conclude that Pascal has the capacity to test Sergey a little more in that regard. And Pascal, unlike Hopkins, knows he probably can’t win by decision, so his predicament almost forces his hand that he will have to take more chances against Kovalev if he is to pull the upset. But will he? Like Hopkins, Pascal will be susceptible to Kovalev’s outside power, and if he doesn’t like how it feels in the early going, he might just lose some of his nerve and gumption with each passing round.

Pascal must be feeling pretty good about himself after handling Lucian Bute in his last fight. He’s definitely the best available opponent for Kovalev, and I applaud them both for putting the bout together so quickly. Of course, you’ve got to favor Kovalev. However, some associates whose opinion I hold in high esteem believe that after watching Kovalev with Hopkins, think someday Sergey’s going to get knocked out by a fighter who can punch. Which is the same thing one of those associates said to me about Jermain Taylor after his two bouts with Hopkins.

It’s not completely impossible for that to be Pascal. But Pascal has to really put himself at risk in order to be successful. Pascal has to land the perfect shot to get Sergey out. But Kovalev could break his will in the early stages of the fight, and then Pascal will be too risk averse. If Pascal doesn’t come out of the chute very fast, his chances diminish by the round. Add to that Pascal sometimes waits for the perfect shot; thus, it could be a tough night for him. In addition to that, he tends to be very right hand reliant and loads up on it. Yes, that right hand might have enough kick in it to get Kovalev out. But the downside of that is, he can’t throw it blindly and he must be judicious in his tempered aggression, or Kovalev will break him mentally and then go in and take him out.

One thing is for sure, Kovalev’s soaring confidence along with the pressure he’ll apply against the hard hitting Pascal should make for a compelling fight as long as it lasts.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Published

19 hours ago

September 24, 2023

David A. Avila

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.

It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.

Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.

Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.

Bustillo Wins Rematch

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In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.

Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.

Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.

After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.

A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Published

1 day ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

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Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.

It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.

Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.

Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.

Other Bouts of Note

The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.

The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.

In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Published

1 day ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

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Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.

In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.

In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.

Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”

He meant it as a rhetorical question.

Semi-Windup

Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.

A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.

Also

Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.

In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.

The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.

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