Key #2 for Sergey Kovalev Forget The Gameplan
http://youtu.be/_HkLS_U7qjs?t=10m35s
By Lou Catalano
Bernard Hopkins doesn’t possess elite speed or power. What he does have, is a boxing mind light years ahead of anybody else in the game today.
He’s made fools of fighters who’ve come into the ring with a plan of attack. Sergey Kovalev’s plan should be to have no plan. He needs to treat Hopkins like every other opponent he’s been in with, as a punching bag ready to be gutted.
Kovalev holds every advantage over BHop except for boxing I.Q. If Hopkins has “The Krusher” thinking in there, Sergey is in big trouble.
Kovalev’s best assets are his fists. They should be firing off all night in Atlantic City on November 8. If not, the Hopkins legend will continue to grow while Kovalev is rendered another notch in the 49 year old’s storied career.
Key #2 for Bernard Hopkins The Right Hand
By Gabe Rivas
Besides looking for holes, Bernard Hopkins will measure Sergey Kovalev’s power.
Felix Trinidad, Antonio Tarver and Kelly Pavlik were power punchers, but a fighter doesn’t know how he will react to power punches until he steps into the ring.
As even Naazim Richardson noted at a recent press conference, Hopkins won’t know until he feels the first few punches as he begins to time Kovalev.
Hopkins will show respect, but just enough to land his signature right hand.
I can see Hopkins taking fewer risks in this fight, but if he feels Kovalev is too slow to catch him, he will begin to let his right hand go.
I, perhaps like fellow writer Lou Catalano, am torn in my pick for Saturday’s unification bout. It really depends on how Hopkins reacts to Kovalev’s power and how Kovalev reacts to Hopkins’ skills.
I think that Hopkins has at least earned the benefit of the doubt going into this fight. Pavlik, Tarver and Trinidad were all favorites before being either stopped or completely outboxed.
