Photo by Tim Starks/Queensberry Rules
Saturday, August 2, 2014, the WBO Light Heavyweight World Championship bout between Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, (24-0-1, 22 KOs) and Blake “Il Capo” Caparello (19-0-1, 6 KOs) takes place live from the Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic, City, NJ.
The fight will be telecast as part of a split-site triple-header on HBO Boxing After Dark, beginning at 9:45 pm, EST. The event is presented by Main Events in association with DiBella Entertainment.
Kovalev will be looking to make another successful defense of his title all while setting his sights on a mega-unification bout with either Adonis Stevenson or Bernard Hopkins.
Unfortunately for Kovalev, he’s the odd man out of that elite trio, but to his credit he’s still staying busy against good competition.
Caparello is looking to score one of the major upsets of the year and if he can do it he could potentially be closer to fights with either Hopkins or Stevenson, given the fact that he is promoted by Lou DiBella and isn’t wrapped up in the Main Events vs. Al Haymon beef.
Read on for Round By Round Boxing’s staff predictions for Sergey Kovalev vs. Blake Caparello, and leave us a comment letting us know who you think will win.
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Sergey Kovalev
vs.
Blake Caparello
Photo by Larry Levanti/Main Events
Lou Catalano, Staff Writer
This is obviously not the fight that Sergey Kovalev envisioned himself taking part in.
We all know that he was supposed to fight Adonis Stevenson in a battle of massive punchers to determine 175-pound supremacy. Instead, we get Blake Caparello, who defeated the corpse of Allan Green last October.
I won’t sugar coat things, unless Kovalev’s training regimen consisted of heroin and prostitutes, he’s going to maim Caparello. I expect this thing to go less than six rounds, and Kovalev will be back to looking for a big time fight.
Prediction: Kovalev
Rob Anthony, Contributing Writer
Against Blake Caparello, I expect nothing but a five-round destruction by the Russian crusher, Sergey Kovalev
Prediction: Kovalev
Juan Carlos Burgos, Contributing Writer
Sergey Kovalev is a seek and destroy machine. No reason to get overly analytical here.
Blake Caparello doesn’t have the power to gain Sergey’s respect and will have to use movement just to survive a few rounds. Kovalev, as he has done with everyone lately, will catch and stop Caparello early.
Prediction: Kovalev
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
To me, Sergey Kovalev is the best Light Heavyweight in the world. I’d listen to an argument that old man river, Bernard Hopkins, would get the best of him, but I think Kovalev is step above Adonis Stevenson.
It’s unfortunate that a fight against fellow top-notch Light Heavyweights–namely Stevenson and Hopkins–likely won’t happen because of politics. So we get Kovalev versus Blake Caparello, who is serviceable, but I don’t think he makes it out of the fight standing up.
Caparello was last in action on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights against Elvir Muriqi and while it was a one-sided victory for the Aussie, I didn’t see enough to think he’s ready to beat any of the top guys of the division.
Prediction: Kovalev
