Quote:
Originally Posted by valenzuela
Kovalev days in the big time are over or no ? He got badly beaten and is already 35.
I don't think this is necessarily true. A lot of this is what happens when the best fight the best. His fights up to Ward were more impressive in how he won than who he fought (and most observers felt he beat Ward the 1st time). That is not a knock on him, but it's the reality when your best wins are vs (an ancient) Hopkins, Chilemba, over the hill Pascal and Nathan Cleverly. Those aren't bad fighters at all, but they weren't the best at 175.
I definitely think there's a playbook for fighting him now, but his power early on is unquestionable.
You'd see a lot more fighters losing if they constantly tested themselves. We're so used to this way of fighting, where Danny Garcia gets like 4 soft touches for each challenging fight, or Manny Pacquao's team pretends someone like an old Lucas or a slow Rios is a "powerful threat" to him. Say what you will about UFC, but the best fight the best. Nevermind the major sports that see the best teams face off year after year.