Following the thrills and spills of 2013, which boxing sage Al Bernstein described as the best year in the sport for 25 years, 2014 has been nothing but a damp squib. It has been a year characterised by in-fighting behind the scenes involving the major players in the sport, i.e., Oscar De La Hoya, Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and the two big cable networks, HBO and Showtime. For people who follow the sport closely, all that is fascinating, but what we really want to see is action and big fights inside the ring.
At last this Saturday we have what is almost certainly the biggest and most intriguing fight of 2014, as WBO light-heavyweight champion and the number one in the division, Sergey Kovalev, takes on the challenge of Bernard Hopkins who, at nearly 50 years of age, is the crotchety old fogey of the sport. Hopkins holds both the WBA and IBF belts and all three trinkets will be on the line on Saturday night. The fight takes place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and is to be televised live on HBO in the U.S. and BoxNation in the U.K. The only fight this year which comes even close to rivalling this one as far as impact and importance goes, was the rematch between Pacquiao and Bradley in April.
The WBC champion at this weight, Adonis Stevenson, has rather removed himself from the picture since signing with guru Al Haymon, with his last defence being an unexpected struggle against beanpole Pole, Andrzej Fonfara, when Adonis was floored in the ninth round before taking a unanimous decision. Also, his next defence, in December, is against also-ran Russian Dmitry Sukhotsky, a tie which is not exciting anybody. All eyes then are on Hopkins and Kovalev to provide us with a clear and unrivalled champion in this weight class.
Hopkins has been defying the odds since 2006 when he left the safety of the middleweight division, albeit on the back of two razor-thin decision losses to Jermain Taylor, to move to light-heavyweight. In his first outing at the new weight, he flaunted odds which were heavily stacked against him by thrashing Antonio Tarver, at the time considered the best light-heavy in the world. Tarver barely won a round and it was one of the most embarrassingly one-sided major fights of recent years. After a split decision loss to Joe Calzaghe, Hopkins shocked the world again by defeating “the next best thing” Kelly Pavlik in 2008 in a fight made at catchweight – Pavlik was really only a middleweight. Once again Hopkins was a big outsider, but he as good as finished Pavlik’s career at the top level with such a dominant victory that Kelly never really recovered.
Even back then, these were odds-defying performances, and that was six years ago! Hopkins has just gone from strength to strength since then, winning three different versions of the light-heavyweight title (two of which he still holds), and constantly enhancing his reputation. It is interesting to note though that the one fighter he has been completely unable to deal with during this period is Chad Dawson. Bad Chad was B-Hop’s mandated opponent after the latter won the WBC belt from Jean Pascal and it seemed obvious that Bernard wanted no part of him. However, he took the fight and got away with a no contest following the notorious “shoulder injury” which ruled him out in the second round. Dawson was not to be denied though and won a very comfortable decision in the rematch. The veteran has come back and won three straight since, all fairly easy 12 round points wins.
The difference between Dawson and Hopkins’s other recent opponents is that Chad refused to be intimidated and psyched out by the near-genius pre-fight mind games that Hopkins always plays, often sneering at Hopkins with disdain at pre-fight press conferences. B-Hop’s last three opponents, Cloud, Shumenov and Murat, were all defeated before they entered the ring. It was merely left for Hopkins to finish the job by outboxing them and shutting down any offence the opponents attempted. When examined closely, Kovalev is definitely more akin to Dawson than the other three. I just cannot imagine this fighter being intimidated by anybody, let alone a man who has long since passed middle age.
It has to be said that Kovalev’s level of opposition has been generally very poor and pales into insignificance against Saturday’s opponent. The Russian has fought virtually his whole career in the United States but went very much under the radar until signing for Kathy Duva and her Main Events organisation. Kathy got her man excellent exposure on NBC Sports Network, and from then on people had to sit up and start taking notice. The first major impact he made was when slaughtering well-known top contender Gabriel Campillo in three rounds. The Spaniard had been robbed of a decision in his previous fight against Tavoris Cloud, when challenging for the IBF belt, yet Kovalev just blew him away.
Two fights later and there was Krusher in Cardiff taking on WBO champion Nathan Cleverly, who was almost unanimously considered one of the top five light-heavies in the world at the time. Uncertainties abounded prior to that fight as to whether Kovalev’s power was really so awesome at the top level and whether, perhaps, Nathan could take him into the mid-rounds and end up boxing his ears off. That did not happen as another destructive performance from Kovalev destroyed Cleverly, this time in four rounds. Three defences have followed, with Sergey stopping all of his challengers inside seven rounds. All three, Sillakh, Agnew and Caparello, were fringe contenders at best, but Kovalev has looked brutal and awesome in destroying them all.
The outcome of this fight could end up being of major importance in the history books in years to come. Were Hopkins, 55-6-2 (32), to win he would surely cement his place as an all-time great, if he has not done so already. Not only would he hold the record for middleweight title defences (20), but to move up two weight classes and defeat the most feared light-heavyweight champion since Roy Jones Jr., would be a feat of epic proportions. The most remarkable feat of all though would be the fact that he would have achieved the latter at the almost unthinkable age of 49 years and 10 months. Conversely, should Kovalev, 25-0-1 (23), become the first man to defeat Hopkins inside the distance, he would be well on the road to creating a legacy of his own. The great thing about this fight is that either outcome looks highly feasible.
I have written elsewhere that I believe Kovalev to be as destructive and dominant as Gennady Golovkin is in the middleweight division, yet does not receive half the acclaim that the Kazakh does. GGG seems to have a more personable manner and is often seen smiling and having photos taken at big events, thus endearing himself to the public wherever he goes. Kovalev does not appear to be that type of person. He genuinely seems to enjoy getting in the ring and inflicting hurt on the other fighter. Who can forget the brutal knockout of Ismayl Sillakh, when after putting his Ukrainian opponent down for the count, Kovalev stood over him hurling down insults (which might have been racist). Does that sound like a man who will be easily emasculated by old man Hopkins?
Hopkins has been winning his recent fights by actually doing very little. His punch output is low, and he has been doing just enough to nick rounds and build up a points lead over his challengers. This was particularly surprising against Beibut Shumenov, who normally throws a ton of punches, but was strangely reticent against Hopkins. A fighter who takes his normal game into the ring and puts constant pressure on Hopkins, as Kovalev surely will, must be able to outpoint him should the fight go the distance. But what if Kovalev, who has never been more than eight rounds, has stamina issues? This must be taken into consideration too.
The last time that Hopkins won a fight inside the distance was in September 2004 when he knocked out the much smaller Oscar De La Hoya with a body shot. It looks highly unlikely then that he will score such a victory on Saturday night. Far more likely is an inside the distance victory for the younger man. However, as already stated above, Hopkins has never been stopped himself. Hopkins’s vast experience in the ring will likely cause problems for Kovalev and prevent another early blow out for the Russian. All Kovalev needs to do though is to stop Hopkins putting him off his game. I believe the Russian is far too confident a fighter to be dominated mentally and I fully expect him to take a wide points victory.
The chief support on a disappointingly thin undercard features ex-U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, 20-0 (12), who after five years as a professional, finally has his break-out fight when he takes on rough and tough Argentine veteran Luis Carlos Abregu, 36-1 (29), in a 10-rounder at welterweight. There are several reasons why Ali has taken so long to get his career on track as a pro, not least of which is his initial refusal to sign with one of the major promoters, following his appearance in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. For a while he, along with his father, attempted to promote himself. This was a singularly unsuccessful experiment though and he eventually signed with Golden Boy Promotions, the co-promoter of this show (along with Main Events).
Ali did get some early television exposure on smaller networks and whilst rising slowly through the ranks he showed a lot of promise. His career has floundered though and taking this highly dangerous match smacks of desperation on the part of his handlers. It looks like a hit or bust moment for Sadam. The quality of his opposition leaves a lot to be desired. His ledger shows a litany of no-name opponents, other than his last two fights. These were against the way past his best veteran Michael Clark, whom Sadam despatched in a round and, most recently, former two-time U.S. Golden Gloves champion Jeremy Bryan. The latter, really only a light-welterweight, has had a very disappointing pro career. However, he was able to take Ali to a split decision, which must be of concern for Sadam’s team.
Sadam’s opponent, Abregu, is a fringe contender in the deepest division in boxing. That really does say a lot, as in any other weight class he would probably be in the top 10. Abregu started making raiding attacks on the U.S. in 2007, getting television exposure along the way in entertaining knock down-drag out fights with the likes of David Estrada, Irving Garcia and Richard Gutierrez. All these three were well known on the American circuit and had all fought at a high level. The Argentine managed to win these fights and thereby set himself up for a massive showdown with Timothy Bradley, at that point the light-welterweight world champion, who was dipping his toes in the water of the welterweight class. Abregu did himself proud in that fight and gave Bradley plenty of problems before losing a clear decision.
Following a series of stoppage wins back home, Abregu was brought back to the U.S. as an opponent for the streaking Puerto Rican Thomas Dulorme. At the time Dulorme was unbeatean at 16-0 and was a heavy favourite to defeat the tough but relatively limited Abregu. It proved otherwise though as Abregu walked through the tall islander’s punches, floored him twice with right-handers and stopped him in the seventh. Before the fight, Abregu was looked upon as a final hurdle for Dulorme before a world title challenge. Abregu showed that night that nobody should take him lightly and that he is a threat to all but the very elite fighters in the division. This is a huge step up then for Sadam Ali.
Abregu has been very inactive recently and this will be only his third fight in just over two years. He is a dangerous floater and has found it difficult getting fights due to the risk/reward factor – he is a high risk for opponents with low reward for beating him. This, then, is the ideal opportunity to launch himself forward again, as the chief support to the fight which will have the eyes of the world riveted on it. Nothing Ali has done to date suggests that he is ready to take on such an experienced and high-calibre opponent as Abregu. Of course, Ali was a decorated amateur and has tons of skill and, should he show that, and box at a level he has not done before in his pro career, he could nick a points win which would catapult him onto the world stage. I cannot see it happening and the safe bet is for Abregu to bully his man throughout and to take a clear points victory.
