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MMA Boxing

A Closer Look At Bernard Hopkins-Sergey Kovalev

By @paul_past

Bernard Hopkins

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On Friday, Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev stood face-to-face one more time before their highly anticipated fight in Atlantic City, which will air on HBO later Saturday night.

It was one of boxing’s stranger weigh-ins in recent memory. Kovalev smiled nervously and initially avoided making eye contact with Hopkins, who despite being two months shy of turning 50 years old, has emerged as the slight favorite, according to a media poll conducted by ESPN.

Those of us who are picking Hopkins to defeat Kovalev are predicting he’ll do so by decision, favoring his experience, superb defense, masterful boxing skills and ability to nullify his opponents’ strengths over Kovalev’s punching power and seemingly one-dimensional brawling style.

Those picking Kovalev to defeat Hopkins are predicting he’ll do so by knockout, despite the fact that in 60-plus fights, Hopkins has never been knocked out.

Perhaps more realistic than a knockout is the possibility that Kovalev wins by decision. Most of Kovalev’s knockouts have come in the first few rounds of almost all of his fights, albeit against much lesser competition, which means that the chances of him scoring a knockdown are much greater during the fight’s early stages.

But Hopkins knows this, and he also knows that Kovalev has never fought past eight rounds. As is usually the case, he’ll look to smother Kovalev’s shots and frustrate him early. He’ll lean in with his head when he throws a punch and maintain a safe distance from Kovalev’s left hook and lead right hand.

Like all of Hopkins’ fights, this one boils down to control. Will Kovalev allow Hopkins to dictate the pace?Or will Hopkins fold under the pressure?

Based on the weigh in, and in conjunction with some of Kovalev’s questionable statements during the buildup to their fight, it seems that Kovalev is in over his head. In their last press conference, Kovalev stated, “I want to get some lesson from the professor of boxing… I want to get some experience from this fight that can make me better for another fight.”

If you’re cheering for Kovalev, these are not the kind of comments you want to hear. Having said that, it’s difficult to truly assess the condition of Kovalev’s mental state based on a few press conferences and weigh-ins, though his behavior thus far has certainly been uncharacteristic of what we’ve seen from him so far in his career.

And if a weigh-in serves as a momentary glimpse into a fighter’s psyche, and Hopkins seems to be more prepared, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Kovalev has never fought on this level, while Hopkins has been here for more than 20 years.

Paul Pastorini is a Boxing Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @paul_past, find him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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