Clev, Boxnation and a weekend look back

First and foremost, let's start with the good news. What a performance by Darren Barker! Watched it on HBO and they loved it, too. He went toe to toe, not to mention peeling himself off the canvas after a viscous liver shot. Amazing to see how much it meant to him, too. No matter what happens in the future, he is a Middleweight World Champion right now.

Also, if anybody missed the Kiko Martinez fight, watch it. It was another gutbuster of a fight. Brilliant.

Ok, on to Clev.

I might have been harsher than most with Clev, but it was sad to see how easily he was dealt with. He does need new training, better tactics etc, but bottom line is Kovalev destroys him every time they meet. Being fed bum after bum didn't help, but Clev lacks any power, can't move his head, fights square on and doesn't circle. He had a good run and I wish him well on the comeback trail. Kind of felt like Bute v Froch but worse.

Kovalev dusts Hopkins and Cloud easily in my opinion. Dawson too if he is shot. How about Kovalev v Stevenson? Or Pascal?

So, with David Price having been brought down a peg or three and Clev having been thoroughly demolished, how does Boxnation's future look now? Frampton has made a massive error going there, here's hoping his career doesn't suffer as a result because I don't think Hearn wants him back.

Well done Enzo. Cost me 10 quid winning that, but well done Now retire cause you will only get dusted again if you carry on.

Has anybody seen any post-fight Boxnation stuff? I haven't seen a thing.

Kovalev is a good all rounded champ but Clev was the biggest name on his record.

Jury's still out for me.

I think that the boxnation card was the tale of three uppercuts (A very under used punch).

Maca on Mckenzie
Smith on Buckland (on my side of the ropes)
Kovalev on Cleverly (That first punch started the entire process)

The scary thing about Kovalev is he doesn't have to wind up to get power in the punches, reminds me very much of GGG.

Bellew looks extremely silly for his comments midweek.

Really enjoyed the fights and Cleverly will come again. Kovalev is something special and will probably clean up the light heavyweight division.

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Kovalev is a good all rounded champ but Clev was the biggest name on his record.

Jury's still out for me.

Campillo was a bigger name. Campillo fought Cloud, Shumenov 2 or 3 times and some others. Clev was a nobody outside of the UK really

I think Kovalev wipes out every LHW and can unify the titles. With ease.

Stevenson will crush Bellew mid fight, Pascal will overwhelm Bute, Cloud loses to Stevenson then disappears, Hopkins will float around taking UD and SD......then Bang. Every one of this fighters will get in with Kovalev and will be thoroughly hammered like Campillo, White, Cleverley....

Echo your sentiments entirely Seanus.

Warren/Boxnation are in dire straights with all their top names' career in tatters (or rebuilding stage, if you want to be nicer about it) and Frampton (now the only star name) has just watched a guy he pummled become world champ.

Big mistake leaving Hearn, let Barry M's ego run away with him. He was on Twitter giving Sergio quite some stick last night who basically suggested a rematch was never a 'No' - at which point Martin Murray chirped in with a 'how about it then, Sergio?', which was quite funny.

Glad Barker's win was well received on HBO. Hopefully he can get some good fights and make some decent money now for his family, always like it when nice deserving guys do well.

Always had Barker down as the least likely of the three to win a world title, he's technically more proficient than Murray and Macklin but they seemed more suited to beat the likes of Sturm and Geale. Glad to see him win nonetheless, always comes across well and with all the injury problems he's had throughout his career it's good to see him finally win a world title.

mobilemaster8 wrote:I think Kovalev wipes out every LHW and can unify the titles. With ease.

Stevenson will crush Bellew mid fight, Pascal will overwhelm Bute, Cloud loses to Stevenson then disappears, Hopkins will float around taking UD and SD......then Bang. Every one of this fighters will get in with Kovalev and will be thoroughly hammered like Campillo, White, Cleverley....

Mobile, have you ever strained anything leaping from bandwagon to hype-train and back to bandwagon with the frequency you currently manage?

Haha Dave! No.

But seriously, Kovalev smashed Campillo which is a tough ask, battered cleverley with absolute ease, Roach stated he was the most complete boxer he had ever seen which is a compliment of the highest order. Ill be honest, i thought he was all hype and i thought cleverley would win, but i was proven wrong.

Looking at the LHW Division as it stands, i do feel Kovalev can beat Bellew, Stevenson, Dawson and Pascal. Hopkins would be tough due to his style.

GGG i think looks fantastic, has called Martinez and Geale out and was rejected. Battered Macklin and is now fighting Stephens which is again another step in the right direction.

Watch Kovalev in action he's no hype-train.

Ha ha.......Kovalev beats an ordinary Clev....Golotkin beats Martinez battered Macklin and both are the real deal

Broner wins his third world title against a guy better than both the vanquished foes at a weight heavier than he's ever fought at.....

and he's all hype !!

It's no so long since people were screaming like One Direction fans over Adonis Stevenson and now we have Kovalev. Yes, he dismantled Clev but as many have said, Clev was way out his depth. Be interesting to see the guy in with a seasoned campaigner. (However, I hope Kovalev loses just to watch Mobile hurl himself onto another wagon like some kind of crazed free-runner)

I prefer to see a boxer in with various different styles before proclaiming they can clean up their divisions, how will Golovkin and Kovalev react when they're in against someone with a good defence and can hit back hard themselves?

Haha Dave. I just have my opinion. And when people say it would be interesting to see them get hot back hard by a seasoned campaigner who can take a punch.....name me someone from LHW who has the chin and technical ability along with power to take Kovalev on......Bute? Pascal? Hopkins? Dawson?

at Middleweight, i think GGG beats Stephens and would handily batter Barker. Barker beat Geale who beat Sturm.....GGG beats those three. He also beats Quillin and at the moment takes out Martinez based on his previous few performances.

mobilemaster8 wrote:Haha Dave. I just have my opinion. And when people say it would be interesting to see them get hot back hard by a seasoned campaigner who can take a punch.....name me someone from LHW who has the chin and technical ability along with power to take Kovalev on......Bute? Pascal? Hopkins? Dawson?

at Middleweight, i think GGG beats Stephens and would handily batter Barker. Barker beat Geale who beat Sturm.....GGG beats those three. He also beats Quillin and at the moment takes out Martinez based on his previous few performances.

Dawson is a better technical boxer while Hopkins has made a living in his old age of embarrassing guys who get by on a punch, beating Cleverley doesn't prepare you for the likes of Pascal even. How does he stand up to Stephenson if he lands cleanly, Dawson couldn't and he's not known for taking too many punches. There are too many intangibles at the moment and I try not to get excited about somebody who's career highlight is Cleverley.

Golovkin and Kovalev are both fortunate in that they are operating in weak divisions which are seperated by one of the sports Marquee ones, Froch and Kessler would both stand up to the onslaught and are both more proven.

The Terror of Tylorstown wrote:

mobilemaster8 wrote:Haha Dave. I just have my opinion. And when people say it would be interesting to see them get hot back hard by a seasoned campaigner who can take a punch.....name me someone from LHW who has the chin and technical ability along with power to take Kovalev on......Bute? Pascal? Hopkins? Dawson?

at Middleweight, i think GGG beats Stephens and would handily batter Barker. Barker beat Geale who beat Sturm.....GGG beats those three. He also beats Quillin and at the moment takes out Martinez based on his previous few performances.

Dawson is a better technical boxer while Hopkins has made a living in his old age of embarrassing guys who get by on a punch, beating Cleverley doesn't prepare you for the likes of Pascal even. How does he stand up to Stephenson if he lands cleanly, Dawson couldn't and he's not known for taking too many punches. There are too many intangibles at the moment and I try not to get excited about somebody who's career highlight is Cleverley.

Golovkin and Kovalev are both fortunate in that they are operating in weak divisions which are seperated by one of the sports Marquee ones, Froch and Kessler would both stand up to the onslaught and are both more proven.

Terror, whilst I greatly admire and appreciate your ability to post a reply using commonsense, reason, logic and a distinct lack of sickening hyperbole, I fear there's no place on this forum for you if you continue in this manner.

Id disagree terror. Dawson was technically better than Stevenson and he was knocked out in a minute. Who is to say Kovalev wont do the same? I also said that Kovalev may struggle with Hopkins based on the style Hopkins fights with. But saying that, wasn't Hopkins dropped by Pascal? Or was it Dawson? Cant remember, but neither are known as big lunches unlike Kovalev who is a notoriously big puncher.

GGG has one of the glistening amateur careers out there at the moment a d is currently increasing his opponent level with every fight. If he continues knocking them out and fights a Quillin or a Martinez and does the same then what will you say?

in not denying there is a lack of talent, in fact i have already stated that in my previous posts. I just think all be it the divisions lack some proper talented fighters, that Kovalev and GGG are the best in theirs.

Why does it have to be one extreme or the other on here? It's either "he's a world beater" or "he's completely over-hyped". Why can't we just acknowledge that it was a good win for Kovalev, and he has potential, but also that he's still got more to prove.

You can't get away with saying anything positive or you're getting accused of being on the hype train. We're boxing fans - you're supposed to get interested when a guy is KOing people for titles!

Grow up boxthis, you either have to be a world weary cynic or as excitable as a 13 year old one direction fan. Pick a side. You’ll be suggesting next it was ever possible to rate both Floyd and Manny.

Either get with the programme or get out.

Boxtthis wrote:Why does it have to be one extreme or the other on here? It's either "he's a world beater" or "he's completely over-hyped". Why can't we just acknowledge that it was a good win for Kovalev, and he has potential, but also that he's still got more to prove.

You can't get away with saying anything positive or you're getting accused of being on the hype train. We're boxing fans - you're supposed to get interested when a guy is KOing people for titles!

I agree but I do think a lot of people go massively over the top when they praise somebody after one good win, he may go on to be the next big thing but i'm going to reserve my judgement until he proves it against a variety of styles.

Rowley wrote:Grow up boxthis, you either have to be a world weary cynic or as excitable as a 13 year old one direction fan. Pick a side. You’ll be suggesting next it was ever possible to rate both Floyd and Manny.

Either get with the programme or get out.

My apologies. I don't know what came over me.

As you were 606v2

The Terror of Tylorstown wrote:

Boxtthis wrote:Why does it have to be one extreme or the other on here? It's either "he's a world beater" or "he's completely over-hyped". Why can't we just acknowledge that it was a good win for Kovalev, and he has potential, but also that he's still got more to prove.

You can't get away with saying anything positive or you're getting accused of being on the hype train. We're boxing fans - you're supposed to get interested when a guy is KOing people for titles!

I agree but I do think a lot of people go massively over the top when they praise somebody after one good win, he may go on to be the next big thing but i'm going to reserve my judgement until he proves it against a variety of styles.

Of course judgement should be reserved, but it's natural to speculate.

Is it massively over the top to say Kovalev looks like he could end up being top of the current LHW pile? I don't think so. Hopkins and Dawson and both better than him technically. But Hopkins is ancient, and Dawson is looking shot. Kovalev's one or two good wins put him in the conversation with Stevenson, Hopkins, Dawson, Pascal, Cloud etc, etc as one of the favourites for supremacy. No one's saying he belongs above Ezzard Charles on the all time list or anything like that.