Boxing News – July 25, 2019

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net JULY 25, 2019 lBOXING NEWSl 5

GUEST COLUMN

THINK it’s
very clear that
Sergey Kovalev
is still one of
the top light-
heavyweights
in the world.
Just look at his
last fight and
how he turned
the tables on a
good fighter in
Eleider Alvarez.
Just six months
after getting
stopped
by Alvarez,
Kovalev came
back with a
solid decision victory in the return,
which speaks loudly to the fact that
he’s still a world-class fighter. Also,
after this win, it’s more than likely
that he’s in a good place mentally
at the moment.
I think Kovalev is likely to have
a certain amount of motivation
within himself right now,
considering that all four major
champions in his weight class are
Eastern European. I’m sure he’ll be
motivated to establish himself in

history as the best of that group.

At this stage in his development,

I think Anthony Yarde is what you

would call a very live underdog in

his world title fight against Kovalev.

He’s young, strong, 6ft tall and has

good power. Although he hasn’t yet

faced the top recognisable names

in the division, he has impressively

done all that’s been asked of him so

far against a very solid if not well-

known batch of opponents over

the last couple of years.

However, on the mental side,

of course, despite their experience,

none of his previous opposition

have carried the history and aura

of a guy like Kovalev. It’s now up

to Yarde to gear himself up to go

through what he has to in order to

prove that he belongs at this level

at this time.

In my opinion, anytime you

cross into another country to face

one of its stars there is going to

be automatic added pressure to

overcome – not just from your

opponent, but also from the

overall vibe in the entire country

and in the arena that is decidedly

and overwhelmingly against you.

It’s a lot to ask of someone who

hasn’t had any real international

experience as a professional to

go into the home country of a

guy who is already a real handful,

even without that potentially

intimidating home advantage.

On that end, though, I’d like to

hope, proclaim and believe that

the WBO will send some of their

very best officials to make sure

everything is fair and square on

fight night in Russia on August 24.

Regarding the talk of a potential

fight between Kovalev and Canelo

Alvarez down the line, financially

it’d be a great fight for both men.

However, unless Team Canelo

see something and believe that

Kovalev has seriously slipped,

I just don’t view it as a wise move

for him. Canelo isn’t even a big

middleweight, so to attempt to

voluntarily rise up two divisions to

fight a guy who has largely been a

destroyer at the weight is extremely

admirable, but also kind of odd to

me.

There are certainly other avenues

Canelo can take to make great

money, yet he’s already proved his

fearlessness by facing Gennady

Golovkin twice in a row.

‘YARDE IS A VERY LIVE UNDERDOG’

But travelling to Kovalev’s hometown in Russia represents a daunting test

Photo: ACTION IMAGES/ANDREW COULDRIDGE

Photo: ACTION IMAGES/ANDREW COULDRIDGE

IN WITH A CHANCE:

Yarde is the underdog for

good reason but should not

be written off completely

FEARSOME:

Kovalev has earned his

menacing reputation

II

John

Scully

Former light-

heavy contender