This past Saturday night, Sergey Kovalev was able to show that his style was indeed something that the older Bernard Hopkins was simply not able to adjust to. Kovalev won every single round, decisively. While he was unable to do any physical damage Hopkins, he did deliver a statement, one advising Hopkins to call it quits.
No matter how you turn it, no matter how you realign it, at this point in time Hopkins would lose to a fighter like Kovalev every time. While Hopkins looked in shape, and showed no lack of stamina or concentration, his savior from hitting the canvas for good was his well chiseled defense. Other than his turtle shell guard, his offense was nowhere to be found.
But if styles do indeed make fights, than I could argue that Bernard’s performance was far from humiliating. As a matter of fact he was able to crack Kovalev with a few great shots, one of which certainly wobbled the younger champion. Clearly facing volume punchers is not something that Hopkins should try again. There was a mention of Golovkin vs. Hopkins by De La Hoya at the post fight press conference, which in my opinion would be placing Hopkins in real physical danger.
But what if Hopkins does decide to keep fighting, there are still a few fights out there, which he could prove to be competitive at. One of them being Adonis Stevenson, as mentioned on multiple occasions post bout. This would be a competitive fight, with Hopkins, in many peoples’ opinions, having the physical and technical edge.
So is it time for Hopkins to hand up his gloves and allow the boxing historians to start drafting his career biography? It wouldn’t be the worst idea, but it is not necessary just yet.
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