"The fight we want at the end of the day, or our goal so to speak, was or would not have been Bernard Hopkins. Yes, Bernard is a future Hall of Fame boxer, but honestly, at this stage of his career, if Bernard stepped into the ring with Sergey Kovalev, it would be Bernard's last fight because Sergey Kovalev would beat the brakes off of Bernard Hopkins," stated world-class trainer John David Jackson, who wasn't shy about voicing his opinion that his fighter, newly-crowned WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalez, is the best fighter in the division. Jackson is so confident in his fighter's skills that he strongly believes Kovalez will be the man to finally convince the living legend Hopkins to hang up his gloves for good.
"Now people, especially B-Hop fans, will say that I'm crazy. But if I only know one thing it's boxing. I do know boxing and I know Hopkins more than some other people in the game today. Bernard does not carry the firepower to keep this young man off of him. He does possess boxing smarts and craftiness, but the ability to fight hard, and more importantly take and endure punishment for 12 rounds...NO! Bernard cannot do that. Now I hear that he's been talking a whole lot of smack. Well, all he has to do is after he beats his mandatory challenger, don't talk; just sign the contract and meet Sergey in the ring," Jackson stated, essentially throwing down the gauntlet at the feet of Hopkins, a man that Jackson himself once fought and then later helped train.
"The two fights that makes sense down the road for Sergey and fight fans are Adonis Stevenson and Andre Ward; Stevenson because he is a very dangerous puncher. I trained Adonis for one fight and he has the same punching power as Sergey, but his defense is very shaky and his chin is suspect," Jackson explained, making it clear that the younger, hard-hitting Adonis Stevenson may even be an easier taks that Hopkins for Kovalev. In fact, not only does Jackson believe that Kovalez is the best fighter in the light heavyweight division, but he also thinks he's one of the best fighters pound-for-pound, and he's willing to test that theory against the man many consider to be the second best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, super middleweight king Andre Ward.
"Andre Ward has cleaned out the 168-pound division and it is time to move up. Andre is a very good boxer and very good at making his opponents fight at his pace. He will be tested all too well in a bout with Sergey at 175. The major difference is Sergey can punch and Ward can't, at least not hard enough to get Sergey's respect, and if you can't get this guy's respect, phew, you are in for a long night," Jackson continued. "His trainer, Virgil Hunter, thinks that all Sergey has is power, but Sergey would bring more than just punching power to the dance. Sergey is an intelligent and smart boxer and if one took time to study Sergey's style, they would see that Sergey sets up all of his opponents before the kill. It would be very interesting to see if a good boxer like Ward with limited power tries to stay out of the line of fire for 12 rounds. I like Andre; I just think this is the kind of boxing match that fight fans would want to see."
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]