On Saturday, November 8, Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) faces the greatest test of his professional career so far. Standing across the feared Russian puncher will be the living legend that is Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs). Everything we know about age and the demands of professional sports tells us that this should be a one-sided affair, yet it is not likely to be. No 49-year-old in any professional sport, let alone one as brutal as boxing, should be able to compete with a dominant champion in his prime years, but "The Alien" Bernard Hopkins is clearly no ordinary 49-year-old. We know Hopkins is special, but just what kind of challenge does he pose to "The Krusher" Kovalev? Would a Kovalev win be enough to justify his claim to being the best light heavyweight and a star in the making?
With a dearth of top talent in the light heavyweight division currently, Hopkins is still the biggest star name in his weight division. Even as he approaches his 50th birthday, a win over Hopkins is still of more value than a win against Juergen Braehmer, Jean Pascal, or any of the other boxers considered among the top light heavyweights. The only name out there that would do more for Kovalev's resume than Hopkins is Ring & WBC champion Adonis Stevenson. Unfortunately, no thanks to boxing politics, we aren't likely to see Kovalev and Stevenson face off anytime soon. In terms of makeable fights, we are getting the second best available in the light heavyweight division.
The attraction to this fight for Kovalev is primarily the opportunity to claim two (the IBF & WBA) of the division's four alphabet titles. Winning those two, on top of the WBO title he currently holds, would effectively grant Kovalev the title of undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division. Undisputed status would mean Kovalev holds all the chips in negotiations with anyone other than Stevenson. Any super fights to be made in the division will either involve him outright or lead to a potential showdown involving him. With Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Andre Dirrell, and others potentially making the move up sooner rather than later, Kovalev may find himself in a lucrative position if he can win against Hopkins. There couldn't be much more at stake for the Russian.
Naturally, the pressure to win is squarely on Kovalev's shoulders in this fight. He simply has to win decisively if he is going to prove to be more than just another flash-in-the-pan puncher. Unfortunately for Kovalev, even as he approaches his 50th birthday, Bernard Hopkins retains the versatility and tactical prowess to prove to be a stylistic nightmare for the undefeated Russian. Hopkins is arguably the most intelligent defensive fighter in the sport. His lateral movement, defensive awareness, and use of tactical clinching is enough to blunt most opponents' offense. Hopkins is adept at fighting on the back foot while scoring, using a combination of pot-shotting, fighting on the inside, and counter punching. Mentally, he is near enough unfazeable. B Hop has proven time and time again that even when he is hurt or knocked down, he remains calm and works his way back into the fight.
We often see Hopkins' opponents fail to find their rhythm or ever get any momentum going. This is testament to the subtle things Hopkins does that enable him to control his opponent's output. Kovalev has never faced an opponent with anywhere near as much depth to his fight game as Bernard Hopkins has. Add on to that Hopkins' unapologetic use of 'veteran tactics', a euphemism for the concoction of clever tricks he uses to dually control the pace of the fight and agitate his opponents. B Hop deliberately draws frustration out of his opponents with the intent to use it against them. Given all these different weapons in Hopkins' locker, it is probably fair to say that no active boxer gives their opponents a more stringent test of their mental strength in the ring. Unless he knocks Hopkins out early, Kovalev's patience, discipline, Ring IQ, self-belief, and temperament will be thoroughly tested. If the fight goes into the later rounds, we will finally find out whether there is more to Kovalev than devastating punching power. No victory over Bernard Hopkins ever comes easy.
Despite the difficulty of the task of defeating Hopkins, Kovalev can count on the critics to give him no credit should he claim victory. Hopkins is the oldest athlete competing at the highest level in any athletic sport. If Kovalev wins in style, his detractors have a ready-made explanation for how he managed to get the victory; he fought "an old man." If he gets a draw or wins a competitive fight, then the argument will be that he can't be that good to have been pushed so far by a 50-year-old. If he loses, then Kovalev will be thought of the same way as Kelly Pavlik. Just avoiding a knockout defeat is enough for Hopkins to claim a moral victory. Even if he can't avoid that outcome, then we'll excuse him and call it a post-prime loss. In legacy terms, there is no valuable win for Kovalev in beating Bernard Hopkins. If he doubts that, then he should think about what little credit the other guys who have beaten Hopkins have received. Roy Jones, Jermain Taylor, and Joe Calzaghe's wins over him are underrated and/or still hotly debated. Chad Dawson received next to no credit for his win over Bernard.
As though that isn't enough to worry Kovalev, consider this little interesting footnote on Bernard Hopkins' opponents. Of all the fighters that have fought on after facing Bernard Hopkins, none, apart from Roy Jones Jr., have managed to achieve anything of note after fighting Hopkins. They all (Jones aside) enjoyed a better career before crossing paths with The Alien. Even Glen Johnson, despite winning an alphabet title since losing to B Hop, has seen his record go from 32-0 on the night he fought Hopkins to 54-19 today. Coincidence? Possibly, but there is probably no better indicator of how fighting Hopkins is than that fun fact. On November 8, it will be Kovalev's turn to take the ultimate boxing test. This will be that fight that will make him or break him before the boxing world. We haven't got long to wait to find out if he's the real deal!