It's a weird juxtaposition, but in the ultra-macho world of professional prizefighting, there are a lot of men with waning or even non-existent testosterone levels.
"Nobody recognize Andre Ward as a champion." -- Sergey Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
This isn't in reference to the fighters, of course. The men and women who step in the ring and, literally, fight for their lives and livelihoods are, without question, the bravest athletes in all of sports.
"He should prove on June 17 that he's a real champion. He need to prove, not me." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
No, that first statement is in reference to the media that covers boxing and to many of the harshest, most vocal fans who follow the sport.
"I will get in the ring and kick his ass." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
The reality is that many of those who report on fighting and who follow it passionately are comfortable middle-class men who merely "slum" in the seedy, bloody world of big-time boxing.
"I want to punish him and get my belts back." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
They're hobby involves spending several hours a week playing tough guy around legitimately tough guys and floating along in a macho fairytale that couldn't be further away from who they are as human beings.
"He's nothing to me." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
The sport's press corps is full of mandal-wearing metrosexuals and nostalgia nerds who are about as menacing as a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches and as tough as handful of cotton candy. Boxing fandom is full of similarly slumming, frustrated tough guys who sling around macho talk on social media, but aren't really looking for conflict beyond the warmth of a computer or TV screen
"I don't like this guy and I want to punish him because he puts his nose really up right now." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
That's why media and fans fall head over heels in love with fighters who live up to their macho fantasies of what a tough guy is supposed to be.
"I know only one thing: I will kick his ass!" -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
Guys like Gennady Golovkin, and more specifically for this piece, Sergey Kovalev, are fan favorites because, if waning testosterone levels had a central casting, guys like "Triple G" and the "Krusher" would come straight from it.
"I don't care if he shows respect to me or not." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
The idea that a fighter should shut up about business and fight like a loyal worker drone is central to the macho fairytale of what boxing is supposed to be. To those living their tough guy fantasies vicariously through the fists of others, fighters need to be good little boys and girls. They are expected to give everything all the time and not be a buzzkill by behaving like actual human beings or, worst of all, like highly-skilled professionals.
"I want to destroy him." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
These fighters need to stop with the defense bullshit, too. Real fighters aren't supposed to worry about their well-being. What they do with their lives, suffering from dementia and what-not from their forties on, is their business. Real fighters sacrifice everything for the glory of combat and ask for relatively little in return.
"I want to destroy this guy as a boxer, as a champion." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
But getting back to Sergey Kovalev-"The Krusher" is the perfect figurehead for the man-dreams of a limp-membered media and "hardcore" fandom.
"For me, he is not a champion, he's fake champion. He lives right now with this status (but) he's a fake champion." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
Kovalev just lives to kick ass and settle scores. He takes whatever money that's tossed into his duffel bag and wouldn't dare think of doing anything unmanly like pursue better working conditions or more favorable financial deals. He knows his place-Tough in the ring, tough on the mic, but docile and compliant everywhere else. He'll never be a threat to anyone's sensibilities as faux-men.
"He knows he didn't win." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
The Krusher fits the fantasy so well that even liberal-minded, politically correct fans and media, who would bristle at blatant racist behavior in any other aspect of their life, seem fine with it when it comes from the Russian KO artist. Kovalev's history of racist behavior over the years is well-documented, but has been a consistent non-issue to many. Those who would call for immediate suspensions for lesser transgressions in other sports, are more than happy to sweep anything Kovalev does under the carpet.
"One day in my hometown Chelyabinsk (Russia) a girl, 25 years old, slapped me on my shoulderÂ…When Andre Ward punched me in the fight, it was sameÂ… I didn't feel his punchÂ…His was like a tap." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
It's boxing, after all-a place where tough men do tough things for the amusement of weak men. And there's hell to pay for anyone who dares to try and splash cold water on men in the midst of their heated daydreams.
"They say that I this, I this, I this. I don't care. They will pay inside the ring for everything for what they said. Trust me." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
For way too many media members and fans, Andre Ward is the bad guy in the Ward-Kovalev conflict. And it's primarily because Ward's existence at the elite level of the sport is the equivalent of a handful of sand in the lube to those immersed waist-deep in the macho fairytale. He just doesn't behave or execute in a way that agrees with the collective wet dream of a legion of frustrated males. Their determination in not having their fantasy ruined has created a Bizarro World for the sport, one where the clean cut American Olympian is the bad guy and the racist creep foreigner is the hero. And no matter how much logic you inject into the situation or how often Kovalev may say and do things that should produce some sort of backlash, the boxing world will refuse to budge on this.
"I want to put him back in his place." -- Kovalev (on Andre Ward)
For those looking for a reason why boxing can never manage to clean itself up or remove the seedier elements of its business, one need look no further than the Sergey Kovalev dynamic. Boxing doesn't clean itself up because many in the media and a good portion of the fans actually get off on the nasty side of the sport. Corruption is quaint, thievery is stimulating, and, in the specific case of Kovalev, dealing with scumbags and misanthropes is so "on the edge."
Sergey Kovalev is just one person and is more symptom than disease. And, no, he shouldn't be "banned" or kept from making a living. But the fact that cartoonish tough words and a big punch are enough to get you a permanent free pass on vile douchebaggery is beyond disheartening to those of us who would like to see boxing remove itself from the sporting world's red light district.