?KRUSHER? DOWNS ?ALIEN?
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 09 Nov 2014
Atlantic City, New Jersey ? At forty nine years of age and two months shy of his 50th birthday, boxing champion (IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight) Bernard Hopkins is considered to be from ?out of this world? by many.
Hopkins, the legendary fighter from Philadelphia and the oldest reigning champion of boxing, the oldest boxer to unify a division and America's oldest active current athlete, shared that thought and even nicknamed himself ?The Alien? last year and even enters the ring wearing a mask of an Extra Terrestrial character.
But what happens when ?The Alien? meets a hard hitting juggernaut eighteen years his junior, one that calls himself ?The Krusher?. It is when reality makes its mark inside the four corners of the ring of the historic Boardwalk Hall of Atlantic City, site of many on boxing's wars in the past.
That reality began to set in early in their Light Heavyweight unification match, Hopkins tasted the powerful hands of Kovalev in the first round and he was down in the canvas, one that he is not accustomed to in his legendary career. Hopkins got up, recovered and fought an attacking opponent who is out to finish him in his own turf.
Hopkins was wary of Kovalev?s power from then on, electing to smartly move and dance around the ring to avoid his opponent?s power. But Kovalev kept hitting him and Hopkins was getting hurt, round after round after round. He would score singular punches scattered in the 12 rounds that they fought, to the delight of the mostly pro- Hopkins fans at the venue but that was not enough to keep Kovalev off his back.
Kovalev of Russia was too strong for Hopkins, and it showed in the ring. A show of bravado in the 6th from Hopkins after his foe missed with his shots in the corner was classic Hopkins who is known to get into his opponent?s head during a match. The Russian champion ignored the taunt and answered with a punch, Hopkins did not taunt after taking the hit.
An exciting 12th and final round unfolded between the two champions, Hopkins wobbled Kovalev early in and followed that up with an uppercut that stopped Kovalev on his tracks. The crowd rose to its feet, anticipating a dramatic finish for their homegrown champion.
But that was all that Hopkins can do, Kovalev withstood the early aggression by Hopkins and mounted a blitzkrieg of his own, which almost ended the night for The Alien.
Hopkins survived the 12th round charge by his opponent, but he was clinging on for dear life. The Alien refused to go down again against the Russian's deadly missiles.
Kovalev now holds the three (WBO, WBA and IBF) Light Heavyweight belts with a dominating and decisive Unanimous Decision victory over Hopkins who was dethroned as the IBF and WBA title holder. All three judges have it a shutout win for the unbeaten Kovalev (26-0) in their cards; 120-107 twice and 120- 106.
Hopkins might be an ?Alien?, he might be from out of this world, but he met his match in the two powerful fists of ?The Krusher?.
ALI STOPS ABREGU
In the co-feature of the night, Sadam Ali (21-0, 13 KOs) of Brooklyn, NY stopped a seasoned Luis Abregu (36-2, 29 KOs) of Argentina in nine rounds to open the HBO broadcast from the Boardwalk Hall. After five rounds of tentativeness between the two, a spirited battle ensued in the second half of their scheduled ten round World Boxing Organization Intercontinental Welterweight match.
Ali dropped Abregu in the 6th with his right hand which Abregu recovered easily from. The undefeated Brooklyn fighter started the 7th strong, intent on finishing the fight but Abregu fought hard, desperately trying to make up for the knockdown in the previous round. The Argentinean ended the 8th round with scoring hits on Ali which won him the round.
Ali was not to be denied in the 9th; a hard combination from him clipped and dropped Abregu. He then launched unanswered shots to his opponent?s head which prompted Referee Harvey Dock to stop the fight midway (1:54) in the round.
Ali remained unbeaten, defended his WBO intercontinental belt successfully and showcased his talents in one of the year?s most anticipated night of boxing.
You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com and is on Twitter @Freemazon910.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .
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