Prospects for unification fights, proposal from Alvarez and status of favorite: why it is important for Kovalev to defeat Yard

On August 24, a duel between Sergei Kovalev and Anthony Yard will take place in Chelyabinsk in the Tractor arena. For Kovalev, he will become not only the defense of the WBO light heavyweight champion title, but also the first in his professional career to fight in his native Chelyabinsk region.

In February 2019, Sergey Kovalev took revenge from Elader Alvarez and regained the championship belt. After this success, he himself openly declared that he was ready to hold unification fights in light heavyweight and did not even exclude the possibility of measuring strength with his compatriots - Arthur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Subsequently, rumors appeared that Saul Alvarez, the highest paid boxer of our time, was interested in the battle with the Crusher. But in the end, the opponent of the Russian was not so hyped Yard.

During his career, the Briton spent 18 fights, in each of which he gained the upper hand. And only once did his opponent fail to give in ahead of schedule. True, this happened at the dawn of Yard's professional career - in a fight with the Latvian Stanislavs Makarenko, dated June 2015. Subsequently, Anthony won seven victories by knockout in the first round and only once the battle with his participation exceeded the equator - the Pole Dariusz Sec fell on the canvas during the seventh three-minute period.

Thanks to these merits, Yard quickly took off in the ranking of the World Boxing Organization and received the status of the first contender for the title. And this despite the fact that Anthony spent almost all of his battles in his homeland, only once having noted his departure to the United States. In September 2016, he met with a little-known American Rayford Johnson, but after that he fought exclusively in the UK.

Thus, the battle in Chelyabinsk will become for him only the second outside the homeland and certainly the most difficult. Firstly, because of the frantic support of Russian fans, and secondly, because of the opponent, because he had never before been opposed by a professional of this level.

Despite the knocking out power of his vis-a-vis, Kovalev comes to a meeting with him in the status of a favorite. The return match with Alvarez showed that the Russian is still in great shape and continues to progress. If during the dilogy with Andre Ward he was often reproached for the monotony and lack of plan B, then now this can not be discussed. In a fight with a Colombian, he appeared to the best of a rational boxer, ready to sacrifice a bright knockout for the sake of overall success. Over 12 rounds, he skillfully avoided the attacks of Elader and instantly “stung” in response, which helped him win.

“I liked what I saw in the last fight of Kovalev. And I saw that Yard and his coach are feeling confident. Well, that is their business. I have heard this all my career. The fight with Sergey will be harder than they think. At the highest level, it doesn’t matter how well you beat in the paws or how big your muscles are - you have to show that you can really fight, that you can keep punch and beat, that you have stamina and intelligence, ” quoted by Ward BT Sport.

Thus, in a battle with a pronounced puncher Yard, he is able to again resort to this tactic and gain the upper hand due to sports intelligence and cunning. In his last fight with Travis Reeves, the Briton acted rather bluntly and very often “failed”, remaining at a dangerous distance for counterattacks. But if the American was unable to use such flaws in the technique of his counterpart, then Kovalev might not forgive such a thing. The Russian himself has a powerful blow, as evidenced by 28 early victories over his career.

“I think Kovalev will knock him out in the late rounds,” Ward concluded.

Despite the advantage of Kovalev in technology and experience, his opponent still has a chance of success. The reason for this is distractions that can prevent the Russian from concentrating fully on defending the title. These include negotiations on a unification fight with Beterbiev, and a sudden offer from Canelo, which could not help but make him think about canceling the fight with the British. By and large, from the side the battle with Anthony is perceived as a springboard during the preparation of Kovalev for cash and status battles, which may slightly weaken his vigilance.

In addition, by world standards, Yard is a rather unknown boxer and previously owned only the title of Intercontinental Champion. Before the fight, the Briton himself admitted that Kovalev did not give him due respect and believes that he can not give in to such an athlete.

“I have the impression that he really does not want to fight with me. He thinks: “He has only 18 professional fights and 12 amateur fights, and the hall of fame awaits me. I can’t let this guy beat me. ” But that is exactly what will happen, ”Yard BoxingScene quotes.

According to him, such a balance of power makes Kovalev nervous.

“I feel that will make him nervous. I’m just a guy from East London who started boxing at 19 and started to make his way upstairs. But my name is now on the list, and this indicates what will happen in the future, ”the Briton added.

He shares the opinion of his compatriot and Tyson Fury. Former world heavyweight champion expressed the opinion that Yard will prevail over Kovalev.

“Sergey was a very good world champion at the time, he achieved a lot. But I think the defeat from Andre Ward greatly crippled him. Kovalev lost to Alvarez, then took revenge, but I think that the young will always beat the older one. Here is my motto, ”said the ex-world heavyweight champion.

A wake-up call for Kovalev fans could be the statements of his coach Buddy McGirt that he did not even understand the style of his future rival, and Sergey himself spoke rather disdainfully about Anthony.

“He calls himself a lion, but I would say that he is a lion cub. I will re-educate him. By virtue of experience, I calmly take this - there were a bunch of them. But it can also be understood. We will put in place, he posts a lot of unpleasant things on Instagram. No need to bother at all, this is his business and his right, ”Kovalev wrote in the social network.

However, in the traditional duel, there was no glance at the hat-thinking attitude. Kovalev looked extremely concentrated and did not give reason to doubt that he was suited to protecting the belt super-motivated. It is understandable, because in the event of a defeat, the Russian risks running the last years of his career in battles with not the most stellar opponents.

Recently, Sergey officially announced that he would end his career by the end of 2020. Given his schedule of performances, the fight with Yard could be one of the last four in his career. In case of victory, he may well first earn money with Alvarez, and then make an attempt to be the first in history to combine four light heavyweight titles. This will be likely if Arthur Beterbiev takes the WBC championship belt from Alexander Gvozdik.

Earlier, Kovalev repeatedly admitted that the Ukrainian is not only his teammate, but also a friend, as a result of which he does not want to meet him in the ring. But he did not fight Beterbiev and Bivol, in view of which the Russian light heavyweight confrontations seem more than likely.