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Kovalev v Yarde

Surprised there has been very little discussion about this bout.

I think it's an intriguing fight. For a long time I was unsure about Yarde, just wondered was he all flash and no substance, but bit by bit he has won me over. Of course, his opposition has not exactly been top class, but it's been reasonably good for someone so inexperienced. Having said that, I was sure he was going to be waiting at least another year before challenging for top honours in a talent-laden division.

But that's the bit that has caught my attention. Frank Warren is his promoter and like him or loathe him, he has a very good record of timing his fighters' runs and catching an aging champion just at the right time. Obviously he has spotted something, especially with the fight being in Russia.

For me it all boils down to two things. Jab and chin. Kovalev's jab is probably the best in boxing, even someone as good as Andre Ward struggled with it, so is Yarde experienced enough to work around it on a consistent basis? If he is then he has a huge chance.

Then there's the question over Yarde's chin. Kovalev can really bang and we just don't know yet whether Yarde can take big punches. He looks a very solid unit, but that doesn't necessarily say much. His trainer has unusual training methods and doesn't believe in much sparring. Whatever about the rights and wrongs of that, sparring definitely toughens you up and conditions the body for punishment, so if Yarde is taking regular shots from a big puncher with underrated skills, how will he stand up to it?

I can see a lot of different scenarios in this fight, but I suppose the sensible prediction would be a Kovalev points win or late stoppage, but I certainly would not be surprised with a Yarde win.

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I know that Kovalev has a great jab but look at what Yarde did to this boxing machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VfD5jTTq94

Seriously though, looking forward to this fight. Fair play to them for taking the risk.

Any approx time For the fight ?

Something tells me Yarde might have got Kovalev at the right time, he's getting on a bit, weren't there stories about Kovalev having domestic problems and trouble with the drink etc?

Not 100% certain, but if Yarde shows up in tip top shape and can get past the jab he might have some success. I could see this one being a bit of a barn burner with someone being stopped. Of course Yarde might have jumped up too many levels and simply get outclassed though. It's an interesting one.

/edit think this one is approx 7.30pm Irish time

PEACEBROTHER wrote: »

Any approx time For the fight ?

Nice and early, 8pm I read.

Crazy how much less of a profile the BT Sport stable of fighters have compared to Sky.

Very excited for this I must say.

Makabu vs Papin in the twelfth round now. Must be another fight or two before the main event.

I'm wrong the big fight is up next. Just about to do the ring walks.

Son Of Judges is in the ESPN studio to do the coverage :-)

Just get to the ring ffs..............getting sick of these ring walks now.

Jaysus he should have took the anthem down a semitone or two.

Yarde really not imposing himself at all. Can see him getting stopped here.

Kovalev really getting in to it now

Yardes body shots doing damage

wow

Looks like Yarde might have emptied the tank in the 8th, as lots suspected he may not have the tank to go 12

yeah that looked like a recovery round, he did nothing.

Those body shots could be the way to win. Kov is two or three hard shots from being done

All one sided, they should pull Yarde.

The standard of poor opponents previously not helping Yarde now late in this fight.

Scrap that

Great last few rounds.

Regardless of the result Yarde wasn't as far out of his depth than I taught he would be.

Good fight. Yarde should take up sparring.

Good fight. Enjoyed that.

Great fight that was.

When yarde started landing ito the body n the 7th I thought he’d found a way to win. Great comeback from kov though. He looked ****ed tired.

He was very close to getting kovs corner to throw in the towel, which shows a couple of things. 1. How close he got and 2. How much kov has declined (imo) but credit to him for getting the job done. 16th world title fight in a row

Kov to me looks a shell of his former self. More vulnerable and chin not as good as it used to be.
That said he totally outboxed Yarde for 90% of the fight.

Yarde's corner should have pulled him out before he got stopped. He was out on his feet for the last few rounds. He was knocked out by exhaustion and took a lot of punishment at the end.

Yarde showed great heart. Credit to him.

I wonder if he knew how close he was to finishing the fight in the 7th.

jeremyj1968 wrote: »

Yarde showed great heart. Credit to him.

I wonder if he knew how close he was to finishing the fight in the 7th.

He knew alright he just had no energy left.

Heard the commentators saying last night that Yarde doesn't spar, can't get my head around that one. It showed last night as he was fúcked after 7 rounds. Could have finished Kovalev in the 8th if he had a little bit more in the tank.

Dont think sparring would have made a difference to the gas tank tbh but it does have its benefits in shot absorbing etc

StringerBell wrote: »

Dont think sparring would have made a difference to the gas tank tbh but it does have its benefits in shot absorbing etc

It could make a huge difference. You can do all the other type training and cardio, but if you are not replicating a fight via good solid and enduring type sparring, then your gas tank is not really a fighters' gas tank.

Same with soccer or rugby or GAA; you need to actually play the game in training. Do the runs, moves, shots, passes, defending etc....

Yarde's tank wasn't crap, but it wasn't near the level he needed. He didn't really get going till the mid rds, and he then had a very hard sustained attack rd 8 I think, almost getting SK out of there; he then had very little left in his tank.

Had he been sparring a lot more, coupled with his other training, then it's very possible that his tank is greatly improved for the fight, allowing him to either fight at a harder anD faster temp throughout, or having more in the tank rds 9/10 and 11 to keep the pressure on a fading SK.