Great performance from Sergey Kovalev!, although I do think he was made to look better than he was in the fight, and I think in terms of method, technical ability, ring IQ, there were exaggerations, post fight. Hopkins, at 49, was not resistant, he was probably less resistant than he thought he was before this fight, and I think that's why he was shocked at his own vulnerability, because I think he was, he seemed so unprepared, as soon as he suffered that, what I thought was quite hurtful, knockdown, he refused to engage, he threw so few punches, he couldn't have success, and Kovalev didn't have to work hard, he was the only one doing anything, it was Hopkins who needed to put his foot down. Kovalev's long range boxing ability is great, probably a lot better than Hopkins expected, and his ability to catch fighters coming in, I think his straight 1, 2, is his bread and butter, it sounds so simple, but really, when he lands, he does some real damage. I don't think Kovalev 'outboxed the boxer', I think he intimidated, threatened, bullied the boxer into a metaphorical corner, and kept him in a position which meant he could never find confidence in throwing a punch, and even with Hopkins not giving him any real openings, it still benefitted Kovalev more than him. Kovalev started to tire after 6 rounds, and Hopkins had some decent success, but so little of it, good handful of punches in a rare offensive period though, the problem was, partly due to his age, he couldn't stop Kovalev from taking rests, couldn't take advantage of his fatigue, and he was tired himself, having burned up a lot of nervous energy, taken some big shots, had to move a lot, and being such an old fighter, and Kovalev didn't lose control for these reasons. Kovalev's defence wasn't good in this fight, and really, when you outbox a fighter, you get the better of them, offensively, and defensively, make them miss, counter, or throw them off, land clean, make them miss with their response, while bullying, successfully pressuring a fighter is still a fine way to win a boxing fight, it is not what out boxing a fighter is. Hopkins did so well to get through that last round, showed great fitness, a lot of toughness, heart, and he was getting battered, he wasn't going to win, he was getting through that last round, through pure grit. Hopkins should NOT have been in the ring on this night, I think he was at oeast 4 years over what the age limit in boxing, should be.

Hopkins' socks though...

Awful to see a 50 year old man take those blows.