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| Ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins (left) could face his toughest test in over a decade against the brutal Sergey Kovalev (right). |
In other sports we often hear about youth vs experience. Which one is better to have? Front offices do their best to find the right balance for their team. Youth and athleticism mixed with experience and age to turn their team into a championship contender.
Sometimes in boxing, however, it's one or the other, as is the case this Saturday when 49-year old WBA/IBF champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2) meets 31-year old WBO champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1) in a light heavyweight unification bout in Atlantic City.
The bout features two men similar in ideology, but very different in style. Both men are looking to become the undisputed king of the light heavyweight division, but both are going about it in different ways.
Hopkins hasn't knocked out an opponent in over 10 years, back when he was still in his 30's, while Kovalev has stopped his last nine opponents by way of knockout, and 13 of his 14 fights have not gone the distance. It's nothing short of remarkable when an opponent goes the distance with the Russian known as the "The Krusher," but then again, so much about Bernard Hopkins' career is remarkable.
