The Sergey Kovalev-Anthony Yarde light heavyweight title bout swung on one simple
factor: a fighter who had never been past seven rounds gassed. Yarde was
actually a victim of his own success. Hurting Kovalev with uppercuts and short
right hands on the inside, he went for the finish in the eighth round, but Kovalev, using all of his veteran savvy, was able to survive.
After the round, Kovalev's trainer, Buddy McGirt, warned that he
was ready to stop the fight. However, when the two boxers started the
ninth, it was Yarde who was suddenly running on empty. The fight would end in
the 11th when Kovalev knocked down Yarde with a well-placed jab. Yarde was too
exhausted to get to his feet. It was a stunning reversal of fortune and
Kovalev, the fighter formerly accused of having no heart, of being a front
runner, of quitting, was the victorious one, showing resolve and the refusal to
succumb to defeat.
In the professional ranks the margins between winning and losing can be paper thin. It could be a matter of inches, seconds or a last-minute adjustment. After the eighth, Yarde had Kovalev in serious trouble, but he could offer no more. That burst of a second-wind, that sense of pacing never materialized, and that one attribute ultimately was the difference.
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| Photo Courtesy of Pavel Tarbachuk |
In the professional ranks the margins between winning and losing can be paper thin. It could be a matter of inches, seconds or a last-minute adjustment. After the eighth, Yarde had Kovalev in serious trouble, but he could offer no more. That burst of a second-wind, that sense of pacing never materialized, and that one attribute ultimately was the difference.
By some standards Yarde exceeded expectations on Saturday. The
cards were stacked against him going into the fight. He lacked world-level
experience and a high-level amateur background, his development slate of
opponents was poor, he didn't spar during his training camp and he had to go to
Russia, never an easy trip. That he competed so well against Kovalev, still one of the top light
heavyweights in the world, speaks highly of Yarde's aptitude and self-belief.
Yarde flashed a solid counter left hook in the early rounds of the
fight and if he didn't win many of the first six frames, his hooks were enough for Kovalev to holster most of his own power shots. And once
Yarde was able to get past Kovalev's jab, he started to batter Kovalev with the
success of a far more seasoned in-fighter. His left uppercut to the breadbasket
and short right to the chest completely turned the action of the fight.
In the aftermath of the defeat, the decisions of Team Yarde
leading up to the title fight could certainly be questioned. His trainer, Tunde
Ajayi, didn't believe in sparring. His promoter, Frank Warren (who certainly
knows how to develop fighters), didn't challenge Yarde sufficiently in his
development bouts. There were also opportunities to take step-aside money, to get
another camp or two before rushing headlong into Yarde's first title shot. And these considerations are not second-guesses. All of these factors were pointed out well before
Yarde entered the ring on Saturday.
Warren and the rest of Team Yarde played their cards instead of
folding. In poker parlance, they were always behind in the hand, but they had
several outs (i.e., ways to win). It's clear that at 36 Kovalev is a vulnerable
champ. Sergey has been through the wars and never had the world's greatest
chin. In addition, Kovalev had lost three fights since 2016; whatever aura of
invincibility he once had is now long gone. And Yarde certainly had enough of
a punch to cause damage. But it just didn't work out. They gambled and lost.
Maybe it wasn't the right time to push the chips in, but the thought process
behind the decision was certainly understandable.
*
Once upon a time Kovalev was one of the true ring bullies in the
sport. Battering opponents with a laser jab and a Krushing right hand, he was a
destroyer. He intimidated in the ring. More than that, he was a bona fide sadist. He wanted to hurt opponents, to cause damage, to elongate their
suffering before ending it.
Kovalev eventually got into trouble in three ways: He didn't
respect his opponents, he lacked humility and he was a nervous fighter under
duress. He seemed shocked when opponents actually decided to fight back, and
when they did, he was ill-equipped from a technical or psychological
standpoint. Despite jumping out to an early lead against Andre Ward in their
rematch, once Kovalev was hurt, he couldn't process a next move. He complained
to referee Tony Weeks instead of defending himself. He didn't tie up. He didn't
take a knee. He appeared to crumble instead of think his way out of
trouble.
After getting dropped from a menacing overhand right in the first
Eleider Alvarez fight, he decided to fight back harder, to slug it out with
Alvarez mano-a-mano instead of giving himself the opportunity to recover. His decision making when under duress was a significant flaw.
But in Kovalev's performance on Saturday and in his victory against
Alvarez in February's rematch, he finally displayed a maturity in the ring and
a real sense of Ring IQ. He didn't try to decapitate Alvarez in the rematch. He
stuck to his boxing fundamentals and would beat Alvarez with his jab and short
right hands. And instead of gassing in the later rounds, he seemed at his most
relaxed in the ring.
And on Saturday, even when he was hurt, he was still processing
the moment in the ring. He wisely tied up at the end of the eighth round, enabling
him to have an opportunity to come back; I'm not sure if he would have made the
same decision a few years ago. He has now realized that he can be hurt, but that circumstance doesn't have to lead to defeat. Even under duress, he still has agency.
This was Kovalev's second fight with Buddy McGirt and the trainer
has made a huge difference with Kovalev's ring demeanor and sense of strategy.
In perhaps the twilight of his career, Kovalev now understands that hitting
harder, running farther and killing yourself in camp don't necessarily lead to
better results in the ring. McGirt wisely decided to rein in Kovalev during
training camps and also instilled a confidence in Kovalev – that the fighter was far
more than a knockout machine; he had a fantastic fundamental boxing foundation,
and that would be enough to beat even top-level opponents.
But credit must also be given to Kovalev for accepting his own
mortality in the ring. Kovalev had a well-deserved reputation of being stubborn
and not listening to others. After the Alvarez defeat, however, he understood
that he needed to make changes to prolong his career. Primarily, he needed to accept a revised ring identity – that it's OK not to run through
opponents. And this was a radical change for one of
the best knockout artists in the sport, one who prided himself on his ferocity.
It's a change that many veteran fighters would refuse to make. It is an old dog
learning a new trick. He realized that the most important thing in his career was winning, by whatever means necessary. And if that meant fundamental boxing, so be it.
*
Yarde is now at the first crucial inflection point of his career.
At 28 he is no longer considered young in boxing years; he's squarely in the
middle of his athletic prime. He certainly has the raw athleticism and enough
fundamentals to compete on the world stage, but what lessons will he learn from
Saturday's defeat? What does he need to change in order to beat top fighters? Does he
take a few step backs, get some needed rounds against B-level opponents, or
does he believe that he's ready for another shot at the best? Should he switch trainers? Is he getting the right
advice from his team?
It's easy to say that Yarde will be able to regroup and win a
title in the future. But look around the division – Gvozdyk, Beterbiev,
Bivol and Kovalev – one has to beat a terrific fighter to get a belt at light
heavyweight. There are no guarantees that Yarde will be able to get to
that level.
Yarde's next set of decisions will be the most important ones he
makes in his career. It took Kovalev a series of catastrophic defeats to make
needed changes. Although Yarde isn't at that level, he might not be that far away. But does he know where he went wrong? He only gets to have one career, and if
he wants one that lasts, he needs to realize that the status quo cannot suffice.
Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
