Sergey Kovalev-Nadjib Mohammedi: Pre-Report Card

by Cliff Rold

Some divisions appeal by being good from top to bottom. That’s where the most excitement lies. Even if the very best fight doesn’t come together right away, there is enough depth to make the wait worth the while as multiple fighters mix and match.

Light Heavyweight is not that division right now.

There are new faces emerging like Artur Beterbiev and Eleider Alvarez, and some established veterans like Andrzej Fonfara Isaac Chilemba, but for the most part this is a one-fight class. The mixing and matching has run its course. Adonis Stevenson versus Sergey Kovalev for all the marbles at 175 lbs. is all that really matters.

We’ve seen enough of everything else. Kovalev has gone through Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. Stevenson bested Chad Dawson, Tavoris Cloud, and Fonfara. We know where the class of the class lies.

They’re not fighting anytime soon, if ever. Network nonsense and promotional baloney have seen both sides of the aisle move the fight farther away. In the fall, Stevenson is set to face the dreaded TBA. Kovalev is keeping belts with mandatories.

Is there anything in this mandatory on Saturday night (HBO, 10 PM EST/PST) that could change the conversation at Light Heavyweight?

Let’s go the report card.

The Ledgers

Sergey Kovalev

Age: 32


 Current Title: WBO Light Heavyweight (2013-Present, 5 Defenses); WBA “Super”/IBF Light Heavyweight (2014-Present, 1 Defense)

Previous Titles: None

Height: 6’0

Weight: 174.5 lbs.



Hails from: Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Born in Russia)

Record: 27-0-1, 24 KO

Rankings: #1 (BoxingScene, TBRB, Ring), #2 (ESPN, BoxRec)

Record in Major Title Fights: 6-0, 5 KO

Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 3 (Gabriel Campillo TKO3; Nathan Cleverly TKO4; Bernard Hopkins UD12; Jean Pascal TKO8)

Vs.

Nadjib Mohammedi


Age: 30

Title/Previous Titles: None

Height: 5’11 ½

Weight: 173 lbs.



 Hails from: Gardanne, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Record: 37-3, 23 KO, 2 KOBY

Rankings: #9 (Ring), #10 (ESPN)

Record in Major Title Fights: 1st Title Opportunity (0-1 in interim title fights)

Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 6 (Nathan Cleverly L12)

Grades

Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Kovalev A+; Mohammedi B+

Watching past Mohammedi fights, there are reasons to think he might give Kovalev some issues. He’s got quick hands, good head movements, and throws in all sorts of odd angles. He gave a then-undefeated Nathan Cleverly fits in a crack at an interim WBO title in 2010 and enters off thirteen straight wins.

Can he make issues a chance at an upset?

Some of what makes Mohammedi effective could also work against him. While he moves his head, he also often pulls straight back. He’s been stopped twice and against fighters several notches below Kovalev. Kovalev’s excellent, long jab and superior height could take violent advantage of Mohammedi once he solves the timing of the challenger.

Awkward isn’t something Kovalev hasn’t seen. In his outing, a blistering affair with former champion Jean Pascal, Kovalev dominated early but was forced to work by the speed and angles Pascal uses. Pascal is a better athlete, and bigger hitter, than Mohammedi and could sustain his effort.

The Pick

This looks like what too mandatory challenges are. The right guy gets on track with one of the sanctioning bodies, wins a bunch of fights, and gets a shot. It doesn’t matter that in those thirteen wins, there is barely a recognizable name (wins over Doudou Ngumbu and Anatoliy Dudchenko stand out) in the bunch. They did whatever they had to do to get there and opportunity is what can be made of it. Mohammedi’s opportunity should end badly. Kovalev is too good right now, too mean, to let the free style of Mohammedi bother him for long. Eventually the challenger pulls back with his hands down and he goes down. The pick is Kovalev inside eight rounds. 

Report Card and Staff Picks 2015: 60-15 

Cliff’s Notes…

There is a lot of boxing on this weekend and hardly a single fight anyone really has to go out of their way to see. 2015 has too much of that going on. Volume is great but compelling fights are better. When it feels like sifting for needles in haystacks, volume is just volume…Perhaps the most fun fight of the weekend could come in the sub-Flyweight ranks. Former titlists Moises Fuentes and Oswaldo Novoa will lock horns on the BeIn Sports Espanol (Saturday, 12 AM EST) undercard…BJ Flores-Beibut Shumenov is also on this weekend. There are some excellent fights in the Cruiserweight division. This doesn’t look like one of them.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com