Virgil Hunter offers to train Kovalev

By Jeff Aranow: Andre Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter is offering former light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev a helping hand to get him back to the top of his game following his second consecutive defeat against Ward. Kovalev was stopped in the 8th round by Ward on June 17th after getting hit with 3 straight hard body shots that folded him in half.

Hunter says he can teach Kovalev how to protect his body in fights, as well as how to throw body shots. Hunter questions whether the trainers that Kovalev currently has have the ability to teach him how to fix the flaws in his game. Hunter wants Kovalev to know that he’s not looking to solicit a job from him as his coach. He just wants to help Kovalev, because he sees him as a struggling fighter now after his second loss.

Hunter didn’t mention whether he would be able to fix Kovalev’s stamina issues. Kovalev has now faded in his last 3 fights against Ward and Isaac Chilemba. Kovalev’s stamina issues are just as important to fix as his problems taking body shots.

”I would tell Kovalev, If [John David] Jackson and everybody’s gone, come on down with us! I’m sure he’ll have a lot of fun and I believe at this stage that I could teach him how to be a devastating body puncher,” said Hunter to Fighthype.

For Kovalev to dump his trainers to go over to Hunter after the back and forth trash talk in the last Ward-Kovalev fights, it would take a lot for him to do this. Kovalev would need to be mentally strong to make that kind of move. Kovalev would have to let go of any hard feelings he has with Hunter and more importantly with Andre Ward. The two of them would likely bump into each other if Kovalev chooses to train at Hunter’s Hayward, California gym. Ward lives in Oakland, California, which is only 15 miles away from Hayward in the Bay Area. Ward could hope on Highway 101 and be there to see Kovalev working out with Hunter.

It would be a weird situation for Kovalev. But at this point, Kovalev needs to do something if he wants to improve, because you can bet that the top fighters that face him from this point will be going after his body the way that Ward did in their 2 fights. Kovalev’s opposition will also likely be pushing a fast pace to try and tire him out the way that Ward did. In looking back at Kovalev’s fights, it’s not surprising that he’s unable to fight hard for more than 5 to 8 rounds.

You have to remember that before Kovalev fought Ward, he was knocking out most of his opponents within 8 rounds. Kovalev never really had to work on his stamina because he was knocking out his opposition left and right. Before the first fight with Ward, Kovalev’s only fight that he had to go 12 rounds during his career was against Bernard Hopkins in November 2014. Hopkins was knocked down in the 1st round, and he spent the rest of the fight playing it safe and not putting pressure on Kovalev. Before the Hopkins fight, the longest fight that Kovalev had gone was against Darnell Boone in their first fight in 2010. Kovalev gassed out in that fight as well and barely won an 8-round split decision.

Kovalev is 34-years-old now. He’s getting up there in age at this point in his boxing career, but he should be able to learn how to throw body shots and defend against them if he pays attention to Hunter.

“I’m not soliciting him, don’t get me wrong,” said Hunter about Kovaev. ”I’m just saying that if all else fails — what I’m trying to do is give you an indication about how we feel about the whole situation. We don’t dislike nobody, we don’t harbor any ill feelings towards anyone, and, you know, I think we have an environment that if he had no other choice, he’d thrive in. So it’s not a solicitation, it’s like if all else fails, you know, we have the compassion and love for you in the rest of your career. That’s all.”

It’s obviously easy for Hunter to offer a hand up for Kovalev to try and help him at this stage. Hunter and his fighter Ward have come out on top twice in their fights with Kovalev. It’s definitely easier for Hunter to offer help than it would be for Kovalev to swallow his pride and accept the offer to start training with Hunter. Kovalev is probably not feeling too happy with how the two fights played out. He thought he was robbed in the first fight, and you can argue that Kovalev deserved a narrow win.

If Kovalev chooses to believe that Ward won because of the low blows that he threw in the 8th, then there might be some bad blood. Kovalev needs to understand that he was probably going to lose the fight even if Ward didn’t hit him with the three hard body shots in the 8th. Kovalev was hurt, tired, and he pretty well spent. Ward was getting stronger, and he would have been all over Kovalev if the fight had gone to the 9th. Ward was like a shark at that point in the fight, smelling blood in the water. Ward wasn’t holding back any longer with his power shots. He knew that Kovalev couldn’t take it downstairs, so he started to hit him at will with body shots until referee Tony Weeks had no choice but to stop the fight.

“The man is out there all by himself pretty much,” said Hunter in talking about Kovalev and his training situation. ”But if he goes to a Russian coach, and that’s no slight on ‘em, they’re not going to be able to help him for his flaws. And once a fighter sees that, the saying is ‘once you see the sawdust the mill is not far away. So if we knew how to get to his body, we know how to teach him to protect it,” said Hunter.

It’s in Kovalev’s best interest to get a new trainer whether it’s Hunter or someone else. When a fighter has lost 2 straight times, it’s definitely a point where they need to look in different direction towards someone else with fresher ideas to see if they can help their careers. Believe me; if Kovalev fights some of the top guys at 175, they’re going to be after him with body shots the way that Ward has done.

There are a number of hard punchers that push a fast pace that would give Kovalev even more problems than Ward did. I’m talking about fighters like Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Joe Smith Jr. and Eleider Alvarez. Those guys would likely be able to do the same thing that Ward did to Kovalev, but perhaps much faster because they hit harder than Ward and most of them are younger. Beterbiev is 32, but his power and accuracy is extraordinary. Beterbiev is a very inside fighter too, He’s beaten Kovalev twice in the amateur ranks in Russia.

It would be good for Kovalev to get with Hunter to see if he can teach him how not to be worked over by the better fighters in the light heavyweight division. If all Hunter does is fix Kovalev’s problems in defending against body shots, he would be a greatly improved fighter. I don’t know if Hunter can teach Kovalev to take body shots. That’s something that is probably not repairable.

Kovalev’s stamina issues are another thing that may be beyond Hunter’s control. I don’t think this is an area that Hunter will be able to do much to help Kovalev. But if Hunter can teach Kovalev how to block the body shots or to prevent them his opponents from being able to throw them in the first place, it would help his career, because he needs to rebuild right now in a major way.