Who won Kovalev vs Hopkins?

Sergey Kovalev beat Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday 8th November 2014 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The scorecards were announced as 120-106, 120-107, 120-107 in favor of winner Sergey Kovalev.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Light Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 175 pounds (12.5 stone or 79.4 KG).

This contest was for the unified light heavyweight championship of the world, with the WBA, IBF & WBO belts on the line.

The undercard featured the clash of Cheeseman vs Upton.

Kovalev vs Hopkins stats

Sergey Kovalev stepped into the ring with an undefeated record of 25 wins, zero loses and 1  draw, 23 of those wins coming by the way of knock out.

Bernard Hopkins made his way to the ring with a record of 55 wins, 6 loses and 2 draws, with 32 of those wins by knock out.

The stats suggested Kovalev had a massive power advantage over Hopkins, boosting at 92% knock out percentage over Hopkins' 58%.

Sergey Kovalev was the younger man by 18 years, at 39 years old.

Hopkins had a height advantage of 1 inch over Kovalev. That also extended to a 3-inch reach advantage.

Both Sergey Kovalev & Bernard Hopkins fought out of an orthodox stance.

Kovalev was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 37 less fights, and made his debut in 2009, 20 year and 9 months later than Hopkins, whose first professional fight was in 1988. He had fought 320 less professional rounds, 194 to Hopkins' 514.

Kovalev vs Hopkins form

Kovalev had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez on 2nd November 2019 by technical knockout in the 11th round in their WBO World Light heavyweight championship fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had beat Anthony Yarde on 24th August 2019 by technical knockout in the 11th round in their WBO World Light heavyweight championship fight at Traktor Sport Palace, Chelyabinsk, Russia.

Going into that contest, he had won against Eleider Alvarez on 2nd February 2019 by unanimous decision in their WBO World Light heavyweight championship fight at The Ford Center at The Star, Texas, United States.

Before that, he had been beaten by Eleider Alvarez on 4th August 2018 by technical knockout in the 7th round in their WBO World Light heavyweight championship fight at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, New Jersey.

He had beat Igor Mikhalkin on 3rd March 2018 by technical knockout in the 7th round in their WBO World Light heavyweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York.

Hopkins had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance 3 times.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had defeated Beibut Shumenov on 19th April 2014 by split decision in their WBA Super World Light Heavyweight and IBF World Light heavyweight championship fight at DC Armory, Washington, United States.

Previous to that, he had defeated Karo Murat on 26th October 2013 by unanimous decision in their IBF World Light heavyweight championship fight at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City.

Going into that contest, he had won against Tavoris Cloud on 9th March 2013 by unanimous decision in their IBF World Light heavyweight championship fight at Barclays Center, New York.

Before that, he had lost to Chad Dawson on 28th April 2012 by majority decision in their WBC World Light heavyweight championship fight at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City.

Hehad defeated Oscar De La Hoya on 18th September 2004 by knockout in the 9th round in their WBC World Middleweight, WBA Super World Middleweight and IBF World Middleweight championship fight at MGM Grand, Nevada.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Sergey Kovalev had been fighting more than Bernard Hopkins.

Going to this contest, Sergey Kovalev had last fought 2 years, 6 months and 22 days ago, while Bernard Hopkins' last outing had been 8 years, 1 month and 5 days ago.

Kovalev's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 2 months and 21 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 10 months and 4 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 48 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 9.6 rounds on average.

Hopkins' last 5 fights had come over a period of 17 years, 8 months and 6 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 3 years, 6 months and 14 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 57 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 11.4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Kovalev vs Hopkins?

Sergey Kovalev was a (+100) underdog going into the contest, while Bernard Hopkins made his way into the ring at (+100) with oddsmakers.