I guess this fight goes to show that you don't have to hit harder, you just need to take the punch better.
Some people might be the next morning coach and say that Kovalev was shot since the Ward fight. I think that is wrong. Dead wrong. In fact, it's a supericial oversimplification often attributed to an undefeated fighter after their first loss. I think he was well on his way to a pretty awesome comeback story. But not all stories have happy endings. Thing is, the comeback trail always seems like a more narrow version of the path you first walked years before. Less can go wrong, or rather, you have to make fewer mistakes. You're almost buying on the margin with your future.
I was calling this out to my brothers as the rounds unfolded. I watched Kovalev take small short cuts with his mental game. It showed in how he feinted less with his lefts and rights, showing one to land the other. This was so intregral to the destructive puncher that built a career off of his spearing lefts and harpooning rights. He also got a bit lazy with his feet. He stuck around to long. Kovalev has the feet that cover ground quickly. He really fights like a fencer. Perhaps I should say that fencers fight best as a fencer. He stuck around too long at range, feinted less, and rushed things. I don't know why, but he did. When you fight with your hands down, you better have the feet to position you out of danger. He hung around to rush things. Coming off two KO's, I can see why.
But you can't take shortcuts on the comeback trail. It winds and curves and is never as pleasant, even if it feels like you kinda sorta walked something like it before. It's a test of one's patience and wisdom, if nothing else.
Kovalev wasn't patient, and instead of spending well earned wisdom, he could never be the "Krusher"; he became the "Komplacent."