Tell me about Istvan Kovacs...

[Cobra33]

Was he a pretty good boxer? What was his style like?I see he lost only once and then had 2 bouts which he won and then he retired.Why?
What was his bout with Steve Robinson like?

[Darien]

Kovács was an amateur legend, winning the European championships twice, two times world champion and Olympic gold medallist in Atlanta, 1996. As a pro he won the EBU belt and later the WBO featherweight title vacated by Hamed. Unfortunately he got brutally TKOed on his first title defence by tough Argentinian Julio Pablo Chacón.
Kovács was a master boxer, also a showboxer type. He was bloody fast, very elusive, made all his opponents look stupid in the ring. He had an amazing footwork, the Hungarian crowd usually chanted "Táncolj Kokó!" (which means Dance, Kokó!). But his pop wasn't that good and his chin failed him, too.
He retired because he couldn't get another world title shot within reasonable time. He was around 31 or 32 and he felt his reflexes fading so he decided to retire. He finished college afterwards, now he runs a restaurant in Budapest, he's vice-president of the WBO, important member of the Hungarian Boxing Association and works at one of the Hungarian cable sports channels as a commentator.

[unitas]

good boxer, very flashy. but not much power........and a glass jaw. never managed to beat a real world class fighter.

not all great amateurs make good pros.

[Odo]

good boxer, very flashy. but not much power........and a glass jaw. never managed to beat a real world class fighter.

not all great amateurs make good pros.

Glass jaw? What the hell are you talking about? Kovacs was brutally knocked out against a true banger,Chacon from Argentina,but apart from that fight his chin didnt let him down neither at the pros nor at the amateurs(as far as I know).
Chacon was a limited fighter,but a fighter with outstanding firepower.No shame to lose against such an opponent.Besides at the time of the stoppage Kovacs was far ahead on points.
IMO Kovacs would have been a great pro if he had turned pro a few years earlier.Luckily,I watched his last pro fight live against a fighter from Nicaragua,and was able to salute him for all the wonderful moments he had provided us fight fans with his skills.
What a great amateur fighter he was!

[Daft P]

Yes, Kovacs was a great boxer. I am pretty convinced that he would have been able to beat Hamed if they fought when Kovacs was his mandatory (no surprise Hamed gave up his title to fight against Barrera).

However, in front of his hometown crowd against Chacon he behaved like Lewis behaved against Rahman in the ring and you can not allow this yourself against a puncher like Chacon... I was looking forward to see a rematch, but Universum couldn't make it (or did not want to invest more into a 31 years old fighter).