Sergey Kovalev (boxer)

Sergey Kovalev Сергей Ковалёв
Kovalev in 2014
Statistics
Real name	Sergey Alexandrovich Kovalev
Nickname(s)	Krusher
Rated at	Light heavyweight
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Reach	183 cm (72 in)
Nationality	Russian
Born	(1983-04-02) 2 April 1983 Kopeysk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	32
Wins	30
Wins by KO	26
Losses	1
Draws	1

Sergey Alexandrovich Kovalev (Russian: Сергей Александрович Ковалёв; born 2 April 1983) is a Russian professional boxer.^[1] He is a former unified light heavyweight world champion, having held the WBO title from 2013 to 2016, and the WBA (Undisputed) and IBF titles from 2014 to 2016. The Ring magazine named him their Fighter of the Year in 2014,^[2] and in July 2016 he was ranked as the world's best light heavyweight by The Ring and BoxRec; both of which also ranked him as the world's second best boxer, pound for pound. Kovalev is well known for his formidable punching power, with 81% of his wins achieved by knockout.^[3]

Amateur career

Kovalev started boxing in 1994 at age 11, and made his amateur debut in 1997 in the Russian Boxing Junior Championship, where he won the gold medal in the middleweight juniors division. One year later he competed with the seniors and reached the final, and a year after that, he won the final fight. For Team Russia, he competed in the European Championships.

In 2004, Kovalev for the first time took part in the Russian Senior Championship, and in his first season, he reached the final and also won the golden medal in the team event. The next year was the most successful in his career as an amateur in winning two titles: the first as champion of Russia and the second as champion among servicemen. In the 2006 championship for servicemen, he won the silver, and a year later, he took bronze in the Russian Championship and gold in the World Military Games in India.

In 2008, Kovalev took part in his final national competition and again made the final; after that, he decided to turn professional. As he once admitted, he had to leave the national team because of the extremely tense competition between him and more successful boxers such as Artur Beterbiev. He finished his amateur career with a record of 195-18.^[4]

Amateur highlights

• 2000 Russian Junior Championships silver medalist at light welterweight
• 2001 Russian Junior Championships silver medalist at middleweight
• 2004 Russian Championships silver medalist at middleweight, losing to Matt Korobov
• 2005 Russian Championships gold medalist at middleweight
• 2005 World Military Championships gold medalist at light heavyweight, in Pretoria, South Africa
• 2006 World Military Championships silver medalist at light heavyweight, in Warendorf, Germany
• 2007 World Military Championships gold medalist at light heavyweight, in Hyderabad, India
• 2007 Russian Championships bronze medalist at light heavyweight, losing to Artur Beterbiev
• 2008 Russian Championships silver medalist at light heavyweight

Professional career

Early years

Kovalev started his career with a first-round KO of Daniel Chavez at Greenboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.^[1] He won his first nine fights with first- or second-round knockout. He faced more serious competition against Darnell Boone in October 2010, when he had to fight all eight rounds, and was dropped en route to a split decision win.

In July 2011, Kovalev won his first NABA belt in a 10-round fight with Douglas Otieno from Kenya. The Russian's next bout against Grover Young was controversial, however, as in the second round, Kovalev threw a left hook to the head, but the judges suggested that it was a blow to the back of the head -– an unintentional infringement. As the American could not continue, the fight was declared a technical draw.^[4]

Death of Roman Simakov

In his 2011 fight against Roman Simakov, Kovalev knocked down his opponent in the sixth round and the fight was stopped one round later and Kovalev was awarded a TKO victory. Simakov was taken to the hospital, where he lapsed into a coma and died three days later.^[5]

Rise up the ranks

In 2012, Kovalev begun being trained by John David Jackson. He knocked out Darnell Boone in two rounds in a rematch, demonstrating his improvement as a fighter since their last meeting and leading him to be signed to Main Events boxing.^[6] On January 19, 2013 Kovalev faced the former WBA Light Heavyweight champion Gabriel Campillo. Kovalev was able to get to the usually elusive Campillo early and often, continually backing him up in the opening round with furious combinations. Campillo, known as a slow starter who looked sluggish throughout the fight, was hurt early in the third round and staggered into the corner. The native of Spain covered up before being dropped with a left hook from Kovalev, one of three knockdowns in the round.

WBO light heavyweight champion

Kovalev vs. Cleverly

On 17 August 2013 Kovalev fought Nathan Cleverly for the WBO Light Heavyweight title. Kovalev, who knocked out most of his opponents within three rounds, came out throwing heavy shots in the first round, hurt Cleverly badly in the third round, dropping him twice and nearly finishing him off. Kovalev picked things right back up in the fourth, throwing bombs to send Cleverly down for a third time and the referee waved things off.^[7] This was the first time Cleverly had been knocked down as a professional.

Kovalev vs. Sillakh, Agnew

On 30 November 2013, Kovalev had his first defense of the WBO Light Heavyweight title against Ismayl Sillakh. He found the timing early in round two and in the same round finished Sillakh with a huge left.^[8]

On 29 March 2014, Kovalev faced undefeated contender Cedric Agnew. Agnew's movement gave Kovalev difficulty at times, and he found himself unable to land the concussive shots for which he was known. Agnew however, simply fought to survive and committed very little to his own offense. Ultimately in the seventh round, Kovalev landed a vicious jab to Agnew's liver that put him down for the count.^[9]

Kovalev vs. Caparello

On August 2, Kovalev faced undefeated Australian contender Blake Caparello. Caparello started well, scoring a flash knockdown after catching Kovalev with a solid shot while Kovalev was off balance. Kovalev however was unhurt and even appeared enraged, thoroughly dominating his foe en route to a second-round technical knockout.^[10]

Unified light heavyweight champion

Kovalev vs. Hopkins

Kovalev defeated Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision on November 8, 2014 in a unification bout in Atlantic City to retain the WBO Light Heavyweight title and win the IBF and WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight titles.^[11] In a one-sided fight, Kovalev knocked Bernard Hopkins down in the first round. Kovalev won every single round on all of the three judges' scorecards. The score totals of the fight were 120-107, 120-107, and 120-106.^[11]

Kovalev vs. Pascal, Mohammedi

Kovalev faced Jean Pascal on March 14, 2015 for WBC Diamond Light Heavyweight title at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. He started the fight off aggressively as usual and took control of the fight earlier and eventually knocked Pascal down in the 3rd round. Pascal began to fight back and showed some signs of life in rounds 5 and 6, although Kovalev gained control of the fight again and began to hit Pascal with huge shots, wobbling him and in the 8th round the referee stopped the fight as he felt Pascal had taken too much punishment.^[12]

Kovalev faced Nadjib Mohammedi on July 25, 2015 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Kovalev steamrolled the overmatched Mohammedi, knocking him down once in the second round and one more time in the third round. The second knockdown ended Mohammedi's night and gave Kovalev his 25th knockout victory.^[13]

Kovalev vs. Pascal II, Chilemba

On January 30, 2016, Kovalev and Pascal met in a rematch in Montreal. He dominated the fight, both outpunching and outlanding the former champion by wide margins. Kovalev won when Pascal's trainer Freddie Roach refused to let his fighter continue after the seventh round. After the fight, Kovalev said his future plans would likely include a fight with former super middleweight champion Andre Ward, but he first wanted a unification bout with reigning WBC and recognized lineal champion Adonis Stevenson. Kovalev, who has been desiring this fight for some time but has not been able to get it, called Stevenson "Adonis Chickenson" during the post-fight interview. Stevenson, who was in attendance, responded by confronting Kovalev in the ring surrounded by three bodyguards.^[14]

It was announced on April 23, 2016 that Kovalev would have a warm-up fight on July 11 against 28-year-old Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2, 10 KOs) in Ekaterinburg, Russia at the Palace of Sports. This will be the first time in five years that Kovalev will be returning to Russia for a fight and will defend his IBF/WBA/WBO World Light Heavyweight titles. Chilemba is known for having a similar style to Andre Ward, who Kovalev will meet in the Fall in a big fight.^[15] Kovalev tipped the scales at 174.6lbs, while Chilemba weighed in at 174.8lbs.^[16] Kovalev earned a unanimous points decision after a hard-earned battle. Kovalev was forced to go the distance for just the fourth time in his career, as Chilemba recovered from a seventh round knockdown but ultimately lost on points. The three judges at ringside scored the fight 117-110, 116-111 and 118-109 at the end of 12 rounds in favour of Kovalev, who retained his titles. In round 7, Chilemba staggered across the ropes and was down following a straight left with a right to the jaw.^[17]

Kovalev vs. Ward

It was announced on June 16, that a contract had been signed between Kovalev and undefeated former super middleweight world champion Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on November 19, 2016. Both fighters remained undefeated through interim bouts. This fight marked Ward's first time fighting in Las Vegas.

Kovalev lost a closely contested controversial decision with the judges all scoring the fight 114-113 in favor of Ward.^[18] Larry Merchant stated after the fight, "It was a classic hometown decision, Kovalev won the fight!".^[19][20] Gareth Davies, boxing correspondent gave the fight to Kovalev with 115-112, as did Max Kellerman^[21] "I have a lot of mixed emotions right now," promoter Kathy Duva said. "We got a great fight, which is what boxing needed. But we also got a bad decision, which is not what boxing needed."^[22]

The fight reported to have done 160,000 buys on HBO PPV. A replay was shown on HBO prior to the Lomachenko-Walters title fight, which averaged 834,000 viewers.^[23][24]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
32	Loss	30–1–1	Andre Ward	UD	12	19 Nov 2016	T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US	Lost WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO (Super) light heavyweight titles
31	Win	30–0–1	Isaac Chilemba	UD	12	11 Jul 2016	DIVS, Yekaterinburg, Russia	Retained WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO (Super) light heavyweight titles
30	Win	29–0–1	Jean Pascal	RTD	7 (12), 3:00	30 Jan 2016	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO (Super) light heavyweight titles
29	Win	28–0–1	Nadjib Mohammedi	TKO	3 (12), 2:38	25 Jul 2015	Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, US	Retained WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO (Super) light heavyweight titles
28	Win	27–0–1	Jean Pascal	TKO	8 (12), 1:03	14 Mar 2015	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO (Super) light heavyweight titles
27	Win	26–0–1	Bernard Hopkins	UD	12	8 Nov 2014	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US	Retained WBO (Super) light heavyweight title; Won WBA (Super) and IBF light heavyweight titles
26	Win	25–0–1	Blake Caparello	TKO	2 (12), 1:34	2 Aug 2014	Revel Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US	Retained WBO light heavyweight title
25	Win	24–0–1	Cedric Agnew	KO	7 (12), 0:58	29 Mar 2014	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US	Retained WBO light heavyweight title
24	Win	23–0–1	Ismail Sillakh	KO	2 (12), 2:12	30 Nov 2013	Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBO light heavyweight title
23	Win	22–0–1	Nathan Cleverly	TKO	4 (12), 0:29	17 Aug 2013	Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales	Won WBO light heavyweight title
22	Win	21–0–1	Cornelius White	TKO	3 (12), 1:45	14 Jun 2013	Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, US
21	Win	20–0–1	Gabriel Campillo	KO	3 (10), 1:30	19 Jan 2013	Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, US
20	Win	19–0–1	Lionell Thompson	TKO	3 (10), 0:14	21 Sep 2012	Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, US
19	Win	18–0–1	Darnell Boone	TKO	2 (8), 1:32	1 Jun 2012	Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, US
18	Win	17–0–1	Roman Simakov	TKO	7 (12), 0:47	5 Dec 2011	DIVS, Yekaterinburg, Russia	Won WBC–ABCO light heavyweight title
17	Draw	16–0–1	Grover Young	TD	2 (8)	27 Aug 2011	Playboy Mansion, Beverly Hills, California, US	Young unable to continue after an accidental foul
16	Win	16–0	Douglas Otieno Okola	KO	2 (10), 2:39	29 Jul 2011	Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, US	Won vacant NABA USA light heavyweight title
15	Win	15–0	Terrance Woods	KO	3 (8), 1:54	6 May 2011	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, US
14	Win	14–0	Julius Fogle	KO	2 (8), 1:16	1 Apr 2011	UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, US
13	Win	13–0	William Johnson	TKO	2 (6), 1:53	12 Mar 2011	Hilton Towers Ballroom, Lafayette, Louisiana, US
12	Win	12–0	Karen Avetisyan	UD	6	15 Dec 2010	Casino Vodoley, Yekaterinburg, Russia
11	Win	11–0	Dallas Vargas	TKO	2 (8), 1:16	19 Nov 2010	UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, US
10	Win	10–0	Darnell Boone	SD	8	9 Oct 2010	Metro Fitness, Atlanta, Georgia, US
9	Win	9–0	Kia Daniels	KO	1 (6), 1:58	11 Sep 2010	Playboy Mansion, Beverly Hills, California, US
8	Win	8–0	Harley Kilfian	TKO	2 (6), 1:24	19 Jun 2010	Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington, US
7	Win	7–0	Nathan Bedwell	TKO	1 (4), 2:15	19 Mar 2010	Derby Park Expo, Louisville, Kentucky, US
6	Win	6–0	Francois Ambang	KO	2 (6), 2:23	6 Mar 2010	Patriot Center, Fairfax, Virginia, US
5	Win	5–0	Micky Stackhouse	TKO	2 (4), 1:07	10 Oct 2009	Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, North Carolina, US
4	Win	4–0	Ayodeji Fadeyi	RTD	1 (4), 3:00	12 Sep 2009	Playboy Mansion, Beverly Hills, California, US
3	Win	3–0	Michael Birthmark	RTD	1 (4), 3:00	29 Aug 2009	Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington, US
2	Win	2–0	Darryl Johnson	TKO	1 (4), 2:06	8 Aug 2009	Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia, South Carolina, US
1	Win	1–0	Daniel Chavez	TKO	1 (4), 0:55	25 Jul 2009	Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, North Carolina, US	Professional debut

Titles in boxing

References

External links

• Official website
• Professional boxing record for Sergey Kovalev from BoxRec