HAPPY BIRTHDAY SERGEY KOVALEV!

Today, Russian boxing legend Sergey Kovalev turns 37 – Boxing Guru take a look back at his incredible journey so far and pick out 3 great knockouts for you to watch from his early days as a professional!

Growing up in a very poor neighbourhood, Kovalev often fought out on the streets and said his hometown Kopeysk, gave him everything to become world champion. He made his amateur debut in 1997 in the Russian Boxing Junior Championships, where he won the gold medal in the juniors middleweight division. He went on to reach many finals and win numerous titles, finishing his amateur career with a record of 195-18.

The Krusher started his pro career in July 2009 against another debutant, Daniel Chavez. The fight ended with what was one of the Russian’s best knockouts of his career to date, a clean right uppercut just 45 seconds into the opening round – check out the knockout in the video below!

The standout knockout in his 2nd year of the paid ranks (video below) came against Cameroonian, Francois Ambang who had never previously been stopped. Kovalev now 5-0, forced Ambang to retreat following some clever combinations and counters and ended the fight with a left hand which sent his opponent face first into the canvas.

The third knockout we bring you came a year later in 2011, the victim this time was journeyman William Johnson. Kovalev had accumulated 12 straight wins and was beginning to make a name for himself. With punishing raw power combined with a rare ruthlessness, the Krusher knocked down Johnson in the opening round and ended it in the second with a beautiful right-left combination.

Kovalev was quickly rising up the ranks and despite a technical draw against Grover Young for an accidental blow to the back of the head, the Russian won his 2nd title as pro beating Roman Simakov for the WBC Asian light heavyweight belt. Sadly, Simakov died three days later after being taken to hospital following the bout and falling into a coma. Kovalev admitted to being lost and considered retiring but decided to continue to fight for himself, his family and for Roman.

Four more stoppage victories lined up the Krusher’s first shot at world honours against Britain’s Nathan Cleverly. He made it look easy stopping the Welshman inside 4 round to become the WBO light heavyweight champion of the world. Kovalev made 3 successful world title defences before a huge unification bout in November 2014 with WBA & IBF champion, Bernard Hopkins. In was a one-sided affair, Kovalev knocked down the American in the opening round and went on to win every single round on all three scorecards. Sports Illustrated named Kovalev their fighter of the year for 2014.

After becoming unified champion, Kovalev made four defences of his titles against Jean Pascal twice, Nadjib Mohammedi and Isaac Chilemba before facing undefeated American Andre Ward in November 2016. The first fight was loaded with controversy, Ward nicking the decision 114-113 on all three scorecards. HBO’s Larry Merchant stated after the fight, “It was a classic hometown decision, Kovalev won the fight!” A rematch was demanded by boxing and its fans. Kovalev was wobbled in the 8th by a huge right hand from Ward which was followed by 3 unanswered, borderline body shots which forced Richard Steele to step in and stop the fight. To this day, Sergey and many of his fans believe the shots were low and illegal and so the fight shouldn’t have been stopped.

Following Ward’s retirement from boxing, Kovalev returned to become a two-time light heavyweight champion in beating contender, Vyacheslav Shabranskyy. A unification bout against Eleider Alvarez came a year later and despite being a heavy betting favourite and controlling the first 6 rounds, it was Alvarez who secured the victory, knocking down the Russian three times before the fight was stopped. In his bid to become a three-time world champion, Kovalev hired Buddy McGirt as his new coach for the rematch with Alvarez. The fight took place in February last year and Kovalev put on a great performance to win a decision by wide margin.

After a close call with Britain’s undefeated light heavyweight Anthony Yarde, Kovalev faced P4P star Canelo Alvarez. Canelo was bidding to become a 4-weight world champion and scored an 11th round knockout of Kovalev who suffered only his 2nd stoppage defeat of his career. Despite losing his WBO light heavyweight title, Kovalev still ranks highly in the division – number 2 with Box Rec and number 4 with The Ring. He was due to face Sullivan Barrera on April 25 but the event was cancelled due to Coronavirus outbreak.

What’s next for Kovalev is unclear right now, but here at Boxing Guru we wish Russian boxing legend Sergey Kovalev a very happy birthday!

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