Light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev has been stunned. Undefeated challenger Eleider Alvarez remained undefeated by shocking Kovalev with a seventh-round knockout to earn his first ever world championship.
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The Colombian got his first title fight underway in impressive fashion. With his jab leading the way, Alvarez kept the champion Kovalev off balance, and arguably took two of the first three rounds with his superior technical boxing ability. But as the fight wore on, Kovalev started to take control, starting with a blistering fourth round where he really showcased his power.
.@KrusherKovalev finds his target on a pair of combinations in the fourth. #KovalevAlvarez pic.twitter.com/6D6XnPNrrL — HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) August 5, 2018
Then in the sixth round, Alvarez was cut, though it appeared to be from a clash of heads. Regardless, Kovalev continued to show off his power and remained in control. As things continued into the seventh round, it seemed more of the same was coming, with Alvarez putting his boxing skills on display, but Kovalev landing the harder shots.
That all changed a little past the midway point of the round. Alvarez rocked Kovalev with a huge right hand that sent the champ staggering backwards and down to the mat. Unsurprisingly, Kovalev got back up on his feet, but he was never the same. With blood streaming down his face, Alvarez continued to land power shot after power shot, eventually sending Kovalev to the floor for a second time. Once again, Kovalev got back up to continue the fight, but he probably would have been better off staying down.
REPLAY: @stormalvarez with a trio of knocks downs on @KrusherKovalev to earn a tremendous KO victory in Round 7. #KovalevAlvarez pic.twitter.com/GdNw0ScKrd — HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) August 5, 2018
The second the fight was allowed to continue, Alvarez rocked Kovalev with a right hand that ended everything once and for all. That Alvarez emerged from the bout with the belt is surprising, but that he did so by knocking out the former champion is still almost hard to believe. For a fighter not known for his power -- only three knockouts in the past five years prior to Saturday night's fight -- Alvarez certainly showed plenty of pop in his right hand in the seventh round.
Already 34 years old, Alvarez had a long and and winding road to his first title. He was the mandatory challenger to Adonis Stevenson for over two years, and twice was forced to accept step-aside fees instead of title bouts. Now that he finally has his belt, what's next for the man they call Alvarez?
According to Kovalev's promoter, Kathy Duva, the Russian has a rematch clause. Whether he wants it, however, remains to be seen. If he does, that would be one option for Alvarez's next fight. The more interesting fight though, may be against the man who defended his belt earlier on this card.
Dmitry Bivol, 27-year-old rising Russian star retained his WBA light heavyweight belt on the undercard with a bit of a boring victory over veteran Isaac Chilemba. The athletic and powerful Bivol put all his skills on display in the first three rounds, which he dominated without too much trouble. But he was never able to put Chilemba away, and the rest of the fight was a slog, ending with Bivol earning a unanimous decision.
A unification bout between Alvarez and Bivol makes plenty of sense, and judging by their performances in Atlantic City, could be an exciting clash. Regardless of who he fights next, Alvarez certainly made a name for himself on Saturday night.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING spotlights the competitive, talent-rich light heavyweight division with two world title bouts when SERGEY KOVALEV VS. ELEIDER ALVAREZ AND DMITRY BIVOL VS. ISAAC CHILEMBA is seen SATURDAY, AUG. 4 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) from the brand-new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, which will be hosting its first pro boxing event. The HBO Sports team will call all the action, available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
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In the main event, light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KOs) returns to Atlantic City for the fourth time, making his first visit to the Jersey Shore since his 2014 victory over future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins, when he unified three of the four light heavyweight world title belts. Kovalev will defend the crown he regained in 2017 against undefeated contender Eleider Alvarez (23-0, 11 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round contest. The 35-year-old Russian successfully defended his title this March on HBO when he overwhelmed Igor Mikhalkin en route to a seventh-round knockout. Known as “Krusher,” Kovalev now resides in southern California.
Alvarez, 34, born in Colombia and now residing in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, looks to stay undefeated in his HBO debut, shooting for a world title in his biggest test to date.
In the co-main event, dominating light heavyweights square off as undefeated Dmitry Bivol (13-0, 11 KOs) defends his portion of the title against ring warrior Isaac Chilemba (25-5-2, 10 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout. Bivol, 27, originally from Kyrgyzstan and now hailing from St. Petersburg, Russia, has quickly ascended to the top of the division since turning pro in 2014, knocking out all but two of his opponents.
Chilemba, 31, who is from Malawi and fights out of Johannesburg, South Africa, isn’t intimidated by competing all over the world, having fought in the U.S., England, Russia, Australia and Canada. He’s coming off a unanimous decision victory and looks to keep the momentum going in this challenging showdown
Eleider Alvarez is the new WBO light heavyweight champion (24-0, 12 KO). The 34-year-old Colombian scored a stunning, come-from-behind, seventh-round TKO win over Sergey Kovalev (32-3-1) on Saturday night in Atlantic City.
After getting battered through the most of the first 6.5 rounds, Alvarez landed a hard overhand right that dropped Kovalev. Alvarez would floor Kovalev two more times in the round before the referee mercifully called a halt to the bout. Alvarez wasn't throwing enough punches early in the fight, but Kovalev seemed to start to tire in the sixth frame.
As he slowed, Alvarez took advantage by displaying power that wasn't previously synonymous with his career.
REPLAY: @stormalvarez with a trio of knocks downs on @KrusherKovalev to earn a tremendous KO victory in Round 7. #KovalevAlvarez pic.twitter.com/GdNw0ScKrd — HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) August 5, 2018
The stoppage win was just the 12th KO of his career. Here's how the boxing world reacted to the finish:
Sergey Kovalev has been knocked out. — Brian Campbell (@BCampbellCBS) August 5, 2018
Unreal. Sergey Kovalev was out boxing Alvarez and all it took was one over hand right and that’s how it all ended. What a turnaround! #KovalevAlvarez #Boxing — Mike Matias (@Mike__Dhcf) August 5, 2018
WOW! Eleider Alvarez now is the man to beat at light heavyweight as he finishes Sergey Kovalev. New world champion. — LukieBoxing (@LukieBoxing) August 5, 2018
Eleider Alvarez knocking out Sergey Kovalev is a perfect example of why I am in love with boxing. #KovalevAlvarez #AndTheNew — Boxing Unscripted (@BoxUnscripted) August 5, 2018
Alvarez didn't come into this fight with a high knockout percentage. But he ended Lucian Bute's career two fights earlier, and just mowed Kovalev down in this one. — Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixYS) August 5, 2018
Kathy Duva told us at ringside that there's a rematch clause in the contracts for Kovalev-Alvarez. She said it could be an immediate rematch, but it's obviously too early to say whether Kovalev would fight Alvarez next. — Keith Idec (@Idecboxing) August 5, 2018
Tony Weeks robbed us of a conclusive KO in the second Ward-Kovalev fight. David Fields could have stopped it after the second knockdown tonight, but let it continue and Alvarez leaves no doubt. What a come-from-behind victory #kovalevalvarez — Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) August 5, 2018
Man I'm so happy Alvarez beat Kovalev I can see why Adonis Stevenson didn't fight the Champ tonight — Cornelius Bundrage (@K9boxing) August 5, 2018
A shout out to @MarkEOrtega , who five years ago told everyone that Alvarez beats Kovalev. This is when Alvarez was a nothing. Mark got a lot of strange looks with that call, but he was dead right. — adam abramowitz (@snboxing) August 5, 2018
Kovalev was a massive minus-550 favorite. Alvarez came in as a plus-375 underdog. His win may have upset a potential unification bout between Kovalev and Dmitry Bivol. the latter did his part on the undercard with a dominant unanimous-decision win over Isaac Chilemba. As the tweet above confirms, Kovalev has a rematch clause, but we'll have to wait and see if that comes to fruition. Kovalev has now lost three of his last five fights after beginning his career 30-0-1.
Right around the same time Henry Cejudo upset Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227 to claim the flyweight title, undefeated Colombian boxer Eleider Alvarez (26-0) pulled off a huge TKO victory over Sergey Kovalev (32-3-1).
The deciding finish came last night (Sat., Aug. 4, 2018) live on HBO from inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., after Alvarez knocked down Kovalev, the defending WBO light heavyweight champion, three times. Alvarez turned the heat up in the seventh round and caught the Russian with a brutal right hand to the temple. Kovalev dropped to the canvas and the referee waved the fight off.
Check out the full fight video highlights above courtesy of HBO Boxing.
With this performance, Alvarez proves his +375 underdog tag entering the main event title fight was an oversight. Kovalev is widely considered one of the best power punchers on the planet and “Storm” made him look washed up.
Pretty impressive stuff. Looks like 2019 could be the year of “Storm.”
For complete results and round-by-round coverage of the HBO main event, click here.
