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.
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.
Sergey Kovalev looks to continue his road back to the top of boxing’s light heavyweight division, as he defends the WBO and IBA titles tonight against Eleider Alvarez at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Kovalev was the unified WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight champion, unbeaten at 30 wins and 1 draw before he lost the titles via unanimous decision to Andre Ward in November 2016. Kovalev was then stopped in the eighth round of a June 2017 rematch before Ward retired and surrendered the titles. Since then, “Krusher” Kovalev won back the WBO title (as well as the IBA and EBP titles) in November 2017 against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy and retained the WBO and EBP titles against Igor Mikhalkin back in March.
Despite hopes of becoming undisputed champion in the light heavyweight champion, Kovalev is not looking past Alvarez. Alvarez is unbeaten at 23-0, last defeating Jean Pascal in June 2017 to retain the WBC Silver Light Heavyweight Title. Despite Alvarez’s longtime contender status, Kovalev was originally scheduled to defend against Marcus Browne before Browne was arrested for domestic violence in April, allowing for Alvarez to move into the challenger spot against Kovalev (and subsequently allowing for the May bout between Adonis Stevenson and Badou Jack to happen).
(c.) Sergey Kovalev vs. Eleider Alvarez: WBO & IBA Light Heavyweight Championships:
Round 1: Left hand from Kovalev. Combo thrown by Alvarez. Quick two punches thrown by Alvarez, followed by a combo from Kovalev. Couple of punches from Kovalev. Alvarez misses a counter. Kovalev tries to corner Alvarez but the challenger quickly gets out. Kovalev gets Alvarez to the ropes with about a minute left but Alvarez holds his own. A couple of left hands by Kovalev. Kovalev misses a couple of lefts. Alvarez misses a left. The two exchange briefly to end the round.
Round 2: Kovalev applies pressure early. Alvarez tries to throw to the body, but Kovalev tries to sneak in a couple of counter punches. Alvarez misses and eats a small counter. Kovalev cutting off the ring. Alvarez throws a weak left. The two get close and Alvarez lands a couple of more lefts. Kovalev with the left. Clinch as the round goes quiet before a brief exchange. Kovalev still chasing Alvarez down as the round ends following an Alvarez clinch that goes to the ropes.
Round 3: Some early exchanges, with Kovalev feeling what Alvarez has got. But Kovalev answers back with a couple of hard shots of his own. Kovalev throws a couple of lefts. Each man makes the other eat a straight. Kovalev getting Alvarez back to the ropes before throwing a couple of combinations. Left hand by Alvarez. Kovalev throws a left, but Alvarez lands a counter right. Small combo from Kovalev. The two exchange again. Alvarez showing off some footwork, ducking out of the way of Kovalev’s punches late in the round.
Round 4: The two come out to the center firing early. Kovalev throws a left as the two exchange hooks. Kovalev throws a combo, which Alvarez responds to with a counter to the body. Alvarez rocks the challenger with a series of punches. Alvarez coming back, trying to apply some pressure of his own. Kovalev fires off two shots before the two go back to exchanging. Right hand from Alvarez. Kovalev trying to cut off the ring once more, though he does seem a little tired as the two clinch before the end of the round.
Round 5: Kovalev misses with the left. Kovalev with the weak left, before Alvarez fires away. Kovalev answers back with quick leather to Alvarez, who bounces against the ropes. Alvarez fires back a combination before the two end up in a clinch. Left hands from Kovalev. Kovalev throws a combo at Alvarez. Kovalev gets Alvarez back into a corner, but Alvarez’s footwork gets him out again.
Round 6: Kovalev misses with a punch. Kovalev throws a couple of lefts. The two circle before Kovalev throws a left, which Alvarez answers with a combo. Alvarez comes onto the attack once again, getting Alvarez into a corner and landing some hard body shots before Alvarez clinches. Kovalev throws a combo. Kovalev applying the pressure for the final 45 seconds.
Round 7: Left by Alvarez, Kovalev throws a combo. Kovalev throws a combination. Alvarez putting up his hands, really trying to focus on his defense while sneaking in shots. Alvarez landing several shots, but Kovalev is still dominant until one quick right hand drops him! He gets up, but he is dropped by a quick and furious combination less than a minute later! After he gets up, he eats one more punch before dropping for a third time and the ref ends the fight! Eleider Alvarez is the new champion!
Official result: Eleider Alvarez def. (c.) Sergey Kovalev via KO (Rd. 7, 2:45)
