YOU remember Sergey Kovalev, do you? Circa 2016 he was The Man at the light heavyweight division, the proud owner of 3 of the alphabet trinkets before he ran into Andre Ward.
The ultra-talented Ward dethroned him via unanimous decision then stopped him in a rematch.
ALVAREZ. Since the Ward losses, “Krusher” had bounced back nicely with two consecutive stoppage victories over respectable opposition.
In the comeback process, he had even recovered the WBO belt he previously held.
But that comeback ran into a brick wall last Sunday in the form of a big right hand from Eleider Alvarez.
The undefeated Colombian (24-0, 12 KOs) wasn’t exactly known to be a big puncher and Kovalev (32-3, 28 KOs) was expected to soldier through and prevail.
RIGHT HAND. In the first six rounds, it certainly looked that way with Kovalev dictating the pace, being busier and landing more.
Alvarez tried to match the pace and would land his fair share of the leather but for the most part, he was outworked.
Then it happened. After a couple of earlier exchanges, Alvarez uncorks a huge right hand over a lazy Kovalev jab and the latter goes down, stunned and hurt.
He gets up almost immediately and Alvarez follows it up with a left hook and another right hand.
This time Kovalev crumples down and falls sideways, his legs tellingly giving out from under him.
Surprisingly the ref still rules him fit to continue but “Storm” rushes in and lands another right hand followed by a left.
Kovalev goes down again for the last time as the ref finally calls for the denouement of the fight.
UNEXPECTED. The upset knockout was indeed shocking, but if you look at Alvarez’ record you will notice that he had defeated Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute, two former world champions.
Perhaps Kovalev underestimated or overlooked him as I did notice him grasping for air in the middle rounds.
Perspective-wise this definitely buttresses what Ward had been saying all olong and legitimizes his two victories over Krusher.
In any case, this is another stark and brutal reminder that in the fight game, anything is possible and everything can change with a big, right hand.
LAST ROUND. It’s on Melissa Sue Pausanos- Villanueva who recently celebrated her birthday. Cheers!