Tag: Sergey Kovalev
Kovalev: ‘I just can’t wait to get inside the ring and show the world who is the best cruiserweight on the planet’
Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev (34-4, 29 KOs), living in Long Beach, CA, will fight Tervel Pulev in his cruiserweight debut on Saturday, May 14 at The Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA and will be streamed live on Triller and Fite.tv.
Kovalev is being trained by Buddy McGirt and his strength and conditioning coach is Teddy Cruz. They are the duo that reinvented Arturo Gatti.
“Buddy was a real smart boxer and a real smart trainer and coach. Sometimes a good boxer can’t be a good coach and sometimes a coach wasn’t a good boxer. But Buddy has it both ways – good boxer and good coach. He does what he needs to do to get me prepared the best for the fight. Buddy gives me tactics and sound techniques and strategy. Together we are working towards getting another world title, this time in the cruiserweight division and become champion for the fourth time.”
For this eight-week training camp Sergey is staying in a hotel in close to the park where he runs and his boxing gym is a twenty minutes away in Van Nuys. “The most difficult part of my career right now is being away from my family,” said Kovalev. “Ten years ago it was just me, now I have a wife and two kids. To be away from them for two months is tough.”
Kovalev hits the boxing gym at 5 pm daily. He spars three days a week and is off on Sunday.
An evening sparring would last about 1.5 hours and go as such: (1) Jump rope 4 rounds (2) Shadow box 4 rounds (3) Spar 7 rounds (4) Neck exercises.
A non-sparring evening workout would be technical training and some game plan.
The Krusher arrives at the fitness gym early morning – every day except for Sunday – with strength and conditioning coach/extraordinaire Teddy Cruz. They will do a workout depending on how much boxing workout he does the evening prior.
The morning after a sparring day would be a low intensity 45-minute session and include: (1) Warm up stretch for 5-10 minutes (2) Squats combined with shoulder presses – 20 reps with 25 lb. dumbbells (3) Step lunges with torso twisting with 10 lbs. medicine ball for 20 reps, (4) Static lunges with curls for 20 reps with 25lbs dumbbells (5) Abs for 600 reps
The morning after light boxing training would be a more intense workout such as: sprints for the legs and punching sprints for the arms, “or he can go run 5 miles.”
This will be Kovalev’s first fight since November 2, 2019. “When you don’t fight for a long time you lose boxing skills. On the other hand the time off has helped me rest and get rid of all of my injuries – it’s like a renewal.
“My first two weeks of sparring I couldn’t touch my opponent (laughing) mostly because I was heavy, about 210 pounds. But then by week three, I had lost some weight and my boxing skills came back. By May 14, I will be at 187 pounds and there will be no rust.
“I don’t really study my opponents. I will watch one or two rounds from his last couple of fights so I can see what style he likes – does he like to fight inside or from a distance then I can prepare. I just can’t wait to get inside the ring and show the world who is the best cruiserweight on the planet.
Kovalev was initially preparing to fight Fanlong Meng but then “Egis (Klimas, manager) called me and said, “you have a new opponent – it is Pulev.” I said “Pulev? He is a heavyweight,” and Egis said “no, he has a brother that is a cruiserweight,” so I said “OK, Let’s go.”
“The only difference in the opponent change to me is we were initially training for a southpaw, now we are training for a rightpaw.
Canelo on going back to 160: ‘It will probably be very difficult to lose weight’
Canelo Alvarez has done it again. Last night in Las Vegas, he knocked out Sergey Kovalev in round 11 to capture the WBO light heavyweight title. With the victory, Alvarez becomes a four-division world champion.
For most of the fight, it seemed that Kovalev was in control. Still, according to the scorecards at the time of the knockout, Canelo was ahead 96-94 on two scorecards, and the third scorecard was 95-95.
Coming into the fight, the talk was that Alvarez was going to try to go to Kovalev’s body, but as we saw, the fight ended with Alvarez landing to the head.
“I said in past interviews that was the intention to go to the body,” Alvarez said at the post-fight press conference. “However, once you are there, that’s when other strategies must be in place. It was hard to get to his body; it was unpredictable. It was toward the face that we won.”
What’s next for the 29-year-old Alvarez? He could stay at 175 and fight unified light heavyweight champion Artur Bertibiev, or maybe he could go after WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol; perhaps he goes down to 168, where he holds a secondary belt and goes after some of the big names in that division, or does he go down 15 pounds to 160, and do a third fight with IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin or try to unify against WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade?
Who knows, but according to Alvarez, he seems willing to continue to make history and do big things at 160.
“It will probably be very difficult to lose weight,” Alvarez said about going to 160. “It’s always been very difficult for me to lose weight. However, we must continue creating history; I can do it.”
Obviously, when you are Canelo Alvarez, you have options. It would seem that going back down to 160 could be difficult, but Alvarez seems willing to do it. The biggest fight for Alvarez is against Golovkin. However, maybe he wants to do that fight at 168, which could make the most sense for both fighters. In the end, when you are Canelo, well, you could do whatever you like.
Photos: Golden Boy Promotions
Bradley on Canelo fighting Bertebiev: ‘I don’t think he wants that’
On November 2 in Las Vegas, unified middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez is looking to add to his legacy when he goes up two weight classes to battle WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Because of his age(36) and his inability to take sustained work to the body, many believe that Kovalev will lose to Alvarez.
According to former world champion Timothy Bradley, Alvarez is moving up because Kovalev is not the fighter he used to be.
“Canelo is a smaller guy coming up to this weight class,” Bradley recently said. “He’s going to take that risk because Kovalev is kind of “watered down” a little bit. He’s been a little “long in the tooth,” so I think that’s the reason why he’s taking that risk.
“He sees an opportunity to break Kovalev down to the body. That’s his specialty, so he’s willing to take that risk and go up to fight at 175 pounds against a guy like that.”
It seems that this could be a one-fight thing for Canelo at 175, but if Alvarez does stick around at 175, fighting unified light heavy champion Artur Beterbiev, who stopped Oleksandr Gwozdyk on Friday, is a bad idea, according to Bradley.
“I don’t think so. I don’t think he wants that,” Bradley said. “I really don’t think Canelo wants that, that’s pain.”
Canelo’s move to 175 is similar to Roy Jones’ move to heavyweight to fight John Ruiz back in 2003. Jones did not try to fight Lennox Lewis, who was a belt holder at that time, he wanted to fight a guy he knew was beatable, and obviously, Alvarez is not going after Beterbiev. He is fighting a guy that he believes is beatable as well. We’ll see if that is the case on November 2.
Photo: Top Rank/Mikey Williams
Kovalev: ‘Why everybody thinks that I have a problem with the body shot?’
As his career winds down, WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev hopes to beat the cash cow in the sport of boxing when he battles unified middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on November 2 in Las Vegas.
While he is moving up two weight classes, Alvarez is the favorite in this fight, and part of the reason that he is the favorite is that many believe Kovalev is slowing down, but the last time we saw him, he was able to stop Anthony Yarde. However, before stopping Yarde, Kovalev was almost stopped himself in that fight, and like others, including Andre Ward, Yarde had a lot of success going to Kovalev’s body.
Even with the evidence, the 36-year-old Kovalev believes that his vulnerability to the body is a myth.
“Why everybody thinks that I have a problem with the body shot?” Kovalev said on a conference call on Tuesday. “Why? I never was attacked by body shot, you know.”
When reminded about the second fight with Ward(Kovalev stopped by body shots), Kovalev had this to say.
“Second fight Andre Ward was a low blow, low blow,” he said. “It wasn’t a punch to the body. Was a low blow. I said already like after the fight, it was a low blow.”
Of course, Kovalev is not going to admit that he issues dealing with body shots, but it’s clear that Kovalev does not like it to the body, and Canelo is a vicious body puncher. So, expect Alvarez to spend a lot of time going to Kovalev’s body on November 2, and if he can handle it, maybe Kovalev walks out of the ring still a champion.
Photo/courtesy: David Spagnolo/Main Events
Canelo on GGG-Derevyanchenko: ‘Obviously for me — Derevyanchenko won the fight’
Last Saturday night at MSG in New York City, we got a “Fight of the Year” candidate when Gennady Golovkin captured the vacant IBF middleweight title by defeating Sergiy Derevyanchenko by unanimous decision.
This fight had a lot of action. In the second round, a Golovkin right hook to the top of the head put Derevyanchenko on the canvas. A bad cut over the right eye of Derevyanchenko in the second round was further cause concern for the Russian – but the blood only spurred him on and he started the third round at a ferocious speed, sparking a round of fireworks where both men had their moments, and this fight was back and forth the rest of the way. Many believe Derevyanchenko won the fight, including unified middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, who will move up two divisions to challenge WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev on November 2.
“We saw it. Obviously for me — Derevyanchenko won the fight,” Alvarez recently said on a conference call. “It was a fight where he really looked well. It was his fight. Regarding Triple G, we all know, everyone knows, it’s unnecessary to say more, but he looked slow, and I think I gave everyone the pathway to see how to hurt him, which is the body, and that’s what we saw…
“Like I said before, and I’m going to repeat it again. I said it before the fight, and I’m going to repeat it. For me that fight presents no challenge to me right now. We fought two times, 24 rounds. I beat him, so he represents no challenge. However, what he does represent is some good business, so if they offer me something really good, maybe the third fight can happen. But for me, no, because he represents no challenge for me.”
Golovkin, 37, is no longer in his prime, but he is still very good. I think GGG won the first fight against Canelo. However, I think Canelo probably won the second fight, and while I don’t want to see Canelo-GGG III, I do believe it still would be a close fight, and in reality, this fight makes the most money for both guys. And after the way GGG looked against Derevyanchenko, it might be in Canelo’s best interest to make the third fight with Golovkin.
I believe the fight will happen in May or September of 2020. Mark it down!
Photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
Evan Holyfield to make debut on Canelo-Kovalev undercard
On November 2, before thousands of fans in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV are treated to the most-anticipated fight of the year, the live audience will witness the professional debut of Evan “Yung Holy” Holyfield. The 21-year-old son of Hall-of-Famer and five-time world heavyweight champion, Evander “Real Deal” Holyfield, will face Nick Winstead of Abita Springs, Louisiana in a 4-round junior middleweight matchup on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev.
Evan is the middle child of the 11 Holyfield children and older brother of Carolina Panthers running back Elijah Holyfield. As an amateur, Holyfield amassed over 80 fights including the Semi-Finals for the US Team. Standing 6’1.5″, Evan is extremely athletic, a boxer-puncher with lightning fast speed and hard-hitting power.
When asked about debuting on the biggest fight card of the year, Evan said, “There is no added pressure. I have fought on the top level before as an amateur. All this really isn’t too much of a big deal. I am just here to do my job.”
He continued, “I know I am ready. My trainers have been switching things up a bit and making things more difficult to ensure I am ready. I would like to tell everyone who has helped me get here that I appreciate all the support and I love y’all.”
Evan has assembled a top-notch team fighting out of the Fighter Nation Boxing Gym in Houston, Texas. His trainer/manager is Maurice “Termite” Watkins (61-5-2, 42 KOs) and his strength and conditioning coach is Tim Hallmark, who has over 40 years of experience and is best-known for working with Evander Holyfield throughout his professional career.
“I know people called Evander ‘Real Deal’ but Evan is the real deal,” said Watkins. “There is pressure on him for this big card and because he has the Holyfield name, but that is part of the game. To be a great world champion you must be able to handle the pressure. You got to handle whatever circumstances are thrown at you.”
He explained, “Evan’s conditioning is incredible, but he is also amazingly talented with speed and power in both hands. We are training him to be skillful. We are going to look for him to hit and move.”
“We are prepared for a fight,” added Watkins. “We are ready to show our stuff and we are excited about being part of the Main Events team with Kathy Duva.”
Holyfield’s strength and conditioning coach, Tim Hallmark, said “We are constantly challenging Evan in different ways, and he is always up to those challenges. We are challenging him physically and mentally to keep him out of a rut. We are just trying to stay on the cutting edge and constantly looking at a better way to reach our end result.”
He continued, “We are excited about this opportunity. Evan has come a long way and he is a hard worker. He is mentally strong and very intelligent. He is a pleasure to work with. We will be ready for November 2nd.”
According to Main Events’ Matchmaker, Jolene Mizzone, “I am excited and honored to work with Evan and his entire team to get him to that championship level one day. I am going to fly the plane (make the fights) but he is the one who going to have to land it (win the fights). I have complete faith in him, his abilities and his team, Termite and Tim.”
Photo Credit: Hosanna Rull
Kovalev-Yarde set for 8/24 in Russia
Fighting in his own hometown for the first time in his professional boxing career, WBO World Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (33-3-1, 28 KOs) takes on the WBO’s mandatory challenger, Anthony Yarde (18-0, 17 KOs) of the UK, on Saturday, August 24th at the Traktor Arena in Chelyabinsk, Russia. The event will be presented by RCC Promotions, Main Events, Krusher Promotions and Queensberry Promotions. This will be Kovalev’s 16th consecutive world title bout. That is more than the three other light heavyweight champions combined.
The Three-Time World Light Heavyweight Champ, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, explained the significance of this fight. “I am thrilled to fight for the first time in my home town of Chelyabinsk. It is a dream to defend my WBO title in front of all my friends and family back home. Thank you to Igor Altushkin, Egis Klimas and Main Events for making this dream a reality and thank you to Anthony Yarde for agreeing to fight in my backyard.”
Challenger, Anthony Yarde, replied, “I am more than happy to achieve my goal in Russia and I think it is only right that a great world champion such as Kovalev is given the opportunity to defend in his home country. He has earned that right. What I know is that on Aug. 24 another World Title belt will be under British ownership and I will have done it the hard way-one that nobody will be able to question” He continued, “This is my time and I am going to show the world what I am all about. Everything has fallen perfectly into place for me. This will be my coronation as world champion and I am going to realize my dream by beating the most decorated of the current world title holders.”
The fight will be seen on Match TV in Russia, BT Sport in the UK and US distribution information will be released soon.
Photo Credit: David Spagnolo / Main Events
Kovalev: ‘The last fight he(Alvarez) got lucky’
Their first fight ended with a dramatic knockout that shook up the Atlantic City Boardwalk. The rematch between Eleider “Storm” Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) and Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs) will bring two of the light heavyweight division’s biggest names to The Star.
Alvarez will defend his WBO light heavyweight world title against former unified light heavyweight world champion Kovalev on Saturday, Feb. 2 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys practice facility.
In their first fight, Kovalev was stopped in the 7th round by Alvarez back in August, but according to Kovalev, that won’t happen this time around in Texas.
“The last fight he got lucky. He got lucky of course,” Kovalev said on Wednesday. “I lost concentration for just a couple of seconds – a lack of attention just for one second. Then I couldn’t get focused after the knockdown.
“Maybe I wasn’t ready enough. I don’t want to use it as excuses, but on Saturday I will prove that I am better than Alvarez. And that is my goal to get my belts back. That’s my goal right now, and it is a big motivation.”
Kovalev, 35, has a lot going on outside the ring. According to TMZ Sports, Kovalev has been charged with felony assault for allegedly punching a woman in the face back in June. Kovalev has denied those allegations.
You wonder if the outside stuff will have an impact on Kovalev’s performance on Saturday because based on the results of the first fight, Kovalev is going to have to be ready both mentally and physically if he wants to beat Alvarez.
Photos: Credit David Spagnolo/Main Events
Alvarez-Kovalev 2 set for February 2 in Texas
Their first fight ended with a dramatic knockout that shook up the Atlantic City Boardwalk. The rematch between Eleider “Storm” Alvarez and Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev will bring two of the light heavyweight division’s biggest names to The Star.
Alvarez will defend his WBO light heavyweight world title against former unified light heavyweight world champion Kovalev on Saturday, Feb. 2 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility.
Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) scored a come-from-behind knockout against Kovalev on Aug. 4 in a major upset to shake up the division. Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs), who has made nine title defenses across two reigns, will seek to become a three-time world champion and regain his position in boxing’s pound-for-pound top ten.
Alvarez-Kovalev 2 and a soon-to-be announced co-feature will headline a special edition of Top Rank on ESPN beginning at 10 p.m. ET. The entire undercard will stream live beginning at 7 p.m. ET in the United States on ESPN+ — the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN. Promoted by Top Rank, Main Events and Krusher Promotions, in association with Groupe Yvon Michel, tickets, priced at $225, $165, $85, $55, and $25 (including facility fees), go on sale Friday, Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. CST and can be purchased at
”The fact that Kovalev said it was a mistake and that I was lucky is motivation for me,” Alvarez said. “He is a sore loser, and I will make sure there will be a second ‘accident.’ ‘I expect Kovalev to be stronger in that second fight. I expect the best Kovalev because he won’t underestimate me this time, but I am fully aware of this. I am able to be even better than in the last fight.”
“I am very thankful to fight on ESPN on Feb. 2,” Kovalev said. “I will look to take back my title and put on a great show for the fans. Together with my new trainer, Buddy McGirt, I will be ready for Alvarez.”
“Sergey and Eleider are two of the world’s best fighters, and we look forward to hosting their rematch and another great night of boxing at Ford Center at The Star,” said Stephen Jones, Chief Operating Officer of the Dallas Cowboys. “Ford Center has proven to be a premier fight venue, and there is no better way to continue that legacy than to bring the world light heavyweight championship to North Texas.”
Alvarez, 34, a native of Colombia who now resides in Montreal, turned pro in 2009 following an amateur career that included a pair of Pan American Games gold medals and a 2008 Olympic berth. In 2013, he defeated former middleweight world champion Edison Miranda by unanimous decision, and by 2015, he had established himself as one of the world’s top light heavyweight contenders. He earned the shot at Kovalev following a trio of high-profile wins: a 2015 majority decision against perennial contender Isaac Chilemba, a 2017 knockout of former longtime super middleweight world champion Lucian Bute, and a majority decision over former light heavyweight kingpin Jean Pascal. That all led to his triumphant night on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, a feat he hopes to duplicate in Frisco.
Kovalev is one of the most dominating world champions of his era, a devastating puncher with nine title defenses across two title reigns. He won the WBO world title in August 2013, traveling to Wales and knocking out hometown champion Nathan Cleverly in the fourth round. He became the unified champion in November 2014 with a dominating 12-round decision against future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins and further enhanced his résumé with a pair of knockout wins against Jean Pascal. He lost his world titles in November 2016 via controversial decision to pound-for-pound great Andre Ward. Nearly seven months later, Kovalev was stopped in the eighth round by Ward, a bout remembered in part for the multiple low blows that immediately preceded the stoppage. Kovalev rebounded, winning the vacant WBO light heavyweight title with a second-round TKO against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy in his next bout. He defended the title once, a seventh-round TKO of Igor Mikhalkin in March, before running into Alvarez.
Photo: Main Events