Sergey Kovalev (boxer)

Sergey Kovalev
Kovalev in November 2014
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Krusher
Rated at	Light Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Reach	72 in (183 cm)
Nationality	Russian
Born	(1983-04-02) April 2, 1983 Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russian SSR
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	28
Wins	27
Wins by KO	24
Losses	0
Draws	1

Sergey Kovalev (Russian: Серге́й Ковалёв; born April 2, 1983) is an undefeated Russian professional boxer from Chelyabinsk, Russia but based in Florida. He is the reigning unified WBO, WBA, and IBF light heavyweight champion and known for his devastating punching power. His promotional agency is Main Events and his trainer is John David Jackson.^[1] Kovalev holds notable victories over former light heavyweight world champions Gabriel Campillo, Nathan Cleverly, Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. He was named Ring Magazine fighter of the year in 2014.

Amateur career

Sergey started boxing in 1994 at age 11, and made his amateur debut in 1997 in the Russian Boxing Junior Championship, where he won the gold medal in the middleweight juniors division. One year later he competed with the seniors and reached the final, and a year after that, he won the final fight. For Team Russia, he competed in the European Championships.

In 2004, Kovalev for the first time took part in the Russian Senior Championship, and in his first season, he reached the final and also won the golden medal in the team event. The next year was the most successful in his career as an amateur in winning two titles: the first as champion of Russia and the second as champion among servicemen. In the 2006 championship for servicemen, he won the silver, and a year later, he took bronze in the Russian Championship and gold in the World Military Games in India.

In 2008, Kovalev took part in his final national competition and again made the final; after that, he decided to turn pro. As he once admitted, he had to leave the national team because of the extremely tense competition between him and more successful boxers Matvey Korobov and Artur Beterbiev. He finished his amateur career with a record of 195-18.^[2]

Amateur highlights

• 2000 Russian Junior Championships silver medalist at light welterweight
• 2001 Russian Junior Championships silver medalist at middleweight
• 2004 Russian Championships silver medalist at middleweight, losing to Matvey Korobov
• 2005 Russian Championships gold medalist at middleweight
• 2005 World Military Championships gold medalist at light heavyweight, in Pretoria, South Africa
• 2006 World Military Championships silver medalist at light heavyweight, in Warendorf, Germany
• 2007 World Military Championships gold medalist at light heavyweight, in Hyderabad, India
• 2007 Russian Championships bronze medalist at light heavyweight, losing to Artur Beterbiev
• 2008 Russian Championships silver medalist at light heavyweight

Professional career

Kovalev started his career with a first-round KO of Daniel Chavez at Greenboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.^[3] He won his first nine fights with first- or second-round knockout. He faced more serious competition against Darnell Boone in October 2010, when he had to fight all eight rounds, but won a tough fight.

In July 2011, Kovalev won his first NABA belt in a 10-round fight with Douglas Otieno from Kenya. The Russian's next bout against Grover Young was controversial, however, as in the second round, Kovalev threw a left hook to the head, but the judges suggested that it was a blow to the back of the head -– an unintentional infringement. And as the American could not continue, the fight was declared a technical draw.^[2]

Death of Roman Simakov

In his 2011 fight against Roman Simakov, Kovalev knocked down his opponent in the sixth round and the fight was stopped one round later and Kovalev was awarded a TKO victory. Tragically, Simakov was taken to the hospital, where he lapsed into a coma and died three days later.^[4] Kovalev went to church with his wife Natalia to pray for Simakov while he was in a coma. He bought airline tickets for Simakov's parents to get from Kemerovo to Ekaterinburg where the fight was held.^[5] After Simakov died, Kovalev apologized to Simakov's parents and promised them the prize money from his next fight.^[6]

Rise up the ranks

In 2012, Kovalev knocked out Darnell Boone in two rounds, demonstrating his improvement as a fighter and leading him to be signed to Main Events boxing.^[7] On January 19, 2013 Kovalev faced the former WBA Light Heavyweight champion Gabriel Campillo. Kovalev was able to get to the usually elusive Campillo early and often, continually backing him up in the opening round with furious combinations. Campillo, known as a slow starter who looked sluggish throughout the fight, was hurt early in the third round and staggered into the corner. The native of Spain covered up before being dropped with a left hook from Kovalev, one of three knockdowns in the round.

Light Heavyweight Champion

On 17 August 2013 Kovalev fought Nathan Cleverly for the WBO Light Heavyweight title. Kovalev, who knocked out most of his opponents within three rounds, came out throwing heavy shots in the first round, hurt Cleverly badly in the third round, dropping him twice and nearly finishing him off. Kovalev picked things right back up in the fourth, throwing bombs to send Cleverly down for a third time and the referee waved things off.^[8]

On 30 November 2013, Kovalev had his first defense of the WBO Light Heavyweight title against Ismayl Sillakh. He found the timing early in round two and in the same round finished Sillakh with a huge left.^[9]

On 29 March 2014, Kovalev faced undefeated contender Cedric Agnew. Agnew's movement gave Kovalev difficulty at times, and he found himself unable to land the concussive shots for which he was known. Agnew however, simply fought to survive and committed very little to his own offense. Ultimately in the seventh round, Kovalev landed a vicious jab to Agnew's liver that put him down for the count.^[10]

Later that year, Kovalev faced undefeated Australian contender Blake Caparello. Caparello started well, scoring a flash knockdown after catching Kovalev with a solid shot while Kovalev was off balance. Kovalev however was unhurt and even appeared enraged, thoroughly dominating his foe en route to a second round technical knockout.^[11]

Kovalev vs. Hopkins

Kovalev defeated Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision on November 8, 2014 in a unification bout in Atlantic City to retain the WBO Light Heavyweight title and win the IBF and WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight titles.^[12] In a one-sided fight, Kovalev knocked Bernard Hopkins down in the first round. Kovalev won every single round on all of the three judges' scorecards. The score totals of the fight were 120-107, 120-107, and 120-106.^[12]

Kovalev vs. Pascal

Kovalev faced Jean Pascal on March 14, 2015 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. He started the fight off aggressively as usual and took control of the fight earlier and eventually knocked Pascal down in the 3rd round. Pascal began to fight back and showed some signs of life in rounds 5 and 6, although Kovalev gained control of the fight again and began to hit Pascal with huge shots, wobbling him and in the 8th round the referee stopped the fight as he felt Pascal had taken too much punishment.^[13]

Professional boxing record

27 Wins (24 Knockouts, 3 Decisions), 0 Defeats, 1 Draw
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	27–0–1	Jean Pascal	TKO	8 (12) 1:03	2015-03-14	Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec	Retained WBO, IBF and WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight titles.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	26–0–1	Bernard Hopkins	UD	12	2014-11-08	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. Won IBF and WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight titles.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	25–0–1	Blake Caparello	TKO	2 (12), 1:34	2014-08-02	Revel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	24–0–1	Cedric Agnew	KO	7 (12), 0:58	2014-03-29	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	23–0–1	Ismail Sillakh	KO	2 (12), 2:12	2013-11-30	Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	22–0–1	Nathan Cleverly	TKO	4 (12), 0:29	2013-08-17	Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales	Won WBO Light Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	21–0–1	Cornelius White	TKO	3 (12), 1:45	2013-06-14	Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	20–0–1	Gabriel Campillo	KO	3 (10), 1:30	2013-01-19	Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	19–0–1	Lionell Thompson	TKO	3 (10), 0:14	2012-09-21	Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	18–0–1	Darnell Boone	TKO	2 (8), 1:32	2012-06-01	Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	17–0–1	Roman Simakov	TKO	7 (12), 0:47	2011-12-05	DIVS, Ekaterinburg	Won WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Heavyweight title.
Draw	16–0–1	Grover Young	TD	2 (8)	2011-08-27	Playboy Mansion, Beverly Hills, California
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	16–0	Douglas Otieno Okola	KO	2 (10), 2:39	2011-07-29	Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada	Won vacant NABA USA Light Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	15–0	Terrance Woods	KO	3 (8), 1:54	2011-05-06	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	14–0	Julius Fogle	KO	2 (8), 1:16	2011-04-01	UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	13–0	William Johnson	TKO	2 (6), 1:53	2011-03-12	Hilton Towers Ballroom, Lafayette, Louisiana
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	12–0	Karen Avetisyan	UD	6	2010-12-15	Casino Vodoley, Ekaterinburg
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	11–0	Dallas Vargas	TKO	2 (8), 1:16	2010-11-19	UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	10–0	Darnell Boone	SD	8	2010-10-09	Metro Fitness, Atlanta, Georgia
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	9–0	Kia Daniels	KO	1 (6), 1:58	2010-09-11	Playboy Mansion, Beverly Hills, California
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	8–0	Harley Kilfian	TKO	2 (6), 1:24	2010-06-19	Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	7–0	Nathan Bedwell	TKO	1 (4), 2:15	2010-03-19	Derby Park Expo, Louisville, Kentucky
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6–0	Francois Ambang	KO	2 (6), 2:23	2010-03-06	Patriot Center, Fairfax, Virginia
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	5–0	Micky Stackhouse	TKO	2 (4), 1:07	2009-10-10	Coliseum Complex Events Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	4–0	Ayodeji Fadeyi	RTD	1 (4), 3:00	2009-09-12	Playboy Mansion, Beverly Hills, California
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	3–0	Michael Birthmark	RTD	1 (4), 3:00	2009-08-29	Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	2–0	Darryl Johnson	TKO	1 (4), 2:06	2009-08-08	Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia, South Carolina
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	1–0	Daniel Chavez	TKO	1 (4), 0:55	2009-07-25	Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, North Carolina	Professional Debut.

Titles in boxing

Major World Titles:

• WBO Light heavyweight Champion (175 lbs)
• WBA (Super) Light heavyweigh Champion (175 lbs)
• IBF Light heavyweigh Champion (175 lbs)

Regional/International Titles:

• NABA Light heavyweight Champion (175 lbs)
• WBC Asian Boxing Council Light heavyweight Champion (175 lbs)

References

External links

• Home page
• Professional boxing record for Sergey Kovalev from BoxRec

Achievements
Preceded by Nathan Cleverly	WBO Light Heavyweight Champion August 17, 2013 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Bernard Hopkins	IBF Light Heavyweight Champion November 8, 2014 – present	Incumbent
	WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Super Title November 8, 2014 – present