Sergei Alexandrovich Kovalev
Sergei Kovalev | |
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Sergei Alexandrowitsch Kovalev (2014) |
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Data | |
Birth Name | Sergei Alexandrovich Kovalev |
Fight name | Krusher |
Weight class | Light heavyweight |
nationality | Russian |
birthday | April 2, 1983 |
place of birth | Koperisk |
style | Left delivery |
size | 1.83 m |
Combat Statistics | |
Struggles | 39 |
Victories | 34 |
Knockout victories | 29 |
Defeats | 4th |
draw | 1 |
Profile in the BoxRec database |
Sergei Alexandrowitsch Kowaljow ( Russian Сергей Александрович Ковалёв ; born April 2, 1983 in Kopeisk ) is a Russian professional boxer. He is a former, three-time WBO world champion as well as world champion of the IBF and the WBA , each in the light heavyweight division.
He is Ring Magazine Boxer of the Year 2014.
Amateur career
Sergei Kovalev started boxing at the age of eleven, fought for the Russian national team from 1998 to 2009 and won 193 of his 215 amateur fights. At the national level he was Russian youth champion in 1997 and 1999, and in 1998 Russian vice youth champion. In 2000 and 2001 he was the Russian Vice Junior Champion. In 2004 he reached second place in the middleweight division at the Russian Championships. He failed in the final against Matwei Korobow . In 2005 he was Russian middleweight champion and reached 3rd place in the light heavyweight division in 2007, after this time he was eliminated in the semifinals against Artur Beterbijew with 24:25. In 2008 he was runner-up again.
As a soldier in the Russian armed forces , he took part in the 2005 World Military Championships in Pretoria for the first time, beating the starters from Ukraine, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA and Turkey and thus winning the gold medal in the light heavyweight division. At the 2006 Military World Cup in Warendorf , he reached 2nd place in the light heavyweight division, after he left the final due to an injury and thus the German Gottlieb Weiss was declared the winner. In 2007 he won the military World Cup in Hyderabad again after he was able to prevail in the light heavyweight division against Moussa Konate from Mali, Donald Makola from South Africa, Saur Teimurow from Azerbaijan, Abdelhafid Benchabla from Algeria and Oleg Dimkowets from Belarus.
Professional career
In 2009 he turned pro in the US and moved to Fort Lauderdale , Florida. His coaches have included or include Don Turner , Abel Sanchez and John David Jackson . He won his first nine fights in a row by knockout in one of the first two rounds. In October 2010 he defeated Darnell Boone , who sensationally knocked out Adonis Stevenson six months earlier . After five more victories, including four knockouts, he won on July 29, 2011 by knockout in the second round against Douglas Otieno Okola, the US championship of NABA .
On August 27, 2011, he boxed against Grover Young, who had to give up the fight due to injury in the second round due to an unintentional foul . Since the injury was not caused by impact, but an unintentional foul, the fight was counted as a draw. On December 5, 2011, Kowaljow won the Asian Championship of the WBC after defeating his compatriot Roman Simakow in the seventh round by tKo. Simakov had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher and died three days later from injuries sustained in the fight.
Kowaljow won four more fights by knockout, including again against Darnell Boone and Gabriel Campillo . On August 17, 2013, he boxed in Wales against the undefeated WBO world champion Nathan Cleverly . He had the Welshman on the ground twice in the third round, which was the first rainfall in Cleverly's professional career. In the fourth round, Kowaljow pursued vigorously and brought Cleverly to the verge of a knockout before the referee stepped in and called off the fight. Kowaljow was declared the winner by tKo.
His first title defense he denied on November 30, 2013 in Canada against Ismail Sillach and won by knockout in the second round. He won his second title defense on March 29, 2014 in Atlantic City by knockout in the seventh round against the undefeated American Cedric Agnew. He won another title defense on August 2, 2014 by tKo in the second round against the also undefeated Australian Blake Caparello.
On November 8, 2014, he boxed against WBA and IBF world champion Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City . Kowaljow scored a knockdown in the first round and won after twelve rounds unanimously on points. In March 2015 he defeated the Canadian Jean Pascal prematurely in the eighth round when the referee took him out of the fight after heavy hits and suffering from balance problems.
On July 25, 2015, he beat the French Nadjib Mohammedi by knockout in the third round and had him on the ground in the second. The revenge between Kowaljow and the Canadian Jean Pascal increased on January 30, 2016, which Kowaljow was able to win in the end by giving up in the 7th round, as Jean Pascal's team threw in the towel to save him from worse.
On July 11, 2016, he boxed in Yekaterinburg against the previously unbeaten Malawian, Isaac Chilemba . Kowaljow scored a knockdown in the seventh round and won after twelve rounds unanimously on points.
On November 19, 2016, he lost unanimously on points to Andre Ward and thus suffered the first loss of his professional career. Ward was then named the best boxer pound for pound . On June 17, 2017, Kowaljow lost the rematch against Andre Ward controversially by TKo in the eighth round.
On November 25, 2017, Kovalyov again won the WBO world light heavyweight title. He defeated Vyacheslav Schabranskyj by technical knockout in the second round, after he had his opponent on the ground twice in the first round. In March 2018 he defeated Igor Mikhalkin prematurely in the seventh round. He finally lost his title on August 4, 2018 through a TKO defeat in the seventh round to the Colombian Eleider Álvarez .
Kowaljow then prepared under Buddy McGirt and Teddy Cruz for the rematch against Álvarez on February 2, 2019. He won this in Texas by a unanimous victory on points and was thus again WBO world light heavyweight champion. He won his first title defense in August 2019 through TKO against Anthony Yarde . On November 2, 2019, he lost his WBO light heavyweight title in Las Vegas by a knockout loss to the Mexican Saúl Álvarez in the eleventh round.
List of professional fights
34 wins (29 knockout wins), 4 defeats , 1 draw | |||||
year | Day | place | opponent | Result for Kovalyov | |
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2009 | July 25th | Greenboro Coliseum, Greensboro, USA |
Daniel Chavez professional debut |
Victory / TKO 1st round | |
8th August | Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia (South Carolina), USA | Darryl Johnson | Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
29th August | Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma (Washington), USA | Michael Birthmark | Victory / abandonment 1st round | ||
12th September | Playboy Mansion , Beverly Hills, USA | Ayodeji Fadeyi | Victory / abandonment 1st round | ||
October 10th | Coliseum Complex Events Center, Greensboro, USA | Micky Stackhouse | Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
2010 | 6th March | George Mason University , Fairfax (Virginia), USA | Francois Ambang | Victory / KO 2nd round | |
19th March | Derby Park Expo, Louisville (Kentucky), USA | Nathan Bedwell | Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
June 19th | Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma (Washington), USA | Harley Kilfian | Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
September 11 | Playboy Mansion , Beverly Hills, USA | Kia Daniels | Victory / KO 1st round | ||
9th October | Metro Fitness, Atlanta, USA | Darnell Boone | Points victory (polyphonic) / 8 rounds | ||
November 19th | UIC Pavillion, Chicago, USA | Dallas Vargas | Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
15th December | Vodoley, Ekaterinburg, Russia | Karen Avetisyan | Points victory (unanimous) / 6 rounds | ||
2011 | March 12th | Hilton Towers Ballroom, Louisiana, USA | William Johnson | Victory / TKO 2nd round | |
April 1st | UIC Pavillion, Chicago, USA | Julius Fogle | Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
May 6th | Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio (California), USA | Terrance Woods | Victory / KO 3rd round | ||
29th of July | The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas , Las Vegas, USA |
Douglas Otieno Okola WBA NABA Light Heavyweight Championship |
Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
August 27 | Playboy Mansion , Beverly Hills, USA | Grover Young | Draw / TD 2nd round | ||
December 5th | Palace of Game Sports (Yekaterinburg) , Yekaterinburg, Russia |
Roman Simakow WBC ABC Light Heavyweight Championship |
Victory / TKO 7th round | ||
2012 | June 1st | Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA | Darnell Boone | Victory / TKO 2nd round | |
21st September | Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA | Lionell Thompson | Victory / TKO 3rd round | ||
2013 | January 19th | Mohegan Sun Casino, Connecticut, USA | Gabriel Campillo | Victory / TKO 3rd round | |
14th June | Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA | Cornelius White | Victory / TKO 3rd round | ||
17th August | Motorpoint Arena Cardiff , Cardiff, UK |
Nathan Cleverly WBO World Light Heavyweight Championship |
Victory / TKO 4th round | ||
30th of November | Colisee Pepsi , Quebec, Canada |
Ismail Sillach WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
2014 | March 29 | Boardwalk Hall , Atlantic City (New Jersey), USA |
Cedric Agnew WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Victory / KO 7th round | |
August 2nd | Revel Resort , Atlantic City (New Jersey), USA |
Blake Caparello WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
November 8th | Boardwalk Hall , Atlantic City (New Jersey), USA |
Bernard Hopkins IBF / WBA / WBO light heavyweight title association |
Points victory (unanimous) / 12 rounds | ||
2015 | the 14th of March | Bell Center , Montreal, Canada |
Jean Pascal IBF / WBA / WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Victory / TKO 8th round | |
July 25th | Mandalay Bay Events Center , Las Vegas, USA |
Nadjib Mohammedi IBF / WBA / WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Victory / KO 3rd round | ||
2016 | January 30th | Bell Center , Montreal, Canada |
Jean Pascal IBF / WBA / WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Victory / abandonment 7th round | |
July 11th | Palace of Game Sports (Yekaterinburg) , Yekaterinburg, Russia |
Isaac Chilemba IBF / WBA / WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Points victory (unanimous) / 12 rounds | ||
November 19th | T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas) , Las Vegas, USA |
Andre Ward IBF / WBA / WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds | ||
2017 | 17th of June | Mandalay Bay Events Center , Las Vegas, USA |
Andre Ward IBF / WBA / WBO World Light Heavyweight Championship |
Loss / TKO 8th round | |
25. November | The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA |
Vyacheslav Schabranskyj vacant WBO world light heavyweight championship |
Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
2018 | 3 March | The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA |
Igor Mikhalkin WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Victory / TKO 7th round | |
4th of August | Mark G. Etess Arena, Atlantic City (New Jersey), USA |
Eleider Álvarez WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Loss / TKO 7th round | ||
2019 | February 2nd | Ford Center at The Star, Frisco (Texas), USA |
Eleider Álvarez WBO World Light Heavyweight Championship |
Points victory (unanimous) / 12 rounds | |
August 24th | Tractor ice rink , Chelyabinsk, Russia |
Anthony Yarde WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Victory / TKO 11th round | ||
November 2 | MGM Grand Garden Arena , Las Vegas, USA |
Saúl Álvarez WBO light heavyweight title defense |
Defeat / TKO 11th round | ||
Source: Sergei Alexandrowitsch Kowaljow in the BoxRec database |
Boxing style
Due to his amateur past, Kowaljow is considered a technically experienced boxer who often tries to put his opponent under pressure with various punching techniques. In addition, he has a good ability to anticipate, which means that he knows how to adapt to his opponents. In crucial moments, Kowaljow knows how to follow up effectively in order to seek the early decision.
Web links
- Sergei Alexandrowitsch Kowaljow in the BoxRec database
- Biography in the BoxRec Wiki
- Official website of Sergei Kovalev
- Interview at Max Boxing
Individual evidence
predecessor | Office | successor |
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Nathan Cleverly | Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( WBO ) August 17, 2013 - November 19, 2016 |
Andre Ward vacant |
Bernard Hopkins |
Super Light Heavyweight Champion ( WBA ) November 8, 2014 - November 19, 2016 |
Andre Ward vacant |
Bernard Hopkins | Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) November 8, 2014 - November 19, 2016 |
Andre Ward vacant |
Andre Ward vacant |
Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( WBO ) November 25, 2017 - August 4, 2018 |
Eleider Álvarez |
Eleider Álvarez | Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( WBO ) February 2, 2019 - |
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Kovalev, Sergei Alexandrovich |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ковалёв, Сергей Александрович (Russian) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Russian boxer |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 2, 1983 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Koperisk |