A STORM IS COMING
Alvarez sends out a warning to Stevenson and co by destroying Kovalev
IF Andre Ward tore a hole in Sergey Kovalev’s cloak of invincibility, Eleider “Storm” Alvarez
ripped it to shreds and buried it six feet under the boxing ring inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Mark G. Etess Arena. The Russian hardman, who has bragged throughout his career that he would crush opponents, was brutally dispatched by Alvarez in the seventh of a scheduled 12-rounder for Kovalev’s WBO light-heavyweight title.
The first surprise came when the boxers made their ring walks. Judging by the raucous reception they received from the capacity crowd of 5,642, there were almost as many Alvarez fans on hand as there were Kovalev supporters. Kovalev has been an East Coast favourite throughout his American campaign, but apparently there was a sizeable Colombian contingent in the house to root for their unbeaten Montreal-based countryman.
There were very few punches thrown in the opening round as both fighters played it safe, pawing with their jabs and missing the few heavy blows they threw.
There was nothing pawing about Alvarez’s jab in the second round. He snapped Kovalev’s head back with it a number of times, sending the sweat flying. He also exhibited the agile footwork, especially the ability to move laterally both to his left and right, that would serve him well as the match progressed.
By the end of the second, it had probably dawned on Kovalev that this wasn’t going to be one of his perfunctory victories. Accordingly, the ex-unified 175lb world champion raised the tempo in the third, walking down Alvarez and letting his hands go with greater frequency.
Alvarez continued to deliver sharp jabs but not enough of them to stall Kovalev’s steady advance. Sergey connected
with several jarring blows, but they were inconsequential compared to the battering he gave Alvarez in the following round.
At the start of the fourth, Kovalev unleashed the sort of onslaught that has finished many of his former opponents. He landed a series of rapid-fire combinations to the head and slammed home painful-looking body shots. It was a huge round for Kovalev, but Alvarez was still on his feet and full of fight when the bell rang.
After the frenzied fourth, the fifth round was understandably fought at a slower pace. Still, Kovalev was the busier of the two and won the round.
Kovalev had another productive session in the sixth. At one point he delivered a wicked combo to the body, and later in the round drove a hard right into Alvarez’s head.
It wasn’t prime Kovalev but it was close enough. After six completed rounds he was leading on the official scorecards by margins of 58-56 and 59-55 (twice), a fair assessment of what had taken place up to the halfway point.
Alvarez rendered the scorecards immaterial in the seventh when he nailed Kovalev with a right hand that changed the course of both fighters’ careers. The punch was a beaut and landed full-force on the side of Kovalev face. He stumbled back half a step and for a nanosecond looked like a man sitting in an invisible chair. In a flash the invisible chair became the canvas, as Kovalev fell, rump first, with a resounding thud. Kovalev rose on unsteady legs, a grim
look on his face. When referee David Fields told the boxers to resume action, Alvarez gave chase in a controlled manner, backing Kovalev into the ropes and dropping him again with a lethal leftright combination to the head.
Kovalev crashed down awkwardly on his side, his left arm pinned under his body. It looked like the end, but he courageously struggled up again. Another flurry decked Kovalev for the third time and the referee immediately waved off the fight at the 2-45 mark.
While Alvarez was celebrating his sensational victory, Kovalev was assisted from the ring but refused to use a stretcher. Instead, he walked to the ambulance under his own power. After a precautionary examination at the hospital, Kovalev was released.
Unlike many of Kovalev’s previous opponents, Alvarez was not intimidated, not even under heavy fire. He knew what he was doing and he knew when to make his move.
“As the fight went on, I wanted to show that I could stay strong and do good things,” Alvarez said. “His punches were not as hard as they were in the beginning of the fight.”
Post-fight talk centered on who Alvarez would face next. He had previously been the mandatory challenger to WBC light-heavy king Adonis Stevenson for a long time, but when Alvarez and Stevenson’s promoter, Yvon Michel, was asked if he was going to make the match, he said it was “complicated”.
In the co-feature on this Main Events bill, undefeated Russian
Dmitry Bivol won a unanimous decision over Malawi’s Isaac Chilemba by scores of 116-112 (George Hill) and 120-108 twice (Ron Mcnair and Henry Grant) to successfully defend his WBA light-heavyweight title.
Although he dominated the tame bout, Bivol failed to impress. He attacked with conviction in the first two rounds, catching Chilemba with clusters of sharp punches. The champion connected with another flurry in the third and then backed off. It was a strategy he employed throughout the fight – land a few punches and then move out of range.
Chilemba is not known as a big puncher, and the Johannesburg resident failed to land a damaging blow during the entire fight. Yet, for some reason, the highly touted Bivol seemed reluctant to mount a sustained attack, preferring to ladle out just enough punches to win the rounds. David Franciosi refereed.
THE VERDICT Out with the old, in with the new. Alvarez’s upset of Kovalev shakes up the lightheavyweight hierarchy while simultaneously pumping new life into the division.
’I WANTED TO SHOW THAT I COULD STAY STRONG AND DO GOOD THINGS’