THE AVENGERS
Buddy Mcgirt looks like the perfect fit for Sergey Kovalev as he chases revenge, writes Chris Walker
Top trainer Buddy Mcgirt is at the helm of Kovalev’s revenge mission
ANOTHER revenge mission by proxy waits ominously on the horizon for James “Buddy” Mcgirt. The former world champion, an outstanding fighter from an era that often lacked forgiveness and niceties, has applied the same professionalism to his training career. For a short period, the man from Florida was one of the most soughtafter coaches in the sport, with a body of work that led some to call him the best in the business. Now at the helm of Sergey Kovalev’s latest comeback (against his recent conqueror, Eleider Alvarez, this Saturday night) Mcgirt knows all about settling the score at lightheavyweight.
It’s November 2003, and after years of complaining to anybody who would listen, Antonio Tarver, a reviled member of the American 1996 Olympic squad, has finally had his tantrums answered. Having long been desperate to test himself against fellow Floridian Roy Jones Jnr, boxing’s pound-for-pound number one, Tarver is gratified as Jones has agreed to return to light-heavyweight and face him. With lucrative opportunities up at heavyweight following a resounding WBA title victory over John Ruiz the previous March, Jones has resisted the calls of Chris Byrd, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, to again rule over the 175lb weight class. Jones beats Tarver by majority decision to reclaim the glory that his victim briefly held in his absence. Many will tell you it was a close fight, but a contest being tighter than had been expected does not qualify as one that could have gone either way. Jones, throughout his career, was a man who made 118-110 scorecards his forte if he hadn’t already registered yet another impressive knockout victory. The cards were narrower on this night, slender enough in fact to warrant a rematch, and that’s when lives were changed for everybody involved. “I ain’t never seen a fighter approach a fight the way Antonio approached that rematch,” Mcgirt tells Boxing News during an early-morning call from Kovalev’s Los Angeles base. “You hear clichés about fighters being at their best and having
greatest ever camp, but Antonio all through those hard weeks was something I’ve never ever seen before.
“With all the things that can go wrong in camp with injuries and stuff like that, you’ll accept your fighter going in at say 80 or 90 per cent; Antonio was at a thousand per cent and he didn’t drop from that point all the way through camp.
“The way he ran, the way he sparred, the way he spoke, everything just pointed to an Antonio victory and he got it with that knockout in the second round.”
A Kovalev win over Alvarez will not shock the world like Tarver did back in 2004, but it would provide Mcgirt with a return to form after successes with the likes of Tarver, Hasim Rahman, Paulie Malignaggi, Vernon Forrest and Arturo Gatti in the past. In that sense, both Mcgirt and Kovalev are on the comeback trail together.
Since his pummelling at the hands of Andre Ward in the summer of 2017, the slugger has been under meticulous scrutiny. A well-documented and bitter split with long-term coach, John David Jackson, brought vicious barbs from both sides, but Kovalev seemed to be rebuilding impressively: He reclaimed the WBO strap with a typically destructive win over Vyacheslav Shabranskyy in November 2017; five months later, a successful defence against Igor Mikhalkin may have convinced some that Kovalev had returned to his menacing best. Then came the sobering seven-round loss to Alvarez last August.
Kovalev, at the advice of his promotional group, Main Events, took immediate advantage of a rematch clause inserted in the first meeting’s contract, and with his illustrious career at stake, he has placed all his faith in Mcgirt to restore a tarnished reputation.
“I was working with another Russian fighter and I didn’t want anything to do with Kovalev,” declares Mcgirt, who also admits he was cautious at jumping into bed with a fighter famed for numerous spats with his ex-coach Jackson. “I must’ve spoken with at least two dozen people about what I should do about training this guy because the horror stories about him being difficult and moody, like everything in boxing, spread fast. People who I won’t name were coming up to me and telling me not to deal with the bulls**t and to stay away for the sake of my happiness, but I’m glad I listened to my head instead because he’s been fine so far and I’m impressed by how well-mannered the man is. I’m at a stage in my life where I suppose I can pick and choose who I work with. I’ve got no doubts whatsoever that I made the right choice to work with Sergey.”
In aiming to reconstruct Kovalev, Mcgirt is undertaking a project perhaps destined for failure. At his best, the man from Kopeysk in southern Russia ticked a variety of boxes. Promoter Kathy Duva turned the mumbling Kovalev into alluring villain, while Jackson and co ironed out some chinks in his fighting style. By 2013, he was one of the most fearsome fighters in world boxing.
His crusade to South Wales to relieve Nathan Cleverly of his WBO title was short and shocking as the tough Welshman had no answer to Kovalev’s frequent attacks and was rescued in the fourth round. Frank Warren’s all-in gamble to turn Cleverly into an American attraction had failed massively, and it was Kovalev who would earn the
PEOPLE WERE TELLING ME HORROR STORIES ABOUT KOVALEV, TELLING ME TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM”
spoils from stateside paymasters.
Basic defences against fringe contenders such as Cedric Agnew and Blake Capparello created a trail of destruction, and led to the legendary Bernard Hopkins. In what was considered an even match-up by the bulk of the fight fraternity, Kovalev propelled himself to a different level as he dominated the veteran Philadelphian from the opening bell to take every single round on all three judges' scorecards
Kovalev continued to win against good company en-route to Ward in 2016, but two defeats to the Oakland man, both controversial, appeared to trigger a downfall that left Kovalev vulnerable, and his cape of invincibility in tatters. Alvarez ripped away the last of it last summer, and now Mcgirt is left with an almighty challenge.
“Listen, people are telling me this is hard work for me, but if Sergey can’t get himself motivated for this fight when he’s fighting a guy who f**ked him up and he probably has nowhere to go if he does lose, then he should be off somewhere else enjoying his retirement,” Mcgirt says. “He’s made mistakes in his past and paid for them, but he can’t make any more and if he makes mistakes under me then I tell him and he puts them right. He’s done everything that I’ve asked of him so far, he’s listening to instructions and when he’s sparring, he’s doing everything I ask of him. Granted there are still a few weeks to go and anything can happen, but I’m happy so far and if I’m happy then that means that Sergey is looking good and he’s
going to be ready to go.”
On Saturday night, Kovalev’s recruitment of Mcgirt to reenergise his career will either be viewed as a masterstroke or an expensive mistake. His two epic contests with Ward, both lucrative and damaging in equal measure, triggered a domino effect that culminated in last year’s shocking defeat to Alvarez. But never one to shirk a showdown, no matter the odds, Kovalev is preparing for the heat once more after receiving an almighty burn at the hand of the Columbian puncher.
Mcgirt has fond memories of ruling the light-heavyweight class with Tarver, a division stacked with grand names when the Rocky Balboa villain reigned. With the same weight class oozing talent in 2019, a revenge victory for Kovalev will kindle in Mcgirt aspirations of sampling the top spot once again. “This isn’t a one-fight deal where I’m coming in to just fix Kovalev and then me or him walk away from each other. People forget that this is a fighter who was world champion less than a year ago. Many people thought he beat Andre Ward two years ago. You just don’t become a bad fighter because of one defeat. “Looking at Sergey, I’ll be honest with you, I think he has the hunger, skill and power to not only win his next fight but to beat anyone in the entire lightheavyweight division. “That’s how impressed I am with my man, but it’s no good me telling you this unless Sergey gets back in the ring and gets back to his best. I can only do so much, but I’m confident that he’ll do the rest.”