Kovalev, Sergey Alexandrovich (boxer)

Sergey Kovalev was born on April 2, 1983 in the town of Kopeisk , Chelyabinsk Region . He began to actively engage in boxing at the age of eleven in Chelyabinsk under the guidance of coach Novikov Sergey Vladimirovich - the training hall was right behind school number 107, Traktorozavodsky district (ChTZ), the boy decided to sign up there on the advice of a school friend. Since 2000, he was a ward of Vladimir Viktorovich Roschenko , Honored Coach of Russia: “He had a very strong influence on me, changed in many ways. He knew how to work with me. I respected him very much then, but for me authority plays a big role ” ^[7] .

Family

Married Wife name is Natalia. In 2014, the couple had a son, Alexander ^[8] . In 2018, the daughter of a boxer was born.

In 1997 he made his debut at the junior championship of Russia and immediately became the winner among middle-aged boys. A year later, he competed in the senior category and ran out to the finalists, and a year later he won, in addition, as part of the youth team he took part in the European Championship. In the period 2000-2001. twice went to the final of the junior national championships, once went to the final of the All-Russian competition of the strongest junior boxers. Performances at the youth level ended with the Olympic Hopes winter championships, where, competing with athletes 19-22 years old, twice got into the finals (2002, 2003).

In 2004, Kovalev for the first time took part in the standings of the adult championship of Russia , reached the finals already in the debut season and, in addition, became the winner of the team championship. The next year was the most successful in his amateur career - the athlete was awarded two titles at once, the champion of Russia and the world champion among military personnel. In the 2006 military championship he took silver, a year later he was the bronze medal winner of the Russian championship and the winner at the World Military Games in India. From June 19 to 22, 2008, in Moscow, at the Sports Complex of MSTU named after N. E. Bauman, he participated in the II International Tournament in memory of Olympic champion Valery Popenchenko . He reached the finals, where he lost by knockout to the Uzbek boxer Abbos Atoev . He last participated in the national championship program in 2008 and reached the final again, after which he decided to become a professional. By his own admission, he had to leave the national team because of too high competition from the more successful Matvey Korobov and Artur Beterbiev . In total, in amateur boxing, he spent 215 matches, of which 193 ended in victory.

Sergey Kovalev began his career as a professional boxer in 2009 in the USA, and in the first nine matches he confidently knocked out rivals in the first and second rounds.

Career start

At the beginning of his career, he lived and trained in the camp of the famous American trainer Don Turner about a year in North Carolina . According to Sergey himself, thanks to Turner, he learned to eat right. To this day, Kovalev uses part of this diet while preparing for the battles ^{[9] [10] [11]} .

The first really serious fight fell to him on October 9, 2010, in a fight against American Darnell Boone had to spend all eight rounds in the ring, and the victory went to the Russian with great difficulty - a split decision. It was the first 8-round fight for Sergey, in the 7th round Kovalyov was knocked down for the first time in his career, but managed to take matters into his own hands and brought the fight to the victory.

Having entered the battle with Bun, I managed to get hungry to such a state that there was no desire to enter the battle. In the first round, after a blow from my right hand, I couldn’t beat her anymore, I damaged her in one of the Turkish resorts when I flew home in the summer and in the battle she bothered me. Further, 5 rounds I managed to keep the fight in my own initiative, after which I was very tired, I never tired in my life for my 215 fights in an amateur career and the previous 9 professional ones. It was something! After the 6th round, when I sat in a corner during a break, my brain, or rather my memory and consciousness went out. I don’t remember absolutely nothing. I woke up in the locker room, consciousness began to come to me only when I caught my breath and was already in the locker room. So, and it was with me MOT, in the last rounds, in which I could hardly believe it if I had not watched the video of the battle. As I said, after the 6th round, I did not remember anything. At the end of the seventh round, I found myself in the hardest knockdown and it is not known what would have happened further if it had not been for the gong! Then the gong saved me! I managed to run off somehow the 8th round and I even showed courage in the 8th round, I attacked. And now, at the end of the battle, the judges issued a bill: one judge gave victory to Boone, two gave the victory to me .

- Sergey Kovalev about the fight with Darnell Boon

December 15, 2010 Kovalyov met with Karen Avetisyan . Kovalev held his first professional fight at home. In the 6 round bout, Kovalev won by unanimous decision. According to Kovalev, his right arm was broken, but that’s why he couldn’t manage to finish the fight ahead of time, as he boxed with one left hand. After this fight until 2014, Kovalev knocked out all his rivals.

On July 29, 2011, in a 10-round bout, Kenyan Douglas Otieno knocked out his first belt - the NABA North American Boxing Association.

On August 27, 2011, Sergey Kovalev did not have a very good match, in the second round the Russian hit his opponent Grover Young with a left side to the head, but the judges saw in this action a blow to the back of the head, an unintentional violation, and, because of the injury, the American could not continue match, awarded a technical draw.

Fight with Roman Simakov

On December 5, 2011 in Yekaterinburg, a fight was planned with Roman Simakov for the belt of the Asian light heavyweight champion according to the WBC. Kovalev dominated throughout the fight. Roman missed a lot of strong blows. For six rounds Simakov twice visited the so-called "standing" knockdowns, but did not give reasons for stopping the fight. At 58 seconds of the 7th round, Roman fell, the referee stopped the fight. Kovalev was awarded a victory by technical knockout . Simakov got up, but his legs gave way and he managed to grab hold of the ropes with difficulty. After a few seconds, the 27-year-old boxer lost consciousness. He was carried away from the ring on a stretcher and urgently taken to the central city hospital No. 24 of Yekaterinburg. As it turned out in the hospital, Roman fell into a coma. Despite the measures taken by the doctors, Roman Simakov, without regaining consciousness, died in the central city hospital No. 24 of Yekaterinburg. According to preliminary data, the cause of death was a severe traumatic brain injury and brain contusion.

In 2012, Kovalev began training in the hall with the famous coach John David Jackson , and entered into a promotion contract with Katie Duva and in June already had a rematch with Darnell Boone - this time it did not come to the judges' decisions, the American was knocked out already in the second round. Then followed a contract with the promotion company Main Events and a victory over New York Lionel Thompson, after which the athlete won the right to meet with former world champion Gabriel Campillo . The Spaniard lost in the third round as a result of the knockout, and thanks to this victory Kovalev rose to the tenth place in the world rankings ^[12] .

Russian light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev easily coped with his first formidable rival - Spaniard Gabriel Campillo (21-5-1, 8 KOs). after two more or less equal rounds, in which Kovalev still owned a slight advantage, Sergey began methodically checking the Spaniard's organism for endurance. It is unclear how many more blows and drops Campillo could withstand, but the referee had three Gabriel's drops to stop the meeting, fixing a technical knockout.

Contender fight with Cornelius White

June 14, 2013 Sergey Kovalev in the battle for the title of the mandatory challenger according to IBF entered the ring against Cornelius White . Kovalev owned a noticeable advantage in the first two rounds, and in the third, after three White's knockdowns, the referee stopped the fight, fixing the victory of the Russian boxer by technical knockout. After the fight, White said: “The striking power of Kovalev is something incredible. I have never experienced anything like it, although I fought with strands, and even with heavyweights. His fists are not even made of stone, but rather of steel . ”

Championship fight with Nathan Cleverly

On August 17, 2013, Sergei Kovalyov won the WBO light heavyweight world title, knocking out 26-year-old Brit Nathan Cleverly in the fourth round. The 12 round match was played in Cardiff in Wales. In the third round, Kovalev twice knocked down an opponent, and in the fourth round he won by technical knockout. The judge stopped the fight, considering that Cleverly could not continue the fight ^[13] . It should be noted that this battle was proposed by the team of Nathan Cleverly, who before the fight with Kovalev did not know defeats. It was not mandatory, but the voluntary champion title defense of Nathan Cleverly. In other words, the Cleverley team was confident of Nathan's victory.

Fight with Ismail Sillah

The first rival of Kovalyov after winning the WBO world title was the Ukrainian Ismail Sillakh . In the first round, the contenders looked at each other, and Sillah won the round with a slight margin. However, already at the beginning of the second round, Kovalev sent the applicant in a knockdown with a counter right blow to the left temple area. Sillah rose to the end of the referee's score, but could not recover from the shock. In the first attack after a knockdown, Kovalev sent the opponent to heavy knockout ^[14] .

Fight with Cedric Agnew

March 29, 2014 Sergey met with the undefeated American Cedric Agnew. In the second round, Kovalev knocked the American down, and then sent in the sixth round. In the 7th round (a blow to the liver) Sergey knocked out an opponent and defended the WBO title for the second time.

Fight with Blake Caparello

Sergey held the third title defense with Australian Blake Kaparello (19-0-1), unbeaten earlier. Kovalev confidently started the fight, but after hitting Kaparello in the first round, clinging to the Australian's leg, he lost his balance and touched the floor of the ring with his hand, Sergei was counted out of the knockdown. But in the second round, Sergei stopped looking at Kaparello and kicked him in the liver with a heavy knockdown. However, the Australian managed to continue the fight only in order to visit the ring floor twice more. After that, the referee stopped the fight, awarding the victory to the Russian.

Unification fight with Bernard Hopkins

November 9, 2014 the long-awaited unifying bout took place. Kovalyov confidently led all 12 rounds and won the fight with an overwhelming advantage (120-107, 120-107 and 120-106). Won skillfully, leaving Hopkins no chance. The pauses between the well-coordinated serial attacks of Kovalev were very short. Sergey did not let Hopkins start the “dirty boxing” that was usual for Bernard (with his head in the clinch). Already in the first round, Sergey sent a veteran (Hopkins lacked two months to the 50th anniversary) in a light knockdown, and in the remaining eleven he was methodically tapping, forcing to take care only about protection. In the eighth round, Kovalev shook Hopkins right-handed through his hand. At the end of the twelfth round, Sergey conducted several powerful attacks in a row: before the final gong, Hopkins drifted along the ropes on the legs, searching for the “fifth corner”. But did not fall. Sergey became the owner of three belts in one weight category. At that time (November 2014), only heavyweight Vladimir Klitschko had a comparable achievement (the Floyd Mayweather welterweight has four belts, but in different weight categories).

Fight with Jean Pascal

March 14, 2015 Sergey Kovalev met with ex-champion from Canada Jean Pascal . After a relatively calm start, Sergei began to take decisive action: in the third round, he sent the challenger into a knockdown (after a series of kicks from Kovalev, Pascal almost fell out of the ring). In the fourth and fifth rounds, Pascal continued to hold on to the serial attacks of the champion, occasionally making retaliatory strikes. In the sixth and seventh rounds, Pascal managed to carry out several successful attacks. At the very end of the seventh round, Kovalev made an accurate blow to Pascal's head. Under the influence of this blow, Jean began the eighth round, at the beginning of which Sergey performed a powerful series of accurate punches to the head. Standing at the ropes, Pascal stopped not only responding to attacks, but also defending himself. Taking care of the health of the shocked applicant, the judge stopped the fight.

Fight with Najib Mohammed

July 25, 2015 he met with the mandatory challenger for the IBF title by the Frenchman Najib Mohammed . To prepare for this fight, Sergey attracted amateur boxers Alexander Solyanikov and Daniil Shved , whom he has been familiar with since his appearance for the Russian national team . In the 2nd round, Kovalev sent Mohammedi to the floor of the ring, but the Frenchman managed to climb. In the 3rd round, Kovalev again sent the applicant into a knockdown. Mohammedi did not rise until the referee's score ended. Kovalev won by knockout.

The Battle of Jean Pascal II

On January 30, 2016, a rematch took place between Russian Sergei Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) and Canadian Jean Pascal (30-3-1). The battle, like the first, took place at the Bell Center arena in Montreal. For the sake of this fight, Pascal went to the new coach Freddie Roach , but this did not help him. Kovalev seized the advantage from the beginning of the battle, not allowing the opponent to win a single round. After seven rounds of beating Pascal, Roach took his ward off the battle ^{[15] [16]} .

The Fight with Isaac Chilemba

On July 11, 2016, Sergey Kovalyov fought with Isaac Chilemba . This fight was considered a warm-up before the fight with Andre Ward. It is worth noting that Chilemba was at the time of the battle 7th place in the ranking of light heavyweights according to The Ring magazine . Sergei's advantage was not overwhelming, but did not raise questions - in general, he got more and more thoroughly, although Isaac had successful moments and even won rounds. In the seventh three-minute period, Kovalev knocked the challenger down on the right, and in the eighth again he thoroughly shook the vis-a-vis - this time by hitting the left. Чилемба выстоял и больше на грани досрочного поражения не оказывался.117-110, 116—111, 118—109 — итоговый вердикт судей в пользу российского боксёра ^[17] . По словам Сергея, бой, как он и ожидал, оказался непростым ^[18] .

Позже Ковалёв заявил что перечислит свой гонорар за этот бой в пользу семьи Романа Симакова, погибшего в декабре 2011 года после их очного поединка. ^[nineteen]

Бой с Андре Уордом

О данном бое договаривались уже давно. В ноябре 2015 года Уорд перешёл из второго среднего веса в полутяжёлый и подписал контракт с HBO. Этот контракт включал в себя бой Ковалёв — Уорд ^[20] . В апреле 2016 года бой был официально подтверждён. Дата проведения — 19 ноября 2016 года ^{[21] [22]} . По мнению многих специалистов этот поединок являлся одним из самых ожидаемых и интригующих в боксе, так как на ринге встречаются два непобеждённых чемпиона (действующий и бывший). Оба спортсмена признавались боксёрами года по версии журнала « The Ring » и оба были лучшими боксёрами дивизиона (полутяжёлого и второго среднего). Небольшим фаворитом в этом бою у букмекеров выступал Андре Уорд ^[23] ; среди специалистов и боксёров немало и тех, кто отдавал предпочтение Ковалёву. Вечер бокса прошёл на HBO PPV. Для Сергея это первый бой, организованный по системе платных трансляций . Ковалёв хорошо начал бой. Во 2-м раунде россиянин отправил своего соперника в нокдаун. Однако, Уорд быстро восстановился и продолжил бой. Постепенно поединок выровнялся. Чемпион прессинговал и наносил силовые удары. Претендент действовал вторым номером и работал, в основном, джебом. В итоге, схватка продлилась все 12 раундов. Судьи единогласно отдали победу Уорду со счётом 114—113 ^[24] . Сергей не согласился с решением судей, назвав его абсурдом ^[25] . Ряд известных экспертов (Гарольд Ледерман, Ларри Мерчант и др.) также считает, что победу одержал Ковалёв ^{[26] [27]} . Россиянин решил воспользоваться пунктом о незамедлительном реванше, который был прописан в контракте ^[28] .

Бой-реванш с Андре Уордом

17 июня 2017 года состоялся второй бой против Андре Уорда. Поединок получился близким и конкурентным. У обоих спортсменов были удачные моменты. В 7-м раунде Уорд начал все чаще проводить атаки в нижнюю часть живота, имея плохую чистоту данных ударов, так как по крайней мере три из них попали в пах. После одного из таких ударов Ковалев начал сигнализировать судье в ринге об этом. Но судья в ринге не обратил на это внимание. В 8-м раунде Уорд потряс Ковалёва ударом справа. Андре пошёл на добивание. В своей атаке чемпион нанёс несколько ударов ниже пояса. Ковалёв согнулся от этих ударов. Рефери остановил бой, зафиксировав очень спорную победу американца техническим нокаутом. Сам Сергей назвал такую остановку безумием ^{[29] [30] [31] [32]} .

Смена тренера. Чемпионский бой с Вячеславом Шабранским

In the fall of 2017, Kovalev and his coach, John David Jackson, ceased cooperation. Jackson stated the following: “It’s very hard to work with him. It creates a bad image for Russians. I coached many of them, and they are great guys. They will give you the last shirt if necessary. And Kovalev is a concrete moron. He wants everything to be just for him. He is selfish. ” Jackson was also extremely dissatisfied with the work of Sergey in training ^{[33] [34]} . Sergey himself said that working with Jackson did not bring him any benefit: “For all the time I worked with Jackson, I received nothing from him. He did not give me anything, but only held his paws. I did not feel any help from him in the ring, because I had planned all the preparations myself. I do not want to say anything bad about Jackson - he is a good person, but for me he is not a coach ” ^{[35] [36]} .

In September 2017, it was announced that on November 25, Kovalyov will meet with Ukrainian Vyacheslav Shabransky ^{[37] [38]} . In October, Kovalev said that Abror Tursunpulatov will become his new coach. Tursunpulatov is best known for his work with the 2016 Olympic champion Uzbekistan Fazliddin Gaibnazarov ^{[39] [40]} . Also, in October, it was announced that in the Kovalev-Shabransky battle, the vacant world light heavyweight title would be at stake according to the WBO ^{[41] [42]} . The duel took place in Madison Square Garden . In the 1st round, Kovalev knocked Shabransky twice, and in the 2nd round, after a knockdown and finishing off the Russian side, the referee stopped the fight. In addition to the WBO title, Sergey also won the vacant world title in IBA ^{[43] [44]} and EBP ^[45] .

Fight with Igor Mikhalkin

In December 2017, it was announced that on March 3, 2018 Sergey will meet with Russian Igor Mikhalkin ^{[46] [47]} . Kovalev confidently began the battle and delivered more accurate strikes. Starting from the 3rd round, Mikhalkin began to move more and made the champion miss more often. Nevertheless, Sergey looked more convincing and won rounds. In addition, Igor had a strong cut due to which he began to see worse. In the 7th round, the referee stopped the fight, fixing the early victory of the defending champion ^{[48] [49] [50]} .

Battle with Eleder Alvarez

The fight between Sergei Kovalev and Colombian boxer Eleider Alvarez took place on August 4 in the American city of Atlantic City. The first two rounds Kovalyov conducted a moderately active reconnaissance, but he met a lightning-fast reaction from an opponent - a jab at the opening head. Alvarez, working as the second number, stopped the attack after attack, and the Russian boxer did not hurry to get involved in a close battle. The prolonged probing of the audience did not approve, in some moments even an unhappy whistle was heard. In the third round, the exchange of blows began to grow, and in the next three minutes, the Russian boxer brought down a whole series of punches on the head of the Colombian - one of which turned out to be sensitive. In the fifth and sixth rounds, the dominance of the Russian boxer was determined, and Alvarez could not oppose this to anything.

In the middle of the seventh round, Kovalev missed a hard blow to the right and could not stand on his feet. After the referee had counted, the Russian boxer energetically continued the fight, attaching little importance to his defense. Alvarez instantly took advantage of the opponent's weak defense, and the consequences of his “two” inflicted on Kovalev’s head turned out to be more tangible. Nevertheless, Kovalev rose again and again expressed a desire to fight. However, another Colombian crushing blow put an end to the confrontation - a knockout of Sergei Kovalev was considered a defeat ^[51] .

September 21, 2018 Kovalev announced the change of coach. His new mentor was the American Buddy McGirt ^{[52] [53]} .

Revenge with Elader Alvarez

On the night of February 2, 3, 2019, Sergei Kovalyov defeated Colombian Eleyder Alvaresav in a duel that took place in Frisco (USA). The revenge provided for a contract for the first fight. Sergei did not seek to knock out an opponent, and boxed disciplined for 12 rounds. Russian replayed a Colombian, struck more accurate shots (213 against 111) and confidently won the match. Score referee notes: 116-112, 116-112, 120-108. Thus, Kovalev was able to regain the WBO championship belt in the weight category up to 79.38 kg. Alvarez suffered his first loss in the professional ring in his 25th bout ^{[54] [55]} .

In the summer of 2019, Sergey Kovalev will defend his world title of World Boxing Organization (WBO) light heavyweight title (up to 79.4 kg) in a fight against Briton Anthony Yard ^[56] .

Information about the battles of Sergei Kovalev, which were shown on the system of paid broadcasts .

Titles

Amateur

• 2000.   Prizewinner of the Russian Junior Welterweight Championship
• 2001.   Prize-winner of the Russian Junior Middleweight Championship
• 2004.   Medalist of the Russian Championship
• 2005.   Russian middleweight champion
• 2007.   Prizewinner of the Russian Light Heavyweight Championship
• 2008   Prizewinner of the Russian Light Heavyweight Championship
• 2005.   Winner of the international light heavyweight tournament in South Africa
• 2006.   Winner of the international light heavyweight tournament in Germany
• 2007.   Winner of the international light heavyweight tournament in India

Professional regional and secondary

• 2011   NABA USA Light Heavyweight Champion
• 2011   WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Heavyweight Champion
• 2017—2018   IBA World Light Heavyweight Champion (79.4 kg)
• 2017 - n. at.   EBP World Light Heavyweight Champion (79.4 kg)

Professional World

• 2013—2016 , 2017—2018 , 2019 — present   WBO World Light Heavyweight Champion (79.4 kg)
• 2014—2016   World light heavyweight champion according to WBA (Super) (79.4 kg)
• 2014—2016   IBF World Light Heavyweight Champion (79.4 kg)

Awards

• 2015   In January 2015, Kovalev was awarded the WBO Super Champion name belt ^[60] .
• 2015   After defeating Pascal on March 14, 2015, Kovalev was awarded the WBC diamond belt. ^[61]
• 2014–2016 Winner of the national Boxing Star award in the nomination Champion of the Year (2014), Boxer of the Year (2015) Man of the Year (2016) ^{[62] [63] [64] [65]} .

Ranks

• 2007 International Master of Sports of Russia
• 2014 Boxer of the Year by The Ring ^[2] , WBO ^[3] , Sports Illustrated ^[4] , USA Today ^[5] .
• 2015 1st place light heavyweight according to The Ring magazine
• 2015—2016, 2017 2nd place in the ranking of Pound for Pound according to the magazine “Ring” .
• 2015 3rd place in the Gatti list according to HBO (5 most worthy and spectacular boxers) ^[66] .

Promotion Company

In the summer of 2015, he announced the creation of his own promotional company - Krusher Promotion ^{[67] [68]} . The first show was supposed to take place in the fall of that year. The fight was scheduled for November in Moscow. However, it had to be canceled, as it was not possible to agree with any of the potential rivals ^[69] .

Online Store

Kovalev has its own online store called “KRUSHER”. He sells original clothing for training and everyday life, boxing equipment and souvenirs from Sergey Kovalev ^[70] .

• In the ring goes to the song "Forever young" group " Semantic hallucinations ."
• The first and only Russian boxer to become Boxer of the Year according to the magazine “Ring”.
• Konstantin Tszyu and Sergey Kovalev are the only Russian boxers who managed to win 3 titles.
• He held the highest position in the ranking of Pound for Pound according to the magazine “Ring” among Russian boxers.
• One of 5 light heavyweight champions who became champions in 3 different versions.
• After defeating Nathan Cleverly and Bernard Hopkins, Kovalyov's promoter Katy Duva gave Kovalev rings that symbolized winning champion belts.
• In 2015, he met Stephen Seagal . He showed him several aikido techniques that Kovalev decided to use in boxing ^[71] .

On June 9, 2018, Kovalev was arrested in California for attacking a woman resulting in serious injuries, including a concussion, a broken nose, and a displacement of the cervical disc. The trial will take place in the summer of 2019. ^[72]

• Russian boxing world champions
• Light Heavyweight Boxing Champions List
• Boxer of the Year by The Ring Magazine

• Официальный сайт (рус.) (англ.)
• Ковалёв, Сергей Александрович (боксёр) (англ.) — статистика профессиональных боёв на сайте BoxRec