Sergey Kovalev vs Eleider Alvarez : Fight
Odds, Time, Date, Live Stream, TV Info Sergey Kovalev needs a win in a
bad way on Saturday night if he is to resurrect his flagging career.
“Krusher” is 2-3 in his last five fights, and he will be looking to get
back to championship status in his rematch with Eleider Alvarez at the
Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas.
Click Here To Watch Now Live Fight
Last time out, Alvarez knocked Kovalev
down three times in the seventh round to claim a TKO-win and earn the
WBO world light heavyweight title he will be putting on the line
Saturday. In case you forgot, or haven’t seen it yet, here’s a quick
recap:
Kovalev was the champion in that match
and, even with his two losses to Andre Ward not long behind him, still
considered one of the most fearsome boxers around. But the undefeated
Alvarez knocked Kovalev out of the pantheon, establishing himself as a
fighter to be reckoned with in the process.
Kovalev, 35, doesn’t have much time left
to re-establish himself as a preeminent boxer, and it’s possible he
won’t get a chance at all, win or lose. He faces a felony assault
charge from a June 2018 incident, two months before the Alvarez loss,
where he allegedly punched a woman in the face.
Alvarez vs. Kovalev Fight Info
When: Saturday, Feb. 2 at 9 p.m. PT, 12 a.m. ET
Where: Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas
TV: BoxNation (UK only)
Live Stream: ESPN+, BoxNation.com (UK only)
It wasn’t all that long ago Kovalev was
the dominant, world-beating force at light heavyweight. The slugger
brutalized his opponents, at one point stopping 12 of 13 opponents, the
only exception being a decision win against the great Bernard
Hopkins. And then came the Ward fights.
Kovalev lost the first fight against Ward
in November 2016. He managed to knock Ward down in the second round,
only to fade late, allowing Ward to pick up a close unanimous decision
that some might argue should’ve gone to Krusher.
In the rematch, it was again
back-and-forth until the eighth round, where a stunning right hand to
the jaw and some bruising punches right at the belt-line proved to be
too much for Kovalev to handle. The referee waved it off with Kovalev
slumped against the ropes, exhausted and broken.
So Kovalev had lost twice, but not
terribly so, and this is Ward we’re talking about. Maybe Kovalev was
still a boxing god, but more like Hephaestus, working with a hammer but
still slightly imperfect, and he had picked a fight with Zeus.
A couple of stoppage wins led Kovalev to
that loss to Alvarez, and now he looks like he belongs nowhere near
boxing’s current Olympus.
Alvarez might not have the same level of
fame as Kovalev, but he is a menacing fighter in his own right. He’s yet
to take a loss, and he has beaten tough fighters like Jean Pascal,
Lucian Bute and Isaac Chilemba. The 34-year-old Colombian has staked his
claim to fame beating Kovalev, but it doesn’t mean he’s necessarily the
better boxer. Ward doesn’t think so.
“Alvarez is not a better fighter than
Sergey Kovalev,” Ward said, per ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael. “But he’s got
heart. He’s got momentum. And he’s emboldened.”
The boxing world will find out what, if
anything, Kovalev has left to offer at the top level on Saturday night.
If Alvarez beats him handily, Kovalev’s time as a championship contender
is all but over.
But then the next question will arise:
What does Alvarez really have to offer? He will still have only defended
his title once. It will take much more than that to reach the pantheon.
Odds are courtesy of OddsShark and updated as of Thursday, Jan. 31, at 7 a.m. ET.
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