Sergey Kovalev was shockingly beaten by Eleider Alvarez at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City on Saturday night, and the defeat came in convincing fashion.
Alvarez, now 25-0 in his career, scored three knockdowns in the 7th round before the fight was finally stopped. Here’s a look at all three:
.@StormAlvarez brings the thunder. #KovalevAlvarez pic.twitter.com/T09FRBC7ZQ
— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) August 5, 2018
The first knockdown came on a stiff right-hand from Alvarez that landed squarely on Kovalev’s face. As the commentators noted in the video, the Russian never seemed to recover from that punch. He took a long count before continuing, and then he hit the canvas a second time in the round after a 1-2 combo from Alvarez. The fight probably should have been stopped after that, but Kovalev was allowed to continue. He lasted mere seconds before being dropped a third time, which is when the fight was finally stopped.
Kovalev, now 32-3-1, has lost three of his last five fights (the other two losses came to Andre Ward). He lost his IBA and WBO light heavyweight title belts in the defeat and seems to be on his way down in his career. Meanwhile, the 34-year-old Alvarez has put together three straight impressive wins coming over Lucian Bute, Jean Pascal, and now Kovalev.
