Saturday night, HBO features the return of former top light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev for his first fight follow his two losses to Andre Ward. Will the 34 year old Russian knockout artist still be the same fighter? Ukrainian Vyacheslav Shabranskyy will be there to help answer that question. Both Sullivan Barrera and Jason Sosa fight in the undercard bouts as well.
After a few decent wins on NBC Sports Network, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) had his breakout performance in 2013 against fellow unbeaten Nathan Cleverly. Kovalev turned what was supposed to be a competitive matchup into a rout in a hurry and finished his British foe inside four rounds. That night was the first of nine straight wins on HBO that launched him into stardom.
Here is the thing about that streak that we probably should talk about more, however. It is kind of weak. Ismayl Sillah, Cedric Agnew, and Blake Caparello aren’t particularly close to world class fighters. Bernard Hopkins was still B-Hop, but he was also 50 years old. Jean Pascal was still a good fighter the first time they fought, but he had also been exposed a little bit. Nadjib Mohammedi is another non-contender while the Pascal rematch was a farce. Finally, Isaac Chilemba is a tricky fighter, but not a super elite one and Kovalev did struggle with him a lot, especially early.
All this is to say that maybe the reputation that the Russian Krusher earned might have been at least a little smoke and mirrors going into his first fight with Andre Ward. Argue with the decision of the first Ward fight all you want, but either way by the end the Oakland great had Kovalev figured out and the rematch played out accordingly.
Still, Kovalev is a really good fighter. He did almost beat an all time great in his first fight with Ward, for example. My concern, however, is if he can be the same guy going forward. A lot of his success has been predicated on the aura he created in that extended knockout streak. Sergey Kovalev is a man who both struck fear in his opponents and fought with a tremendous amount of confidence. I thought even Andre Ward was scared of him for the first half of their first fight.
What is left of Sergey Kovalev now at 34? People have seen him beaten down and defeated. Is the aura gone? Is he even still the same physically? I don’t like the trainer drama he has been going through in his breakup with John David Jackson. I don’t like how little personal responsibility Kovalev seems to have taken in his defeats in blaming everything from the officials to Jackson. Overall, I do not like where Sergey Kovalev seems to be right now.
The question then becomes whether or not largely dismissed Ukrainian light heavyweight Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (19-1, 16 KOs) brings enough to the table for us to find out where Kovalev really is at. Despite no one picking him, I actually say maybe. Look, I won’t be shocked if the Russian walks through the Ukrainian in three rounds here as he has show that ability before and Shabranskyy has been down plenty, but there is a reason Vyacheslav was once considered a prominent prospect. He can punch and he isn’t unskilled.
That one loss on his record did a lot to ruin Shabranskyy’s standing as a prospect, but maybe in hindsight it shouldn’t have. Last December, he met Sullivan Barrera and was stopped in seven in a fun fight where both fighters had hit the deck, Shabranskyy three times. At the time Barrera was coming off a wide, nondescript loss to Andre Ward so it wasn’t the best look to lose to him, but since then Barrera has established himself as a true top light heavyweight. That wasn’t a bad loss at all. Furthermore, Kovalev does not fight with the same style that troubled Shabranskyy that night last December.
I can’t pick Shabranskyy thogh. I don’t think he is the likely winner here. Yet, I can’t rule him out completely either. This is not something that I would have said that before this summer, before Andre Ward did his thing in against Sergey Kovalev. Saturday night we find out what, if anything, those losses did to the Krusher. The vacant WBO title will be on the line.
Speaking of Sullivan Barrera (20-1, 14 KOs), he has the co-main event spot against little known Felix Valera (15-1, 13 KOs) and his typically inflated Dominican knockout record. This is unlikely to be a competitive fight, but there is still a comparative narrative to be found here. Last May, Valera went the distance with rising light heavyweight star Dmitry Bivol, surviving two knockdowns to do so. Can Barrera do better?
Opening the tripleheader is junior lightweight Jason Sosa (20-2-4, 15 KOs) making his return to the ring following being dominated by ultra-elite divisional king Vasyl Lomachenko last April against Cuban former star Yuriorkis Gamboa (27-2, 17 KOs). Gamboa is a late replacement for Robinson Castellanos here. That would have been a good fight. This isn’t. While I am happy Gamboa is finally going back down to 130 lbs here after years of pointlessly being a really undersized lightweight, it is too late. Gamboa is shot and Jason Sosa is going to beat him up. This one isn’t likely to be pretty.
The HBO broadcast show begins at 10 PM Eastern Saturday night.
