Sergey Kovalev reclaimed his old WBO belt tonight on HBO with his win over Ukrainian contender Vyacheslav Shabranskyy. It was a dominant performance from the former top light heavyweight against a defensively liable fighter. Shabranskyy was just what the doctor ordered for “Krusher” Kovalev.
Sergey Kovalev (31-2, 27 KOs) first put “Slava” Shabranskyy (19-2, 16 KOs) down on a glancing blow in the first round that was as much a balance issue as anything else, but it was the second knockdown near the end of the round that did all the damage. A big right hand badly hurt the Ukrainian and he froze only to get tagged again before going down. He probably wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t in the final moments of the round.
Slava is just not a fighter that is all that defensively responsible to begin with. In with a precision power puncher like Sergey Kovalev, he was a sitting duck. Two chopping right hands behind a nice jab put him down again in the second round. Shabranskyy was allowed to continue again, but he was stopped with a series of blows while still on his feet in the following thirty seconds. The stoppage was good.
This fight was exactly what Krusher Kovalev needed to re-establish both his reputation and confidence. Post-fight Kovalev still denied his losses to Andre Ward, talked about being happy with the young competition coming up in the division, and threw in an Adonis Chickenson joke in for old time’s sake.
