Biography
Sergey Kovalev is a Russian professional boxer competing in the light heavyweight category. He achieved victories at the Russian Amateur Championship in 2005 and became the world champion in Asian, European and American versions. Also, among boxing fans, he is known by the nickname the Wrecker.
Sergey was born in a small town Kopeysk, located in the Chelyabinsk region. In parallel with secondary school, he started going to the sports section, and at the age of 11 he consciously and actively decided to engage in boxing. He attended the private gym of Sergey Vladimirovich Novikov, who became his first coach.After school, Kovalev entered the Faculty of Winter Sports and Martial Arts of the Ural State University of Physical Culture, where he studied at the Department of Boxing Theory and Methodology.
Box
Sergey Kovalev made his debut in amateur fights at the age of 14 at the Junior championship of Russia and immediately won first place. The following year, he was announced together with the participants of the older age category. Nevertheless, the young boxer reached the final, and a year later won these competitions. Thanks to such successes, Kovalev attracted the attention of the most famous domestic coaches and became a member of the Russian youth national team, with whom he competed at the European Championship.
At the youth level, he entered the ring until the age of 21 and several times became a prize-winner of the national championships and the Olympic Hopes Winter championship.Since 2004, Sergey has participated in adult competitions, and in the first championship he reached the final in the light heavyweight category, and also became the winner of the team competition. The following season, the young athlete managed to become the champion of the Russian championship, as well as win the World Championship among military personnel.
In subsequent years, Sergey Kovalev received silver and bronze medals in domestic competitions, turned out to be the winner at the World Military Games in India. In 2008, the boxer decided to try himself in professional international boxing. By that time, he had won 193 matches out of 215 matches.
Professional career
Sergey Kovalev had his first professional fight with American Daniel Chavez and won against him by knockout. Similarly, the athlete spent the next 8 matches, winning by knockout in the first or second rounds.Kovalev got a more serious opponent in October 2010. In the match against American Darnell Boone, the Russian fought all the 8 rounds required by the rules and managed to win only on points earned. This fight, like all the previous ones, took place in the USA. For the first time as a professional boxer Sergey Kovalev performed in Russia at the very end of 2010. He fought in Yekaterinburg with compatriot Karen Avetisyan and defeated him after 6 rounds by unanimous decision of the judges.
In July 2011, for the first time in his career, Kovalev held a 10-round fight for the world title against Kenyan Douglas Otieno, and, having knocked his opponent into the ring by knockout in the second round, won his first honorary trophy - the belt of the North American Boxing Association NABA.The boxer received the next title - the Asian light heavyweight champion according to the WBC version - six months later. He fought against Russian Roman Simakov and knocked him out in the 7th round. But the victory was overshadowed by grief. Simakov, having received a traumatic brain injury during the fight, fell into a coma, and after a while died without regaining consciousness. This incident made a heavy impression on Sergey Kovalev. He did not train for several months, and only after receiving an offer from the Main Events promotion company, he decided to return to the big sport.His agent and promoter was Katie Duva, who organized meetings with famous rivals, after defeating whom Kovalev was awarded the right to meet with former world champion Gabriel Campillo. During the fight, the Spaniard was knocked down three times, and lost in the third round as a result of a knockout. Another victory lifted Sergey Kovalev into the top ten of the world ranking.In the summer of 2013, the boxer became the WBO light heavyweight world champion by knocking out Briton Nathan Cleverley, for whom this defeat was the first in his professional career. For two more athletes, Sergey Kovalev caused the first defeat. American Cedric Agnew and Australian Blake Caparello lost in the course of interesting fights, and the Russian boxer, thus, has already confirmed his right to wear the title of world champion three times.In November 2014, Kovalev met with world boxing veteran Bernard Hopkins, who hoped to defend his title. But the young fighter did not leave his opponent a single chance, having conducted a tactically competent and technically flawless duel. At the end of the match, Hopkins practically avoided punches, drifting along the ropes until the final gong. Thanks to this victory, Sergey Kovalev became the WBA (Super), IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion of the world, thus receiving three different belts in the same weight category. This achievement turned out to be a repeat of the success of the famous boxer Wladimir Klitschko, there are no other owners of three belts in the same category at the moment in history.In 2014, Canadian athlete Jean Pascal took the fight of Sergey Kovalev, hoping to win the title of the best boxer on the planet, but by the third round the champion showed a significant advantage, and in the last part of the match Jean Pascal stopped not only responding, but also defending, as a result of which the referee stopped the fight and counted the technical victory of the Russian. Nevertheless, the Canadian decided to fight Kovalev again, and a rematch was scheduled for January 30, 2016. To prepare for this fight, Pascal even changed his coach and started training under the guidance of the famous mentor Freddie Roach. But the rematch ended with Kovalev's victory. The boxer started winning round after round, and after the seventh victory, the coach took Pascal out of the fight.In July 2016, Kovalev met Isaac Chilemba in the ring. This fight also ended with Sergey's victory.Sergey Kovalev was recognized as the strongest Russian boxer. Besides him, none of the athletes from Russia became the light heavyweight champion of the world and was not recognized as the boxer of the year according to the Ring magazine. Nevertheless, due to the fact that the athlete spent most of his career in America, where he is known by the nickname Krusher, Sergey Kovalev is less known to the general mass of Russians than some other boxers.
Personal life
Sergey Kovalev is married, his wife's name is Natalia. In 2014, they became parents of a baby, who was named Alexander.
Interestingly, Sergey always enters the ring to the sounds of the song "Forever Young" from the repertoire of the Russian group "Semantic Hallucinations".Kovalev founded his own promotion company "Krusher Promotion", which plans to organize demonstration fights of boxers. Also, a designer line of sportswear is produced under the brand "Krusher".
The brand name is also present on the official website of the boxer. This page contains the official biography of the athlete, a photo gallery, videos of fights, links to Kovalev's accounts on Instagram, Twitter, VKontakte and other networks, as well as a link directly to the athlete's online store.
Sergey Kovalev now
The latest news from Sergey Kovalev's sporting life is much less optimistic than the beginning and peak of the athlete's boxing biography.On November 19, 2016, Kovalev's fight with Andre Ward took place. This fight was planned back in 2015, when the athlete signed a contract with HBO, including entering the ring against Ward. The press called this fight the most anticipated and intriguing: two undefeated champions, former and current, two athletes, the best in the division, entered the ring.The fight with Andre Ward was the first fight for Kovalev shown in the paid broadcast system. The Russian boxer started the fight, quickly gaining an advantage, and even sent the opponent into a knockdown. But Ward recovered and began to deliver power punches. The fight lasted 12 rounds, and the judges gave the victory to Andre Ward with a minimal advantage – the score of the fight turned out to be 113:114.Sergey Kovalev disagreed with the judges' decision, calling the verdict absurd. The athlete was also supported by a number of sports experts, and not only of Russian origin. Kovalev used the right of immediate revenge. The re-fight took place on June 17, 2017. The second fight with Ward also ended with a controversial victory for the American, and Kovalev called the fight madness. In the 7th round, Andre Ward started hitting the lower part of the opponent's body, periodically hitting the groin, and the referee did not respond to Sergey's signals about violations. In the 8th round, when the Russian athlete bent over in pain, the referee stopped the fight, but counted Andre Ward's victory by technical knockout.
Progress
2007 - Master of Sports of international class
2013-2016 - world champion in a light heavyweight WBO (79.4 kg)
2014-2016 - the world champion in a light heavyweight WBA (Super) (79.4 kg)
2014-2016 - the world champion in a light heavyweight IBF (79.4 kg)
2014 - winner of the national award of the Russian Federation "Boxing Star" in the nomination "the champion of the year"
2014 fighter of the year by the magazine "The Ring", "WBO" Sports Illustrated, USA Today
2015 - getting a personal WBA super champion belt
2015 – getting the diamond belt WBC
2015 - 1st place in the light heavyweight according to the magazine "The Ring"
2015 - 3rd place in the list Gatti version of HBO
2015 - Winner of the national award of the Russian Federation "Boxing Star" in the nomination "fighter of the year"
2015-2016 - 2nd place in the "Pound for Pound" by the magazine "the Ring"
2016 - winner of the national award of the Russian Federation "Boxing Star" in the nomination "person of the year"
2017 - 2nd place in the "Pound for Pound" by the magazine "the Ring"
