Sergey Kovalev doesn’t know what he will do next, but knows it’s the end
Former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev will bid farewell to his boxing career this weekend.
The 42-year-old Russian boxes Artur Mann inside the Yunost Arena in Chelyabinsk on Friday having struggled with inactivity in recent years.
Kovalev is 35-5-1 (29 KOs) and it was in 2013 that he seized the WBO title in emphatic fashion from Nathan Cleverly in Wales.
That was 12 long years ago, and Kovalev admits he might not be the same beast that left a scene of destruction behind him in Cardiff.
“Listen, this is boxing. The ring will show, and how ready I will be,” said Kovalev, when asked to compare the Kovalev of then and now. “Everything depends on what we can bring with us… the weapons. But, right now, we’re ready to fight, and this will be very big intrigue because it’s already been a long time [since] I didn’t fight again. The last fight was like a year ago. It’s a long pause.”
That contest saw the former champion dropped on his way to a decision loss at cruiserweight against Robin Sirwan Safar in Saudi Arabia.
And despite his decorated career, Kovalev leaves without achieving his main goal of becoming an undisputed world champion, having held the WBA, IBF and WBO titles but failed to get former WBC champion Adonis Stevenson in the ring.
That has caused some lingering resentment for the Russian, who still refers to Stevenson by the derisory nickname he gave him years ago.
“’Chickenson’ avoided fights with me, and therefore my dream wasn’t achieved,” said Kovalev. “If it was not for Adonis Stevenson, I would be absolute champion in the world. But he wasn’t ready to fight me. I achieved not everything what I wanted. I wanted to be absolute world champion, but I had only three titles.”
Asked about the best performance of his career, Kovalev lists several, from winning his first title to reclaiming a belt from Eleider Alvarez (who had defeated him six months earlier), outscoring Bernard Hopkins, and his second-round stoppage of Ismayl Sillah.
Arguably, Kovalev is perhaps best known for his two-fight feud with Andre Ward, who won a disputed decision against Kovalev in their first fight, but who stopped the hard-hitting Russian in their rematch.
“With Andre Ward, I [was] disappointed with boxing, with judges, the politics. Last rematch [the second fight], I don't remember much, you know, because, like, there was, behind the scenes a lot of trash, a lot of dirty things…”
Kovalev still questions a drink of water he had after round one, because he doesn’t recall what happened after.
Still, he won’t class Ward as the best he faced, saying that every fight was important and that he had to treat them all as world title fights.
And when he fought Canelo in 2019, he said he had not had the opportunity to recover from a taxing fight with Anthony Yarde several weeks earlier.
“With Canelo, I fought like I was empty of energy, you know. I fought, like, before the Canelo fight in my hometown against Anthony Yarde, and Canelo’s team didn't give me rest after the fight. Like, just in two months I already fought Canelo in Vegas. It’s crazy.”
But it was the inexperienced Yarde who ran out of energy in their fight, and Kovalev caught up with him and stopped the Englishman in the 11th.
Kovalev thought Yarde was a good fighter.
“I was impressed,” said the veteran. “I was, like, confused that he fought really, really good, and he never fought 12 rounds, and after round number seven [when Yarde went all out for the win], he ‘died’.”
It was only a couple of years beyond Kovalev’s prime when fellow Russian’s Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev emerged as divisional leaders. Kovalev had lost a narrow decision to Beterbiev in the amateurs, and Kovalev admits fights with both would have intrigued him.
“It should be very interesting to fight with these guys, the era with Bivol and Beterbiev, because this era pays a lot of money for the fights. They’re very good fighters, both of them. Like, you see, they’re real absolute [undisputed] champions, both. I agree with this. Well, for me, Bivol’s better, because he has more movement and uses his legs more and has good footwork. He’s more tricky.”
But, of course, Kovalev is now looking to bow out while Bivol and Beterbiev prepare for their trilogy fight later in the year.
Kovalev’s light heavyweight days are firmly behind him, and he anticipates weighing around 186lbs on Friday.
Asked whether he might join the likes of Ward in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, he said: “I don't know, I don’t know. Maybe. I hope.”
He also hopes to inspire the next generation, and said that if his fights motivate a young boxer to pick up the gloves in the hope of achieving what he has, he will be content.
And then, what will “The Krusher” do in life after boxing?
“What am I going to do? I don’t know,” he said. “I’m going to be busy with my kids [his son is 10, his daughter is six]. Have fun, you know, like, enjoy my life.”
