Sergey Kovalev vs. Meng Fanlong | Triller - OFF

[Ruthless-RKO]

Sergey Kovalev, Meng Fanlong Nearing Deal For Triller Fight Club Main Event March 12

Sergey Kovalev’s cruiserweight debut is almost set.

Boxing Scene has confirmed that representatives for Kovalev and Meng Fanlong have almost completed a deal for them to fight March 12 at an undetermined venue. Triller Fight Club will offer the Kovalev-Fanlong fight as a main event.

Russia’s Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs), a former light heavyweight champion, and China’s Fanlong (17-0, 10 KOs), a light heavyweight contender, have agreed to meet at a catch weight of 185 pounds. Boxing’s cruiserweight limit is 200 pounds.

ESPN.com’s Mike Coppinger first reported the news of the Kovalev-Fanlong fight on Twitter.

Kovalev hasn’t fought since Canelo Alvarez knocked him out in the 11th round of their WBO light heavyweight title fight in November 2019 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Alvarez-Kovalev fight was very competitive prior to Alvarez’s vicious knockout, but Kovalev’s career has stalled since he earned a reported $12 million for fighting the Mexican superstar.

The 38-year-old former champion was supposed to box then-unbeaten Uzbekistan native Bektemir Melikuziev (8-1, 6 KOs) last January 30 in a DAZN main event. Kovalev was removed from that bout because he tested positive for synthetic testosterone, a banned substance.

Kovalev’s removal from that bout caused a contract dispute with Golden Boy Promotions, which owed Kovalev at least one fight after he lost to Alvarez as part of Oscar De La Hoya’s company’s distribution deal with DAZN. An arbitrator could rule on the Golden Boy-Kovalev issue sometime next month.

The 33-year-old Fanlong, meanwhile, has tried to land a high-profile fight since the COVID-19 pandemic cost the 2012 Olympian a shot at unbeaten IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev. The Beterbiev-Fanlong fight was scheduled for March 2020 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.

Fanlong was the IBF’s mandatory challenger for Beterbiev’s belt. Pandemic-related restrictions prohibited the southpaw from traveling to Russia for their rescheduled bout.

Germany’s Adam Deines, who lost a 12-round IBF elimination match to Fanlong by unanimous decision in June 2019, replaced him as Beterbiev’s mandatory challenger. Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs) stopped Deines (20-2-1, 11 KOs) in the 10th round last March 20 at Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow.

[margaret thatcher]

eo my man, let's hear it

[Ruthless-RKO]

So I guess Kovalev isn’t owed them $$ from DAZN cus he pissed hot..

No longer with main events.

Cashing in with Triller. Don’t blame him

Thought Meng was Beterbiev’s mandatory.

[Thomastearns]

Kovalev is walking towards disaster.

You'd have thought he'd have made enough money from the Canelo fight to secure his future, so why this?

His deterioration is plainly obvious for all to see.
This is not the same as Bernhard Hopkins or GGG in the twilight of their careers.

This is a man rapidly going downhill.

Dangerously so.

The only one in denial is Sergey himself.

If he wants to keep fighting then he should be looking out for suitable YouTubers not someone 17 - 0.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Meng can win this..

[lazboy]

Meng can win this..

He certainly can. I doubt Kovalev has put in the work plus the huge break between fights…

[Ruthless-RKO]

Meng can win this..

He certainly can. I doubt Kovalev has put in the work plus the huge break between fights…

He looks rather slow in some recent training footage I seen him in.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

[ironbeard]

Kovalev has 0 chin, but his skills may still be enough to get him by.

[ironbeard]

Meng, a southpaw, isn’t exactly lightning quick, to be kind.

[DrDuke]

Finally Kovalev is back. Of course, now it's unclear, how much of him is left. Probably he'll win this. It's more interesting how his real CW run can turn out.

[victor-romeo]

Kovalev one of my favorite fighters of all time, but he is what like 38 years old? Time to let it go, He looks like he is 55 in his pictures....He should count his blessings that he got great payday Canelo fight, and learn how to enjoy life outside of boxing with remains of his health..

[margaret thatcher]

i think meng won some ppl decent money when franky buglioni was bizarrly a big arse favourite against him , even after having been splatted by cal johnson

[Perseus]

Seems like a winnable fight for either man.

[JxhDel.]

It is all to see having seen Kovalev's condition three years ago.

[KiwiRider]

Kovalev one of my favorite fighters of all time, but he is what like 38 years old? Time to let it go, He looks like he is 55 in his pictures....He should count his blessings that he got great payday Canelo fight, and learn how to enjoy life outside of boxing with remains of his health..

I know.
Its sad and foolhardy for him to keep boxing. He has that troubling boxing statistic written all over him.

[IRL25]

So I guess Kovalev isn’t owed them $$ from DAZN cus he pissed hot..

No longer with main events.

Cashing in with Triller. Don’t blame him

Thought Meng was Beterbiev’s mandatory.

He was Beterbiev didn't not want the fight due to the Chinese government persecuting the Uighur who are a Muslim minority in China, and Beterbiev was quite vocal about it.

[Ruthless-RKO]

So I guess Kovalev isn’t owed them $$ from DAZN cus he pissed hot..

No longer with main events.

Cashing in with Triller. Don’t blame him

Thought Meng was Beterbiev’s mandatory.

He was Beterbiev didn't not want the fight due to the Chinese government persecuting the Uighur who are a Muslim minority in China, and Beterbiev was quite vocal about it.

He was ok with the fight being in Canada though wasn’t he?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kovalev Aiming for Cruiserweight Title Shot After Three or Four Fights, Then Retirement

Sergey Kovalev wants to end his career with one last piece of hardware.

The former longtime light heavyweight titleholder from Russia is hoping to become a two-division titlist by winning a belt in the cruiserweight ranks, according to his manager Egis Klimas. Kovalev, a force in the light heavyweight class for the first half of the 2010s, has seen his career plunge dramatically ever since his 11th-round knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez in November of 2019, which was the last time Kovalev fought.

Recently, Kovalev was shown working out with trainer Buddy McGirt, gearing up for a comeback, reportedly against Chinese contender Meng Fanlong at a contracted weight of 185 pounds on a Triller Fight Club card in the spring. Klimas made it clear Kovalev won’t be returning to light heavyweight at this juncture in his career.

“For him to fight [at] cruiserweight it’s not gonna be a big issue,” Klimas said on The 3 Knockdown Rule. “He has a good name. Right now he’s hungry. He wants to fight. Right now at the end of his career, we don’t see no point for him to go to 175.

“At cruiserweight, [after] three or four fights we can walk into the championship bout, and then just close [his career].”

The current champions in the cruiserweight division (200 pounds) are England’s Lawrence Okolie (WBO), Latvia’s Mairis Briedis (IBF), France’s Arsen Goulamirian (WBA), and the Congo’s Ilunga Makabu (WBC).

Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs), who is still under promotional contract with Main Events, was originally supposed to get in the ring with Sullivan Barrera in April 2020, but COVID-19 protocol put the kibosh on that bout. Kovalev was then set to face Uzbek prospect Bektemir Melikuziev in January 2021, but that bout was cancelled after Kovalev tested positive for a banned substance. Melikuziev is a Golden Boy fighter, and Kovalev, per an agreement with Golden Boy heading into his bout Alvarez, was owed a couple of fights under their banner, as a compromise for settling for a lesser purse that he initially demanded from the Alvarez bout. Klimas said that Golden Boy has refused to offer those fights to his charge, which has prompted them to take legal action.

“As far as [legal matters go], we have arbitration with Golden Boy,” Klimas said. “I believe right now the date is April. When we fought Canelo we agreed for such amount and they said, ‘no.’ [Golden Boy said] ‘We give you less, but in case you guys lose, we give you two comeback fights. We include this amount in these two comeback fights.’ But they never gave us [the fights].”

Asked if that agreement was essentially voided after Kovalev tested positive for a PED heading into the Melikuziev bout, Klimas declined comment.

“I’m gonna let the judge rule on that,” Klimas said.

Klimas said that Kovalev, who has had his fair share of out-of-the-ring troubles in recent years, has struggled to reach the light heavyweight limit in his last several fights.

“At 175 he was struggling all the time,” Klimas said, adding that Kovalev walks around at 200 pounds. “Most of the weakness for him was to do 175. Sometimes even in the morning, before the weigh-in, he goes to the sauna, he leaves everything out of him to lose that weight.

“He’s good for seven, eight rounds, then he’s done. Even against Canelo. Look what he did with Canelo in the beginning. Then he just drained. He has no power. In the 11th round he was already like [wobbly].”

The undefeated Fanlong (17-0, 10 KOs) is coming off a 10-round unanimous decision over Israel Duffus last October.

[Enlightened-One]

Fanlong Meng's padded resume makes him look like the 175lbs Chinese equivalent of Mark de Mori, except he's more feather-fisted.

Sergey Kovalev will be on the cusp of turning 39 years of age when he faced a past-his-prime 35-year-old version of Fanlong Meng.

Krusher’s only victory within the last three years was against the (then) unproven inexperienced UK domestic level Anthony Yarde.

So the fight is going to be fought at 185lbs, because I’m guessing that the heavy-drinking Sergey Kovalev can no longer make weight in his natural light-heavyweight habitat.

I’m also guessing that Fanlong Meng has been cherry-picked for an easy highlight-reel stoppage win for Kovalev in order to persuade naïve casual boxing observers into believing “he still has it!” (assuming the Russian is not completely shot).

And I feel that’s the most likely outcome.

But from my experience, whenever a fighter gets old, becomes inactive, hasn’t enjoyed any recent success, and also doesn’t live the life of a professional athlete, then anything (including an embarrassing career-ending upset) is possible.

[Ruthless-RKO]

So the fight is going to be fought at 185lbs, because I’m guessing that the heavy-drinking Sergey Kovalev can no longer make weight in his natural light-heavyweight habitat.

Sorry to just pick on this pal, His manager said he walks around at 200, but he has struggled to make 175 for ages.

Was he always a drinker and it just got more know recently or was it as his career progressed.

Kovalev in the early 2010's was P4P elite level wasn't he?

[margaret thatcher]

meng was an olympian and international level amateur (de mori had only amateur 11 fights), and has pro wins far far better than anything de mori managed, no need to exaggerate that much

for some perspective, de mori is currently ranked 207 by boxrec, meng is ranked 17

weird to think meng is the lhw version of de mori, rather than say, zhang zhilei (chinese, olympian, similar pro career, boxrec #29)

[Enlightened-One]

So the fight is going to be fought at 185lbs, because I’m guessing that the heavy-drinking Sergey Kovalev can no longer make weight in his natural light-heavyweight habitat.

Sorry to just pick on this pal, His manager said he walks around at 200, but he has struggled to make 175 for ages.

Kovalev previously claimed he made weight rather easily.

[Ruthless-RKO]

So the fight is going to be fought at 185lbs, because I’m guessing that the heavy-drinking Sergey Kovalev can no longer make weight in his natural light-heavyweight habitat.

Sorry to just pick on this pal, His manager said he walks around at 200, but he has struggled to make 175 for ages.

Kovalev previously claimed he made weight rather easily.

How previous are we talking tho?

His manager claimed this recently.