The last Sunday Sergey Kovalev recaptured the WBO world title he once held as he defeated Vyacheslav Shabranskyy within just two rounds in Madison Square Garden, New York. Nicknamed 'Krusher' for his terrifying punching power and impressive KO record, the Russian light-heavyweight boxer managed to send to the floor his Ukrainian opponent on three occasions before the referee stopped the fight in the early minutes of the second round. Following the victory which broadcast by Sky Sports and was well anticipated by fellow boxers and experts alike, Kovalev, 34, told about his desire to unify once again the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles he held between 2013 and 2016.
Less than a year passed since he twice lost to Andre Ward in his previous fights in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As Ward announced his retirement this year, Sergey Kovalev was quick to use this chance to reclaim the much coveted WBO title.
Turned to one-sided beating within opening minutes fight had to be wound up early
At Madison Square Garden, Sergey Kovalev was facing a strong contender in Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, 30, who not only had a strong track record of 19 wins with 16 KOs but is also 6 cm taller with longer reach and slightly heavier than his counterpart from the Urals. Kovalev started the bout in his trademark aggressive and menacing fashion, he managed to send Shabranskyy on the canvas with a hammering right hand in the opening minutes of the first round.
Even though the giant Ukrainian managed to reach his opponent with a couple of jabs, the fight soon became completely one-sided. After a second knock-down, the Shabranskyy was given the go-ahead to continue into the second round, looking still dazed. Vyacheslav was then stalked and menaced relentlessly by 'Krusher' who appeared to be hammering him at will.
Less than a minute after another knock-down delivered by a right hand the referee finally decided Shabranskyy had enough. Speaking shortly afterwards to Sky News Kovalev said: "I worked very hard to return to champion status. I reloaded my brain, my mental conditioning and my body - I'm back. It's my goal to be the best, I am ready to fight for all the titles and unify the division.
I love boxing and I am here to make great fights."
Future light-heavyweight division title fights to be chalked for coming year
Sergey Kovalev expressed his desire to fight all the champions in the light-heavyweight division after his win over Vyacheslav Shabranskyy which allowed him to win the WBO light-heavyweight champion title for the second time. He named the Canadian Adonis Stevenson, as well as his fellow Russians Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol among the boxers he would be willing to meet on the ring. Not long before the last fight, he announced the much experienced Abror Tursunpulatov as his new trainer. Mr Tursunpulatov is well known for his successful track record of training and developing promising amateurs, such as 2016 Rio Olympic Gold medallist Fazliddin Gaibnazarov.
Jamie Moore, a boxing expert was earlier quoted to say he expects Mr Kovalev to return to his best. The Ring magazine named Segey Kovalev their Fighter of the Year in 2014, and together with BoxRec in July 2016 they ranked him as the world's best light heavyweight. The latter resource also ranked him as the world's third best active boxer, pound for pound.
