By Allan Fox: IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) and his opponent Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2, 10 KOs) both made weight successfully on Sunday for their on Monday night on HBO World Championship Boxing from the DIVS in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
The 6’0” Kovalev tipped the scales at 174.6lbs, and looked in top condition. The taller 6’2” Chilemba weighed in 174.8lbs. Despite being two inches taller than Kovalev, the reach between is about the same with Chilemba enjoying a half inch reach. That’s not going to be enough for Chilemba to stay on the outside avoid getting hit all night in this fight. He’s going to have to trade with Kovalev if he wants to win the fight.
“Kovalev is not invincible. He is not God. He is a man just like me. I will be the man to crush the ‘Krusher,” said Chilemba.
Chilemba rejects the idea of him being the sacrificial lamb for Kovalev to slaughter tomorrow night, but unfortunately that’s how many boxing fans see him.
Chilemba lost his last fight to Eleider Alvarez last November in losing a 12 round majority decision. This is one of those situations where Chilemba is possibly getting his first and last chance to try and win a world title. If Chilemba loses this fight, he’ll be knocked down further in the world rankings at 175, and it’s hard to imagine him being able to get back up where he was previously last year when he ranked near the top of the rankings.
There are too many talented light heavyweights moving up, and Chilemba’s chance to make something happen in his career appears to be finished. If Chilemba can’t beat Kovalev, then this could be it for him.
It would Chilemba if he at least makes it difficult for Kovalev to beat him, because that would be a victory of sorts. Chilemba’s popularity would likely be increased even if he loses the fight if he can be seen by boxing fans giving Kovalev a lot of problems en route to losing the fight.
When is the start time for Kovalev vs. Chilemba is at 10:15 p.m.
Where is the location of fight: DIVS Palace of Sports in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Where to watch Kovalev – Chilemba – HBO.
For Kovalev, this will be his eighth defense of his world titles. Chilemba figures to be one of the tougher guys that Kovalev has faced. Chilemba is similar in some ways to Bernard Hopkins, a fighter that Kovalev beat by a 12 round decision in November 2014. Some of Kovalev’s other defenses have been quite easy against the likes of Blake Caparello, Cedric Agnew, Nadjib Mohammadi and Ismayl Sillah.
You can argue that those fighters didn’t rate a shot at a world title because they’d never done anything to suggest that they should be fighting for world titles. However, Kovalev’s two fights against Jean Pascal and his fight against Hopkins were just as one-sided as his fights with the above mentioned fighters. Kovalev’s fights turn out to be one-sided regardless of who he fights. He’s just so much better than everyone he faces.
This fight is the last one for Kovalev before he faces former super middleweight champion Andre Ward later this year on November 19 on HBO PPV. Kovalev is in a must win situation with the Chilemba fight. He has to win it for him to get the Ward fight. Chilemba has the speed and defensive skills to get Kovalev prepared for what he’ll be seeing in the Ward fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDrQFfHVF6U
Chilemba might be a little faster than Ward in terms of hand speed, and better than him in the defensive department. Ward has a little more power on his shots than Chilemba though, but the two of them are pretty close in terms of talent. Ward used to be a very good fighter earlier in his career, but in his last two fights against Sullivan Barrera and Paul Smith, you can tell that he’s lost a lot from his game due to inactivity and age.
It’s doubtful that Ward ever get those things back. Ward has an interim fight scheduled next month against 39-year-old Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) on August 6 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The Ward vs. Brand fight will take place on HBO. Ward has taken a lot of heat for facing Brand for his interim fight instead of a top contender that better approximates the height, weight, age and fighting style of Kovalev, First off, the 39-year-old Brand is a lot older than the 33-year-old Kovalev. Secondly, Brand is a super middleweight, not a light heavyweight. He doesn’t even fight in the same weight class as Kovalev. Further, Brand is just 5’10 ½” in height compared to the 6’0’ Kovalev. Brand would be the perfect opponent if Ward were preparing for the 5’10 ½” Gennady Golokvin, but definitely not the right guy for him to get ready for a much bigger Kovalev. Roc Nation Sports should have found someone better for Ward to fight in his interim match. At the very least, they should have picked a light heavyweight for Ward. This match-up is one of those fights that makes you shake your hair and wonder what Ward’s promoters were thinking of when they made the fight. Ward would be better off not fighting at all.
“I am so excited to fight in my home country of Russia,” Kovalev said. “It gives me great pride to bring my titles home at last. It truly feels as if the entire country is behind my back in this fight. I can tell I’m fighting at home. This support means a lot for me.”
Kovalev fighting at home would be a bigger deal if he were facing a better opponent like Artur Beterbiev or Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Those guys would at least make it interesting for Kovalev, because he would need to get out of 1st gear if he wanted to beat them. Those aren’t guys that Kovalev can beat just by jabbing from the outside, which is all he’ll have to do for him to beat the light hitting Chilemba on Monday night. Kovalev, of course, will do a lot more than jabbing in his fight against Chilemba, but it’s one of those mismatches where Kovalev can win no matter what he does in terms of his offensive game.
Kovalev will have some pressure on him in his fight against the 29-year-old Chilemba. Not only is the fight an interim match that Kovalev must win to get to the Andre Ward fight, but it’s also a contest that he’s taking in his home country of Russia in front of his fans over there. Kovalev has been fighting most of his career in the United States since turning pro in 2009 and signing with Main Events. Kovalev lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Kovalev last fought in January in beating Jean Pascal by a 7th round stoppage at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. It was a rematch between the two fighters, as Kovalev stopped Pascal last year in the 8th round in March of 2015. It was unclear why Kovalev chose to fight Pascal a second time rather than moving on looking towards new blood. T
here were a lot of boxing fans that had no interest in seeing Kovalev fight Pascal again so soon after beating him convincingly last year. The hope is that Kovalev’s promoters at Main Events don’t start putting him in with the same opponents in needless rematches over and over again because it’s gets dull for the fans. You can’t get excited if you know that Kovalev is fighting a guy that he already knocked out previously.