Sergey Kovalev says he’s reloaded and ready for Sat.

By Boxing News - 11/24/2017 - Comments

Image: Sergey Kovalev says he’s reloaded and ready for Sat.

By Tim Royner: Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev has not given up on himself after 2 consecutive losses, and he’s ready for his fight this Saturday night against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy. Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) recently suffered 2 defeats to the now retired Andre Ward.

(Photo credit David Spagnolo/Main Events)

Those losses would have cracked the mental façade of a lot of fighters, but not Kovalev. He’s used the defeats as learning tools to improve his game rather than giving up on himself the way a lot of guys would have done.

Kovalev, 34, ditched his trainer John David Jackson, and signed on a new trainer, who he understands a lot better. The new trainer has Kovalev working harder than ever, and they believe he’s going to be ready for the 30-year-old Shabranskyy this Saturday night.

Kovalev vs. Shabranskyy will be shown this Saturday night at 10pm ET on HBO World Championship Boxing from Madison Square Garden in New York.

There’s really not a lot to improve in Kovalev’s game from his losses to Ward. Kovalev just needs better conditioning so that he can fight hard for the full 12 rounds without getting tired and taking punishment. Kovalev also needs to defend against body shots. Ward was able to sink in his body shots from close range without Kovalev being able to stop him. Kovalev can’t let Shabranskyy land the same kinds of shots if he wants to win.

”I’ve reloaded and got a lot of new motivation in my head, mentally,” said Kovalev. ”From my last losses, I didn’t break. These losses didn’t break me mentally. It was a good experience for me. I should follow my goals on a clear road without any wrong things, any baggage on my back,” said Kovalev.

Up until the Ward fight, Kovalev was thought to the No.1 fighter in the 175-lb. division. Only WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (29-1, 24 KOs) was thought to give him any competition for the top spot. Now with Kovalev losing back to back fights against Ward, he’s no longer viewed as the bet or even the second best. Kovalev is now seen as an over-the-hill fighter that doesn’t deserve to be fighting or the vacant WBO light heavyweight title.

Kovalev arguably belongs here in the overall rankings for the best fighter in the 175-lb. division:

1. Adonis Stevenson

2. Dmitry Bivol

3. Artur Beterbiev

4. Oleksandr Gvozdyk

5. Sullivan Barrera

6. Badou Jack

7. Sergey Kovalev

Kovalev should know by now whether he’s reloaded and ready to resume being a championship level fighter. Kovalev has had a long training camp to get ready for Shabranskyy, and he likely did a lot of sparring with quality sparring partners. If Kovalev was able to dominate his sparring partners like he did in the past, then the chances are that he’s going to be able to dominate Shabranskyy tomorrow night.

Andre Ward was able to force Kovalev to exhaust himself by defending against his body shot attempts on the inside. Kovalev was so concerned with getting hit by Ward to the body in close, he spent much of the first fight tying the American up, so he wouldn’t get his shots off. It would have been a wiser on Kovalev’s part to counter Ward rather than wrestling him to shut him down.

If Kovalev had countered Ward with power shots each time he attempt to throw to the body, he would have made him think twice about targeting his body. Kovalev didn’t even think about fighting Ward. Kovalev just wanted to tie him up.

”From the WBO title, I began my first successful boxing career,” said Kovalev. ”I will repeat it and after this we can speak of my future boxing career. Thank you to everyone who came here. I love life; I love boxing,” said Kovalev.

If Kovalev beats Shabranskyy, he should look to fight a unification match against IBF champion Artur Beterbiev, WBA champion Dmitry Bivol or Adonis Stevenson as soon as possible so that he can take advantage of his time as a world champion. Kovalev will likely make more money fighting Bivol, Stevenson or Beterbiev than he would in making a simple title defense.

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