By Allan Fox: Dmitry Bivol (13-0, 11 KOs) handed former world title challenger Isaac Chilemba (25-6-2, 10 KOs) his sixth career defeat by beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision in successfully defending his WBA light heavyweight title on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
In a stunning turnaround, Eleider Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) of Montreal, Canada scored a seventh round knockout victory over Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs) of Russia before a sellout crowd of 5,642 fans at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Etess Arena. Alvarez now becomes the WBO and IBA World Light Heavyweight Champion.
By Eric Thomas: In a shocking upset, Eleider Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) destroyed World Boxing Organization light heavyweight belt holder Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev (32-3, 28 KOs) by a 7th round knockout on Saturday night to claim the WBO title on HBO from the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Kovalev was knocked down three times in the seventh. For a fighter that was once considered the best light heavyweight in the division, it was a sad way for the ‘Krusher’ Kovalev to lose.
By Jeff Aranow: Sergey Kovalev will be facing his first real test in over a year when he defends his WBO light heavyweight title tonight against unbeaten #8 WBO Eleider Alvarez on HBO at the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Kovalev needs an emphatic victory tonight to make the boxing public forget about his two losses to Andre Ward.
By Allan Fox: WBO light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev and WBA champion Dmitry Bivol made weight for their respective title defenses on Saturday night against Eleider ‘Storm’ Alvarez and Isaac Chilemba on HBO World Championship Boxing at the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Kovalev (32-2-1m 28 KOs) weighed in at 174 pounds. His opponent 34-year-old Alvarez (23-0, 11 KOs) weighed in at 174.4 pounds.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING spotlights the competitive, talent-rich light heavyweight division with two world title bouts when SERGEY KOVALEV VS. ELEIDER ALVAREZ AND DMITRY BIVOL VS. ISAAC CHILEMBA is seen SATURDAY, AUG. 4 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) from the brand-new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, which will be hosting its first pro boxing event. The HBO Sports team will call all the action, available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
By Allan Fox: Dmitry Bivol (13-0, 11 KOs) believes that he could be facing WBO 175-pound champion Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev in a unification before the end of the year. WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol and Kovalev will be sharing the same card this Saturday night on August 4 on HBO World Championship Boxing at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City.
By Allan Fox: WBA World light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (13-0, 11 KOs) says a unification fight between him and WBO champion Sergey Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KOs) will happen in the future as long as the two win their fights on August 4 against Isaac Chilemba (25-5-2, 10 KOs) and Eleider Alvarez (23-0, 11 KOs) on HBO at the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
By Jim Dower: Dmitry Bivol is taking a stay busy title defense of his WBA light heavyweight title against grizzled veteran Isaac ‘Golden Child’ Chilemba on August 4. This will be televised on HBO World Championship Boxing from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The televised card starts at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 PT.
The fans aren’t too thrilled with the news of the 27-year-old Bivol fighting Chilemba, as they wanted to see the Russian fighter face bigger threats like Kovalev, Artur Beterbiev, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Joe Smith Jr., Adonis Stevenson, Marcus Browne and Anthony Yarde.
Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) will return to the United States on Saturday, Nov. 19 to face dangerous light heavyweight prospect and NABF Light Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk (11-0, 9 KOs) in a ten round bout as part of the Kovalev vs. Ward “Pound for Pound” pay-per-view telecast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The bout will be presented by Main Events in association with Top Rank. The event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Chilemba, 29, a native of Blantyre, Malawi fighting out of Johannesburg, South Africa, is coming off a hard-fought loss against WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev. Isaac holds the impressive distinction as only the second fighter in Kovalev’s career to go the full 12 rounds. The only is future Hall-of-Famer Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins. In doing so, Chilemba managed to raise more than a few eyebrows among boxing fans and media.