Ranking the Best Opponents for Sergey Kovalev's Next Fight
Sergey Kovalev threw and landed more punches, scored the fight's lone knockdown and had won all but one round when hostilities ended, but he may have nonetheless emerged from Saturday night's IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight title defense against Jean Pascal with cracks in the aura.
Kovalev successfully defended his own WBO belt for the fifth time and the IBF/WBA belts for the first time since he swiped them from Bernard Hopkins last November, stopping the hometown hero, Pascal, with a pair of crushing right hands at 1:03 of the eighth round at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
The Russian appeared on the verge of a stoppage win at the end of the third round but then took more punishment than has been the recent norm, as the gritty Pascal hung in for four more full rounds before failing to weather yet another barrage in the eighth.
"How I start it, I didn't like," Kovalev told HBO's Max Kellerman. "But after four rounds I got the control. I got him with a good right hand and he was mine."
The moderately vulnerable performance apparently drew interest from WBC 175-pound champion Adonis Stevenson, whom Kovalev has been unsuccessful in luring into a ring.
Stevenson was at ringside but never on camera, and apparently he had a conversation with guest HBO analyst Bernard Hopkins about finally making a Kovalev fight.
Hopkins claimed Stevenson was affirmative in his intention to unify the belts.
"He said, 'Believe me, I will fight him,'" Hopkins said. "'Bernard, I'm going to make it happen.'"
Kellerman told Kovalev of the remarks, and the fighter reacted with a simple "I'm ready for anyone."
Upon watching Saturday's fight, hearing the aftermath conversations and surveying the landscape for those fighters who’d make the most (dollars and) sense as Kovalev’s next in line, our top choices are on the next several pages.
Take a moment to drop your suggestions in the comments section.
6. Gennady Golovkin
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They can choose to dominate their current weight classes and roll up reputations as the most feared fighters in the world. Or, Kovalev and Gennady Golovkin can do what the world wants.
They can go ahead and fight each other.
Hopkins and his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, implied he’d have been next on the list for Golovkin had Hopkins won last November's fight with Kovalev, and they kept the dream alive even after the loss, presuming the old-timer decides to continue in the aftermath of the worst beating of his long career.
As for intrigue, look no further than trainer Abel Sanchez’s suggestion that Kovalev was “afraid of Golovkin when he was in the ring” during some sparring sessions in 2013.
As Russian-Kazakh encounters go, this one can't miss.
5. Andre Ward
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The top dog at super middleweight for as long as most folks care to remember, Andre Ward has been in the ring just one time—for a 12-round rout of an overmatched Edwin Rodriguez—in the two years, six months and six days since he demolished then-175-pound boss Chad Dawson in 10 rounds.
His recent agreement with Jay Z's Roc Nation promotional apparatus indicates he'll be back as imminently as springtime, with designs on climbing back to worldwide recognition.
And what better way to reintroduce yourself to the viewing public than another champion vs. champion showdown against another light heavyweight elite who shares your HBO broadcast allegiance?
Kovalev’s promoter, Kathy Duva, seems sold, having referred to the match as “inevitable” earlier this year. “It’s gonna happen someday,” she told BoxingScene.com’s Bill Emes.
Go ahead and get it done, Kathy. We’re sold, too.
4. Artur Beterbiev
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A pair of amateur defeats of Kovalev and seven stoppage wins in seven pro fights have gotten Russian-born Montreal resident Artur Beterviev on the light heavyweight radar screen.
And his choice to eschew a match with sparring partner Isaac Chilemba on Saturday for a network-televised meeting with ex-champion and ex-Kovalev victim Gabriel Campillo in April is indicative of a willingness to stay there.
The slugger was matched with unbeaten Jeff Page Jr. on a Stevenson undercard in December in Quebec City and was dropped by a right hand in the opening round, but he quickly rallied to floor his foe three times in the second to score a TKO win. It came three months after a similar blitz of ex-IBF champion Tavoris Cloud, in which the veteran failed to last 40 seconds into the second round.
Is he likely to beat fellow Russian Kovalev yet again on this level? No.
But what better reason to have a for-pay rematch?
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3. Isaac Chilemba
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A 27-year-old from Malawi whose biggest accomplishment was a brief reign as the IBO's 168-pound champion five years ago isn't exactly an intuitive selection for an audience with Kovalev.
And truth be told, it might have been better for the promotional interests had Chilemba lost, not won, his match with previously undefeated wannabe Vasily Lepikhin on Saturday. But Chilemba won nearly every second of 10 rounds with a not-ready-for-prime-time Russian and elevated himself to a worthwhile, if not exactly white-hot, possibility.
"He looks like an opponent who's not a gimme for anyone," HBO's Kellerman said on the broadcast. "He's a credible opponent for anyone."
Jim Lampley, his broadcast colleague, might have been speaking for the rest of the population, though, when he suggested, "If this guy got a chance to fight, for instance, Sergey Kovalev, how would he keep the guy off of him?"
Most would suggest we needn't find out, but it may work as an appetizer for something better.
2. Jean Pascal
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Fighters who get a single taste of Kovalev's acumen rarely demand a second go-round, but that was precisely what Saturday's beaten opponent, Pascal, had on his mind in the post-fight interview with HBO's Kellerman.
The Haitian-turned-Canadian's issue was with referee Luis Pabon's stoppage, which came after Kovalev had nearly dropped Pascal in one corner, pulled back after slipping on the canvas and then delivered two more flush right hands to force Pabon's hand.
"This is the sport of boxing," Pascal told Kellerman, "you get some and give some. I feel like the ref was waiting for that moment to just stop the fight."
Pascal called for another shot, which, considering he has a rabid fanbase and a newly enhanced reputation thanks to Saturday's gutty effort, might not be out of the question.
When posed the question by Kellerman about the idea of a rematch, Kovalev delivered his typical "I'm ready for any fight" reply.
1. Adonis Stevenson
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A summit between Stevenson and Kovalev looked to be a done deal when both men were fighting on HBO, but Stevenson scuttled those plans when he ditched the "Network of Champions" to head to Showtime in pursuit of a larger paycheck with Hopkins.
Hopkins provided a wrestling-esque swerve when he then jumped from Showtime to HBO to get his own match with Kovalev, which left Stevenson to battle criticism that he was ducking the big fights.
Kovalev called him a "piece of s--t" on HBO's air after a previous appearance, but a defiant Stevenson told CBSSports.com that he'll do whatever it takes to get a Kovalev date, regardless of perception.
"When I finish beating Kovalev, then the fans will probably find somebody else," he said. "It's always like that. That's the reality, and that's why I don't care. I want the fight. And the manager and the promoter will do their jobs, too. I want the fight. I want the fight so bad."
Saturday's uneven performance from Kovalev, not to mention Stevenson's apparently renewed willingness to press ahead with negotiations, make this one the one to make.
Undisputedly.
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