Sergey Kovalev's Next Fight: Potential Opponents for Next Bout
Sergey Kovalev dropped his first professional fight and the unified light heavyweight championship to Andre Ward via razor-thin and perhaps controversial unanimous decision Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The official scorecards all favored Ward by an identical 114-113 margin.
Kovalev floored Ward with a vicious right hand in the second round and dominated the early frame. He was able to land through his foe's guard with surprising frequency and looked on the verge of a defining victory.
Ward rallied back through the middle rounds, though, imposing his style on a fight that seemed to have gotten away from him. His resiliency and ability to turn the tide on an opponent with overwhelming firepower were impressive, regardless of what you think about the outcome.
Now that the dust has settled from "Pound for Pound," we take a look at five potential opponents for Kovalev's next fight.
Only one of them is likely to be in high demand, but we figured we'd give you a couple of appetizers before the main course.
These are the best options for Kovalev's next fight!
Joe Smith Jr.
1 of 5
Joe Smith Jr. is the ultimate blue-collar fighter, and he's one of those guys who you only really knew if you paid close attention to the New York boxing scene.
Fighting was something of a side gig for the Long Island native, who makes his living as a construction worker, and that's why few gave him any chance of upsetting light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara in June.
"Upset" describes it mildly.
Smith drilled Fonfara, who was coming off career-launching wins over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Nathan Cleverly, in the opening round and stopped him in what might be 2016's upset of the year.
It was over so quick that you weren't even sure it happened.
And that's how quickly Smith jumped from club fighter to contender.
Smith has a tough nut to crack in front of him, though.
He's been pegged to take up the supporting role in future Hall of Famer and straight-up legend Bernard Hopkins' final fight December 17 at the Forum in Los Angeles. You can never count out the ageless wonder, but a two-year layoff and 51 years on the odometer could be enough to give Smith some advantages.
If Smith can send Hopkins off into the sunset with a loss, he's going to be in high demand.
And he'd make sense if Kovalev is looking for a stay-busy fight or a tuneup before going after Ward again.
Adonis Stevenson
2 of 5
Do you know who the HBO broadcast of Kovalev-Ward didn't mention once Saturday night?
Adonis Stevenson.
How far the lineal and WBC light heavyweight champion has fallen after deciding to avoid virtually every serious challenge in favor of a diet of the types of cupcakes you see SEC teams feast on during the opening weeks of a new college football season.
While Kovalev was bludgeoning contenders and former champs, the lineal titleholder was wasting his time with guys named Dmitry Sukhotsky and Tommy Karpency.
Let's not forget blown-up super middleweight Sakio Bika, either.
The demand for a fight between Stevenson and Kovalev is likely to be tempered now that Ward has taken over the top spot in the division.
And, make no mistake, Ward, not Stevenson, is now the man at 175 pounds.
But there's still a great deal of bad blood between Stevenson and Kovalev, which could make a fight a possibility, particularly if Ward decides to remain inactive. Sadly, he's done that plenty in his career, so we can't completely rule it out.
A fight between the division's two biggest punchers will always remain a welcome addition to the schedule.
Gennady Golovkin
3 of 5
This would have had more juice had Kovalev won Saturday night, but we'll throw it in here to prompt debate, some of it angry.
Kovalev and Gennady Golovkin are the two most feared fighters in boxing today. And that's not without a ton of merit. Each man is calculating, possesses devastating punching power and has shown he's much more than just a punching machine.
A fight between the two destroyers—should weight issues be successfully overcome—would be a blockbuster.
The two men are apparently good friends, but that didn't stop GGG from flooring and stopping Kovalev with a body shot during a sparring session a couple of years back when the two men both trained at Abel Sanchez's gym in California, per Will Esco of Bad Left Hook.
Kovalev trainer John David Jackson attributes that moment to his fighter being out of shape and it being his first day back in the gym, but you almost couldn't ask for a better backdrop to a potential fight.
It sells itself, even if it's just a fantasy debate.
Will it happen?
Probably not, but that's not going to stop people from demanding it.
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Artur Beterbiev
4 of 5
Artur Beterbiev—stop us if you've heard this one before—is a brute-force Russian puncher who knocks out virtually everything he sees. He's fought only 10 times as a professional, but he has knocked out every man he's faced, and his number of fights is deceptive.
Most fighters with 10 fights are considered prospects.
Beterbiev is a bona fide contender.
He blew out former world champion Tavoris Cloud in his sixth bout and then thrashed Gabriel Campillo two fights later. You won't find many guys at his stage of development with two knockout wins over former champions in his weight class.
We've seen some hype and dancing around the subject about a potential Kovalev-Beterbiev bout in the past. The two guys don't like each other, and Beterbiev holds an amateur victory over the Krusher that Kovalev would love to avenge.
Kovalev's promoter Kathy Duva hoped to match the pair for a fight last fall and made what was described by ESPN.com's Dan Rafael as "clearly a good faith offer" that was rejected by the Beterbiev camp led by promoter Yvon Michel.
Michel and team (Al Haymon manages Beterbiev) never gave a good reason for the decision.
Maybe they'll reconsider now that the Krusher has tasted his first pro defeat.
Andre Ward
5 of 5
If you came out of Saturday night wanting anything but a rematch between Ward and Kovalev, then we don't know what to tell you.
Did you watch the fight?
Are you sure you're a boxing fan?
Ward and Kovalev delivered in a big way in the biggest fight of a year that's seen more disappointments than significant fights. They left us without anything close to a decisive verdict in what could become boxing's next big rivalry.
You can argue that Kovalev, by scoring a knockdown and dominating the early rounds, deserved to walk out of the T-Mobile Arena with his three belts intact. Plenty of people would agree with you, including HBO's unofficial judge Harold Lederman, who had the bout 116-111 for the Krusher on the broadcast.
You could just as easily argue that Ward got a deserved win by surviving an early onslaught and vicious knockdown to impose his style on an opponent who is known for his iron will and Terminator-like approach to hurting his foes. That's impressive, even if you think he lost.
Why the heck wouldn't we want to do this again?
There's not one good reason.
Kovalev has a rematch clause, and he said in the ring after the fight that he wants Ward again, so there should be no problem and no question about what comes next.
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