Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2016-07-11, pretty good fight between Sergey Kovalev and Isaac Chilemba: it gets three stars.The undefeated Wbo, Wba and Ibf champion Sergey Kovalev entered this fight with a pro record of 29-0-1 (26 KOs=90%) and he is ranked as the No.1 light heavyweight in the world. In his last two bouts he beat Nadjib Mohammedi (=Kovalev vs Mohammedi) and Jean Pascal in their rematch (=Kovalev vs Pascal 2).
His opponent, the former Ibo super-Mw champion Isaac Chilemba, has an official boxing record of 24-3-2 (10 knockouts) and he entered as the No.13 in the same weight class. He fought twice last year beating Vasily Lepikhin (=Chilemba vs Lepikhin) but then he lost to Eleider Alvarez (=Alvarez vs Chilemba). Kovalev vs Chilemba is valid for the WBA, IBF and WBO World light heavyweight titles (all held by Kovalev). Watch the video and rate this fight!
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Date: 2016-07-11
Where: DIVS, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Division: light heavyweight (175 lbs, 79.4 kg)
Title: WBA, IBF and WBO World light heavyweight titles
Kovalev’s previous fight: Sergey Kovalev vs Jean Pascal 2
Chilemba’s previous fight: Eleider Alvarez vs Isaac Chilemba
Chilemba’s next fight: Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs Isaac Chilemba
Kovalev’s next fight: Sergey Kovalev vs Andre Ward
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Official video:
(Alternative free embeddable video hosted on Youtube and not uploaded by AllTheBestFights, to report it please visit this link where the video is hosted)
Unexpected great opposition from Chilemba, I really enjoyed it :) Kovalev says he was nervous, he doesn’t look to me like a nervous guy. Bring on Ward, with this “average” showing it makes the build-up interesting :)
Good fight overall, better than I expected thanks to Chilemba’s good preparation. In the first half of the fight he tried to counter Kovalev’s jab with a left of his own over the top with some success. Also he was more active than Pascal was (easy to achieve) and trying to be first. He landed some good right hooks to the body and had very good moments in the 6th.
But Kovalev controlled the action for 95% of the fight. He landed the most significant shots, mostly jabs in the early rounds. And then, when he finally was able to get Chilemba cleanly with a real right hand, the latter went down to the canevas.
Kovalev might struggle more against Ward, but one has to have the toughest chin to absord the russian’s power punches.
Cool to see Chilemba has a woman as a main corner”woman”! (also Russ Anber, Montreal’s own, now cutman for many boxing superstars).
this was much more than I expected too, Pascal said Kovalev is “homeless”, but seeing the crowd on hand and looking at Pascal’s situation, I wonder who is homeless.
This is what I expected from this fight.
Chilemba won the fight against Alvarez. That MD was pure cooking.
Anyway – Chilemba was a great preview of Kovalev Vs Ward.
Chilemba and Ward share some of the same traits style wise.
Unlike the commentators I do not see Ward hitting harder than Chilemba. Only thing I see Ward having right off the bat is faster foot work. Which could mean even less action.
One thing to note.
Chilemba is 2.5″ taller than Kovalev with a .5″ reach advantage.
Turn that side ways it makes for a long reach advantage than .5″
Ward and Kovalev are both 6′ tall. But Kovalev has a 1.5″ reach advantage. This reason I mention this is because the jab is what kept Chilemba in the game – so to speak. Make ti so Kovalev’s jab is reaching you but yours isn’t reaching him. Not a good thing.
Expect about the same fight come September.
No way are we going to get a throw down barn burner.
I also had Chilemba winning against Alvarez
Craft…Pedigree…Speed..Fluidity between styles…Competitive Spirit..Winning Mindset…& most importantly, ring IQ/Intelligence (his ability to process information very quickly and adjust inside the ring) All things I think you aren’t considering as you analyze the potential match-up between Ward and Kov. Andre Ward is a master boxer. Size and length will not be a problem…nor will power. His list of opposition is way too varied for that to play a role. Take a look at how he LACED a bigger man in the 6’3 Chad Dawson…who was a Southpaw w/ speed and power. I fully expect Ward’s Craft to be on full display vs Kovalev Come Fight night. Krusher’s approach is too basic…to straight fwd…too straight up and down for ward to not break down IMO. & I appreciate both men’s style. But the tool belt is too deep when speaking of Ward.
What really stood out was Kovalev’s patience, picks his shots with great care, also knows when to advance abd when to retreat but also at the same time keeping the pressure on. I can’t see Ward beating him, Ward might have faster footwork but it’s the power shots that put you down. It should be a very interesting fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0FWJAbjxPQ
Someone has good Ward fights to suggest me? I never saw the guy fight and I’d like to see him a bit before the Kovy clash :)
Ward vs Dawson…
Thank you for the suggestion, but I thought it was a pretty average fight.
You’re welcome… & that’s quite an interesting perspective you hold on that particular contest being that it was a championship fight between two of the top dogs in their respective weight classes. W/ Dawson being the perceived bigger stronger more athletic fighter…who’s a southpaw. & Ward completely wiped him out. In fact Dawson hasn’t been the same since that fight. Not that I’m judging ur perspective but I’m curious to know what kind of fight or a more recent fight you would call exciting or impressive… Bc IMO Ward put on a master class in that bout. Displayed…intelligence..defensive prowess…power was on display & the killer instinct vs the bigger man. & a southy nonetheless.
I think it’s worth mentioning Dawson offered to come down 7 lbs and Ward jumped on it. In hind-sight it was a bad move as Dawson came in severely dehydrated. He was already cutting weight at 175 let alone the extra 7 lbs to 168. Some attribute this to why Dawson has never looked the same since.
Agreed. It’s worth mentioning but I personally don’t think it’s a credible argument. Throughout CD’s Career we’ve never heard any mention of trouble making weight….ever. His knock has always been his lack of emotional content when he fights despite his considerable athletic & physical prowess. Always a mental and emotional thing w/ Chad. In the 2 fights vs Hopkins we saw an aggression and fire we’ve never seen in Dawson.(I was at the 2nd fight) (It was a much closer fight than it seemed on TV) Anyhow, immediately after winning his words in the ring were “I want to fight Andre Ward…& I’ll go down to 68 to do it”. I believe fighters know their bodies better than anyone. A top tier fighter doesn’t make a challenge to another top tier fighter if he does not believe he can do wut he’s proposing. When I saw Dawson at the weigh-in he looked AWSOME physically…ripped!! I was actually a little nervous for Ward. He didn’t look weight drained or dehydrated like Margarito did trying to make weight for Pacquiao. (Tony looked like a Zombie at the weigh-in) (Or oscar vs Pac-man). Only after being handily defeated do we hear rumblings about the camp being poor…The trainer suddenly not being up to par…His diet during camp not being conducive to the cut…All kinds of excuses for the loss. If 68 was a problem he should’ve negotiated a catch-weight before the fight was made. People forget that Daawson switched trainers almost every other year. He was the model of instability on that front. People also forget Andre Ward is Undefeated as an official Amateur and a pro. Could Dawson have been drained? perhaps. Could Ward have just been too good Yes. Could it be a combo of both…perhaps as well. But Chad Dawson wasn’t weight drained when he lost his belt to Pascal. Nor has he been drained since. & He’s looked bad in all those fights. Being ko’d twice i believe along the way. I personally feel Chad’s biggest issue (or 1 of them) was he fought too many older fighters consecutively. (Glen Johnson, Tarver, Hopkins) . He was on the senior tour too long & the rhythm change of young fighters was too diff for him. Anyhow.. good talk. peace.
Nice fight and as usual, with an aggressive Sergey trying to go for a short fight. However, Chilemba, in spite of being a far too big challenging for him was able to complicate the expected outcome thanks to his reliable and accurate jab work. He put a good fight in front of such a “beast” being the 3 last rounds the best of him. A new victory for Sergey but nothing spectacular.
Hope to watch soon Kovalev vs.Ward. I fully believe that Ward would be a very difficult bone to chew up for Sergey and may be an in-digesting one. Technically speaking Ward is far better than Kovalev so if Sergey isn’t able to knocking him down for good most likely would be a Ward’s victory.