Sergey Kovalev quieted his many nay-Sayers by putting on a boxing clinic, and recapturing the WBO Light Heavyweight decision with a 12-round unanimous decision over Eleider Alvarez in a rematch that took place at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Kovalev boxed very well as he showed consistent boxing with his jab that set up his workrate over the 36 minute fight. Alvarez only threw 30 punches per round which did not provide him with the opportunities to the land the big shots that propelled him to a knockout victory over Kovalev last August.
Kovalev took the advice of new trainer Buddy McGirt and took what the Alvarez gave him, which was jabbing through out the rounds and getting in his right hand which kept Alvarez on the defense.
Kovalev doubled up Alvarez on the punches landed, and won by scores of 120-108 and 116-112 to raise his mark to 33-3-1. Alvarez is 24-1.
“We worked a lot on my jab,” Kovalev said. “Right now, I am working with {trainer} Buddy {McGirt} the way I was when I was an amateur
“After this, I want unification fights.”
Said Alvarez: “I don’t see myself as a loser tonight, but I do give him credit, especially in that 12th round. I think that he went out and proved that he wanted to win.”
Rising star, Teofimo Lopez, beat up, bloodied and battered Diego Magdaleno and stopped him in round seven of a scheduled ten-round lightweight fight.
Magdaleno’s face started chopping up in round two from the hard blows from Lopez.
In round six, Lopez landed a blistering left hook to the chin that Magdaleno to the canvas.’In round seven, Magdaleno landed two of the powerful and concussive left hooks on a beaten Magdaleno that plummeted him to the canvas at 1:08 and the fight was halted.
Lopez, 134.8 lbs of Brooklyn is 12-0 with 10 knockouts. Magdaleno, 134.7 lbs of Las Vegas is 34-3.
“I take nothing away from Diego Magdaleno. We picked our shots, and we knew that in the later rounds, he’d drown in those deep waters,” Lopez said. “As the competition gets tougher, you will see more of what I can do. I dissected him like a surgeon.”
Oscar Valdez shook off 11 months of ring rust and stopped Carmine Tommasone in round seven to retain the WBO Featherweight title.
In round four, Valdez dropped Tommasone with a right hand. Tommasone began to bleed from his nose. Later in the round, Valdez sent Tommasone down with a hard jab. In round five, Tommasone began to bleed from his mouth. In round Round six, Valdez sent Tommasone down with a left hook.
Valdez ended things just nine seconds into round seven, Valdez dropped Tommasone with a perfect left uppecut to the chin and Tommasone went to the deck, and the fight was stopped.
Valdez, 125.8 lbs of Nogales. MEX is 25-0 with 20 knockouts. Tommasone, 125.4 lbs of Italy is 19-1.
“I was very excited. I kind of didn’t want to get too crazy in there. It was tough the first round to get {my rhythm},” Valdez said. “But finally, I got the job done. I congratulate him. He’s a great fighter. I wish him nothing but the best.
“We started 2019 well. The sky’s the limit.”
Richard Commey stopped Isa Chaniev in the 2nd round to win the IBF Lightweight championship.
In round one, Commey landed a perfect right that dropped Chaniev hard to the canvas. In round two, Commey rushed out and landed a perfect left hook that sent Chaniev to the deck. Commey was all over Chaniev, and landed power shots. As referee Laurence Cole stopped the bout, Commey added two more shots and sent Chaniev to the deck at 39 seconds.
Commey, 134.3 lbs of Accra, Ghana now will face WBA/WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko on April 12th with a record of 28-2 with 25 knockouts. Chaniev, 134 1/2 lbs of Russia is 13-2.
“This is everything for me. This is what I worked so hard for,” Commey said. “Finally being a world champion, I feel like I fulfilled a destiny for me.”
Next up for Commey is a potential showdown with WBA/WBO lightweight champion and pound-for-pound great Vasiliy Lomachenko. He hurt his right knuckle in the opening round, and if receives a clean bill of health, Lomachenko will be next.
“When I hit him in the first round, I hurt my right knuckle,” Commey said. “I’m going to have to get it looked at and see what happens.”
Janibek Alimkhanuly stopped Steven Martinez in round five of a scheduled eight-round middleweight bout.
In round three, Alimkhanuly dropped Martinez with a left to the body. Alimkhanuly continied to pound away on Martinez, who had his nose bloodied in the fourth and finally was pulled out the fight 21 seconds into round five.
Alimkhanuly, 162 lbs of Kazakhstan is 5-0 with two knockouts. Martinez, 160 1/2 lbs of Bronx, NY is 18-5.
“I showed what I was capable of against a tough opponent,” Alimkhanuly said. “I am close to world title contention. It’s going to be a big year for me in 2019. This is only the beginning of my journey.”
Enriko Gogokhia stopped Vitor Freitas in round three of their six-round junior welterweight bout.
Gogokhia dropped Freitas in the 1st round with a straight left that barely touched Freitas. Gogikhia was cut on his forehead in round two from an accidental headbutt. In round three, Gogokhia landed a little left to the body that put Freitas down, and the bout was stopped.
Gogokhia, 142 1/2 lbs of Georgia Republic is 10-0 with five knockouts. Freitas, 141 lbs of Salvador, BRA is 15-4-1.
Jason Sanchez stopped Daniel Olea in round two of their scheduled eight-round featherweight bout.
Sanchez was dominant and landed a big right hand that dropped Olea and the bout was stopped at 1:35.
Sanchez, 125 1/2 of Albuquerque, NM is 14-0 with seven knockouts. Olea, 125 1/2 of Mexico is 13-7-2.
“I wanted to be patient in there. I wasn’t necessarily looking for the knockout right away,” Sanchez said. “But the opportunity came, and I took advantage of the opening.”
In an entertaining ten-round junior middleweight scrap, Patrick Day won a unanimous decision over Ismail Iliev.
Day, 153 3/4 lbs of Freeport, NY won by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 to raise his mark to 17-2-1. Iliev, 154 lbs of Russia is 11-1-1.
Bakhram Murtazaliev stopped Elvin Ayala in round nine of their scheduled ten-round junior middleweight bout.
In round two, Murtazaliev was credited a knockdown when he landed a combination that made Ayala stumble into the ropes.
In round nine, Murtazaliev dropped Ayala with a hard right hand. Seconds later, a follow flurry of hard power punches forced the ref to stop the bout at 2:05.
Murtazailev, 153 1/2 lbs of Russia is 15-0 with 12 knockouts. Ayala, 154 lbs of New Haven, CT is 29-13-1.
