SONAR: March 15, 2015 – Not only did Sergey (Krusher) Kovalev successfully defend his WBA/IBF/WBO light-heavyweight titles against Jean Pascal in both fighters? de facto home arena at Montreal?s Bell Centre on Saturday; he also added luster to his burgeoning legend. Although the referee rightly stopped the fight in the eighth round with Pascal under heavy fire, the victory was far from an easy one for Kovalev. And it demanded far more from him than his one-sided decision over the no-longer-ageless Bernard Hopkins last year.
Against Hopkins, Kovalev outboxed a master boxer. Against Pascal on Saturday, he was forced to out-war a warrior in an early contender for 2015?s Fight of the Year. Kovalev?s convincing victories in his last two fights solidify his position at the top of the light-heavyweight division, and firmly indicate that he will one day be counted among the top 175-pounders of all time, along with the likes of Billy Conn, Archie Moore, Harold Johnson, Bob Foster, Michael Spinks, and Hopkins himself.
It was thought that B-Hop, with his seemingly bottomless bag of boxing tricks, would have presented Kovalev with his toughest test in the ring. But that bag turned out to be empty as the Russian pitched a virtual shutout over the gray eminence of boxing. As it turned out, Pascal was the one who provided that test, as he emptied his guns in an attempt to out-punch the most powerful puncher in the division.
The Haitian-born Pascal was never going to be an easy mark for Kovalev, or for anyone else. Pascal was a former WBC light-heavy champ, having won on a cut-eye stoppage of Chad Dawson, who at the time was considered the division?s Next Big Thing. Pascal also came out with a draw and a loss in a pair of distance-duels with Hopkins. And he turned back Lucian Bute?s bid to move up from super-middleweight. As well, Pascal had not been stopped in 32 contests.
However, in the third round of the Kovalev fight, it looked as though Pascal was about to be knocked out early, as the champion sent him reeling into the ropes for a standing 8-count. But in the next round, Pascal rallied and hurt Kovalev. To the delight of the roaring crowd, the next couple of rounds featured heavy exchanges between solid punchers. The torrid pace could not continue; someone had to break before long.
That someone was Pascal, who slowed considerably in the seventh round. In the eighth, Kovalev went on a search-and-destroy mission, which culminated in a pair of rights that left the referee with no choice other than to stop the fight before Pascal suffered damage that would have been hazardous to his health. The loss was no disgrace to Pascal. He finished on his feet, and managed to give Kovalev his toughest test to date.
Now, only one meaningful opponent remains for Kovalev at 175 pounds. That would be WBC champion Adonis Stevenson, who also fights out of Montreal. This unification battle would be a blockbuster, and the Bell Centre would trump the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as a venue, as Montreal fans are unstinting in their support for their adopted fighters.
Kovalev-Stevenson is the light-heavyweight equivalent of Pacquiao-Mayweather ? a match that must be made. And it has to be made soon. Otherwise, age and inactivity will catch up with Stevenson before Kovalev does.
