Lefts, rights, bombs, missiles?it was like Fourth of July and Kovalev?s birthday at the same time?
Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs), from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, by way of Kopeysk, Russia, knocked out Nadjib Mohammedi (37-4, 23 KOs), from Gardanne, Bouches-du-Rh?ne,France, at 2:38 of round three.
In the co-main event, Jean Pascal (30-3-1, 17 KOs), from Laval, Quebec, Canada, by way of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, won a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Yunieski Gonzalez (16-1, 12 KOs), from Miami, Florida, by way of Pinar del Rio, Cuba.
The scores of the judges were 96-94 all around. HBO, with Harold Lederman leading the charge, disagreed. The fans sided with HBO. They wanted their money back. They?d already forgotten having seen a great fight.
In the main event, Kovalev, fighting out of the red corner in blue trunks with white trim, was as destructive as usual. Lefts, rights, bombs, missiles?it was like Fourth of July and Kovalev?s birthday at the same time..
Mohammedi, fighting out of the blue corner in white and red, is, according to Jim Lampley, a ?pizza truck owner? from a town outside Marseilles.
Looking at his record, and the records of his opponents, I wonder how Mohammedi got this shot. He appeared to be undeserving. He appeared to be ill-equipped.
Krusher dropped the Frenchman in the second round with a right hand. A textbook 1-2 in the third round broke his nose and that was all she wrote.
Maybe Kovalev deserved a gimme after his last fight against Jean Pascal. It took Krusher longer than usual to end it. Pascal had his moments.
He had more moments in the fight of the night against Yunieski Gonzalez.
It was war at the opening bell.
Both men are top 10 fighters. Both men came to fight. Gonzalez?s youth, hunger, and pole-ax jab gave Pascal trouble, but it wasn?t trouble he hadn?t seen before and wasn?t eager to deal with. He may not be the best light heavyweight on the planet, but Pascal is seasoned. Pascal is athletic and has a great chin.
Gonzalez put on a great performance. He chased Pascal. Sometimes he caught Pascal. And there were moments when they were out and out trading. Gonzalez was always in it, but Pascal was too seasoned, too clever for the Cuban to defeat. Gonzalez landed 163 of 632 total punches thrown. The economical Pascal landed 154 of 397 punches.
Harold Lederman had Gonzalez way ahead, 97-93. Lampley, Kellerman and Bernard Hopkins questioned that score, but they all agreed that Gonzalez defeated Pascal.
I?m no fan of Pascal. He never seems to do enough. But I watched the fight, savored that four-star ring generalship, and could have sworn Pascal won.
The judges saw it as I did. They had it 96-94 for Pascal.
Gonzalez sobbed.
Max lectured those who ?seem to not know what they?re looking at.?
Kovalev wants Adonis Stevenson (the feeling isn?t mutual). He can fight Pascal a second time, even though he?s tired of chasing Haitian-Canadians. There?s Yunieski Gonzalez, who Pascal just defeated. The kid?s a tank and might be a good match for Krusher?s artillery. There are ongoing negotiations with Andre Ward. If that fight happens, when it happens, we?ll see how Kovalev deals with a master.
