Sergey Kovalev successfully defended his WBO light heavyweight title Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, opening a deep cut under fellow Russian Igor Mikhalkin?s right eye that forced the fight to be stopped with 35 seconds left in the seventh round.
Kovalev won his second consecutive fight since his back-to-back losses to Andre Ward, dealing punishment to his former amateur teammate in the first defense of the title he regained in his last bout.
Kovalev (32-2-1) took some punches but simply walked through them and opened the cut in the sixth round. Then in the seventh, referee Steve Willis halted the action and sent Mikhalkin to the corner after a flurry of punches to his face, and the physician said the fight needed to be halted.
?This was better work than the last fight for sure,? Kovalev said.
Mikhalkin (21-2) had a bloody U.S. debut, winning just one round on one judge?s card. Photo: Matt Sullivan, Getty Images Kyle Larson shares a moment with son Owen after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In the other light heavyweight title fight at Madison Square Garden, WBA champion Russian Dmitry Bivol (13-0, 11 KOs) stopped Cuba?s Sullivan Barrera in the 12th round.
?At the Barclays Center in New York, Deontay Wilder (40-0) survived a pummeling from Luis Ortiz (28-1), then knocked out the challenger in the 10th round to retain his WBC heavyweight crown.
?A true champion always finds a way to come back and that?s what I did tonight,? Wilder said. ?Luis Ortiz is definitely a crafty guy. He put up a great fight. We knew we had to wear him down. I showed everyone I can take a punch.?
