Opening Bell: What might have been
The scene was ideal. A sold-out crowd of 5,642 had packed the Mark G. Etess Arena at the newly opened, beautiful and bustling Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Saturday night for the return of big-time boxing to Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the first time in nearly four years.
Light heavyweight world titleholders Sergey Kovalev and Dmitry Bivol were defending their belts in the two HBO bouts for what was supposed to be their final steps toward a Dec. 8 unification bout. Bivol was fighting on his third Kovalev undercard in his past four fights and a Kovalev-Bivol fight was something many wanted to see.
Bivol (14-0, 11 KOs) cruised past sturdy gatekeeper Isaac Chilemba (25-6-2, 10 KOs) in a bit of a boring and uneventful one-sided unanimous decision in the opener to do his part. And then Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs), ahead on all three scorecards, appeared on his way to a similarly dominant win over Eleider “Storm” Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) until their careers — and boxing history — changed with one Alvarez right hand that slammed into Kovalev’s face late in the seventh round.
Opening Bell: What might have been
The scene was ideal. A sold-out crowd of 5,642 had packed the Mark G. Etess Arena at the newly opened, beautiful and bustling Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Saturday night for the return of big-time boxing to Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the first time in nearly four years.
Light heavyweight world titleholders Sergey Kovalev and Dmitry Bivol were defending their belts in the two HBO bouts for what was supposed to be their final steps toward a Dec. 8 unification bout. Bivol was fighting on his third Kovalev undercard in his past four fights and a Kovalev-Bivol fight was something many wanted to see.
Bivol (14-0, 11 KOs) cruised past sturdy gatekeeper Isaac Chilemba (25-6-2, 10 KOs) in a bit of a boring and uneventful one-sided unanimous decision in the opener to do his part. And then Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs), ahead on all three scorecards, appeared on his way to a similarly dominant win over Eleider “Storm” Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) until their careers — and boxing history — changed with one Alvarez right hand that slammed into Kovalev’s face late in the seventh round.
In December, Tevin Farmer was outright robbed of the decision against then-junior lightweight world titlist Kenichi Ogawa in Las Vegas, a fight that eventually was changed to a no contest and saw Ogawa stripped of the belt for a failed drug test.
On Friday, in Sydney, Australia — and live on ESPN+ — Farmer (26-4-1, 5 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Philadelphia, got justice, winning the vacant title he deserved in December as he soundly outpointed ex-featherweight titlist and hometown fighter Billy Dib (43-5, 24 KOs), 32, via scores of 120-107, 119-108 and 118-109. Farmer’s movement and jab troubled Dib throughout the fight. Farmer busted Dib up and dropped him with a left hand in the ninth round. It was such a dominating performance that at one point late in the fight Dib trainer Jeff Fenech was poised to throw in the towel. For a guy who began his career 7-4-1, Farmer has come an incredibly long way.
The next step: While Dib tearfully announced his retirement in the ring, Farmer, who wants a hometown defense, called for a unification fight with Gervonta Davis. Don’t count on it happening though.
Fights you might have missed
Saturday at Uniondale, New York
Super middleweight Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (34-1-1, 23 KOs) W10 J’Leon Love (24-2-1, 13 KOs), scores: 99-91, 98-92 (twice)
Former middleweight titlist Quillin, 35, of New York, in only his second fight since a shocking first-round knockout loss to Daniel Jacobs in December 2015, soundly outpointed Love, 30, of Las Vegas, in the ho-hum co-feature of Berto-Alexander. Quillin won easily thanks to his activity and power, beating Love in front of his promoter, Floyd Mayweather.
Welterweight Sergey Lipinets (14-1, 10 KOs) W10 Erick Bone (20-6, 8 KOs), scores: 99-91, 98-92, 95-95
In March, Lipinets lost his junior welterweight world title by clear decision to Mikey Garcia. Making his return, Lipinets, upset by not being invited to join the World Boxing Super Series junior welterweight tournament, moved up to welterweight and outpointed Bone with ease. Forget the draw scorecard from judge Robin Taylor. This was all Lipinets, who gave Bone a bloody nose early in the fight.
Light heavyweight Marcus Browne (22-0, 16 KOs) W10 Lenin Castillo (18-2-1, 13 KOs), scores: 98-91 (twice), 97-92
Browne, 27, a southpaw from Staten Island, New York, was supposed to be challenging Sergey Kovalev for a world title on Saturday but he was dumped from the bout because of a domestic violence arrest. So he wound up facing Castillo in a much lower-profile bout. Browne, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, suffered a knockdown on a right hand during an exchange in the fifth round but otherwise dominated Castillo, 29, of the Dominican Republic.
Welterweight Luis Collazo (38-7, 20 KOs) W10 Bryant Perrella (15-2, 13 KOs), scores: 98-92, 96-94, 95-95
Former world titlist Collazo, 37, of Brooklyn, New York, returned from an 18-month layoff and left biceps surgery, to outpoint fellow southpaw Perrella, 29, of Fort Myers, Florida. The old veteran Collazo was aggressive throughout the bout, hurt Perrella in the third and fourth rounds and was in command all the way despite the one surprising draw scorecard.
