Bernard Hopkins vs. Sergey Kovalev, billed as Alien vs. Krusher, was a professional boxing match contested on November 8, 2014, for the WBA (super), WBO and IBF light heavyweight titles.
Background On August 1, 2014, reigning light heavyweight champions Bernard Hopkins (holder of both the WBA (super) and IBF titles) and Sergey Kovalev (the WBO champion) reached an agreement to face one another in a unification bout. The deal came together at the behest of the IBF, who gave Hopkins a deadline to either except the unification fight with Kovalev or face their number-one ranked contender Nadjib Mohammedi.Hopkins, Kovalev agree to light heavyweight title unification bout, Sports Illustrated article, 2014-08-01 Retrieved on 2024-08-19 The deal was contingent on Kovalev first defeating Blake Caparello in a fight that was scheduled only two days after the agreement with Hopkins had been made. Kovalev would knockout Caparello in the second round with Hopkins in attendance, officially putting the fight on.Sergey Kovalev knocks out Caparello, ESPN article, 2014-08-02 Retrieved on 2024-08-19
Prior to agreeing to face one another, both Hopkins and Kovalev had previously pursued a separate unification bout with Adonis Stevenson, who held the WBC's light heavyweight title and was regarded as the lineal champion, also holding The Ring light heavyweight title. Kovalev and Stevenson had a deal in place with cable network HBO that would see Stevenson first make a title defense against Andrzej Fonfara in May and then face Kovalev in September, however, these plans were cancelled when Stevenson, claiming to be unhappy with the money HBO had offered, reneged on the deal and jumped to the rival network Showtime.Adonis Stevenson, Sergey Kovalev camps clash over deal details, The Ring article, 2014-04-02 Retrieved on 2024-08-19 Hopkins then expressed interest in a fight with Stevenson, calling him out after defeating Beibut Shumenov in April, but a deal was never reached.Bernard Hopkins Calls out Adonis Stevenson for Title Unification Fight, Bleacher Report article, 2014-04-20 Retrieved on 2024-08-19
The Hopkins–Kovalev fight marked the first collaboration between Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, who promoted Hopkins, and HBO after a 20-month estrangement following Hopkins' victory over Tavoris Cloud on March 9, 2013.Bernard Hopkins: The Peacemaker Between HBO and Golden Boy, Tha Boxing Voice article, 2014-08-21 Retrieved on 2024-08-19 HBO had severed ties with Golden Boy only days after the Hopkins–Cloud fight when HBO's top draw Floyd Mayweather Jr., whose fights Golden Boy had co-promoted with Mayweather's namesake Mayweather Promotions, left HBO to join Showtime.Floyd Mayweather Defection To Showtime Is Last Straw As HBO Drops Golden Boy, Forbes article, 2013-03-19 Retrieved on 2024-08-19
The fight Kovalev sent Hopkins down with a right hand to head with a minute to go in the opening round and dominated the remainder of the fight from then on. While Hopkins was able to take Kovalev the full 12-round distance for the first time in Kovalev's career, he spent the entire fight on the defensive, not taking any risks offensively and landed only 65 punches through the course of the fight. Kovalev, though his offense was somewhat stymied by Hopkins defensive approach, he nevertheless landed over 100 punches more than Hopkins, scoring 166 punches out of 585 thrown. Kovalev was named the winner by unanimous decision with all three judges giving him all 12 rounds with two scores of 120–107 and one score of 120–106.Challenger Sergey Kovalev Wins Two Titles From Bernard Hopkins, NY Times article, 2014-11-09 Retrieved on 2024-08-19
Aftermath The fight was considered successful, as it was watched by an average of 1.328 million viewers.
Fight card Confirmed bouts: Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round NotesLight Heavyweight175 lbs.Sergey Kovalev (c)defBernard Hopkins (c)UD12/12Welterweight147 lbs.Sadam Ali (c)def.Luis AbregúKO9/12 Heavyweight200+ lbs.Vyacheslav Glazkovdef.Darnell WilsonRTD7/10Light Heavyweight175 lbs.Vyacheslav Shabranskyydef.Emil GonzalezRTD2/10Super Featherweight130 lbs.Eric Hunterdef.Daniel RamirezTKO6/10Light Heavyweight175 lbs.Nadjib Mohammedidef.Demetrius WalkerKO1/10Light Heavyweight175 lbs.Sullivan Barreradef.Rowland BryantRTD4/8Super Middleweight168 lbs.Andrey Sirotkindef.Michael MitchellUD6/6Super Lightweight140 lbs.Ryan Martindef.Isaias Martin GonzalesTKO2/6
Broadcasting Country Broadcaster Main Event Sport 1 RPC Polsat Sport BoxNation HBO
References