Abror Tursunpulatov: Kovalev's defeat is my fault

The coach of the Russian boxer about the defeat in the title fight.

Abror Tursunpulatov, coach of Russian boxer Sergei Kovalev, spoke about the reasons for the defeat from Colombian Eleider Alvarez.

Literally thirty minutes passed after the fight, when the message “Call brother if you have questions” came to the phone. The author of the message was the coach of Sergei Kovalev.

There were enough questions after the defeat of the Russian, so a minute later the conversation began.

Very upset, - says Tursunpulatov. Well, you can't always win. Today we lost. Nothing can be changed.

Articles | Nail gloves? Alvarez defeated Kovalev

- In what state is Sergei?
- He is also upset, but he has already come to his senses. He says that maybe his time has already passed. In training, he, of course, worked responsibly. And I said that if Sergey does not get tired, he will win the fight. And he beat Alvarez.

He hit the opponent very tightly several times, but could not finish the fight ahead of schedule. Alvarez's head remained "fresh".

- Why did you let Kovalev rest after a successful fourth round?
- I know Seryoga well. As I said, Alvarez's head remained "fresh" even after missed shots. He finished the round normally, and I know Sergey's condition. He could give too much power. We had the “attack-attack” setting, and if the opponent is not broken, “stop”. You need to “let go”, gather strength again and start again.

Two weeks ago you said that Kovalev is almost in perfect condition. physical form. He only has five extra pounds, although earlier in this period there were eight. But you added that everything can be messed up in the last days...
- Everything was fine with us. When I worked with him on the “paws”, I felt that the blows were fast and biting. He was in good condition. If he could say before that he was tired after the second round, now this was not the case.

It's all about what he missed quick kick. You understand what one hit in such a weight is. If he had not missed this blow, or would have missed it, but then returned to the corner for a break, we would take this into account, and from the next round he would come to his senses. And he continued to outplay the opponent.

When Kovalev was knocked down for the first time, the first thought was: "Knit, clinch, avoid the fight, play for time." And Sergei went ahead ...
- The problem is that after the first knockdown, Seryoga did not come to his senses. He didn't understand what he was doing. He did not go forward, he did something automatically. When he missed this blow, I immediately shouted to him: "Sit still." It would be better if he sat until the count of "eight" and came to his senses. Instead, he stood up abruptly. It's very bad, but it's hard to control yourself when you're down. Blaming him for this is wrong. He lost control. I was hoping the round would end in time.

- What are his thoughts now about continuing his career?
- I would like him to finish his career. He no longer has the health of a young athlete. He did his job. He had several belts. He wrote his name down in history. Such a fate. And the opponent also deserved the right to become world champion. Alvarez worked for many years. If Sergey had not missed one blow, everything would have turned out differently, and the victory would have been on our side.

"SE" - about the fight in Las Vegas, the undefeated WBA, WBO and IBF light heavyweight champion to this day and American Andre Ward. Three judges with a margin of one point awarded the victory Russian rival.

The fight started quite well for Kovalev. In the first two rounds, he had a chance to decide everything in his favor. And then Ward was able to turn the tide of the fight and impose his unpleasant manner. In this viscous duel, he was stronger. By decision of the judges (score - 114:113, 114:113 and 114:113).

Judges' Notes:

08.38 All 12 rounds behind. The judges decide in favor of Ward. Kovalev lost

08.34 11th round. Ward was set up in the corner not to worry or worry about anything.

08.33 The tenth round leaves not the most pleasant impression. A tough exchange of blows took place. And Kovalev can't get in the way he knows how. One hit would have been enough for Ward.

08.32 Tenth round.

08.31 The battle sways a little - the denouement is close. This makes the room active as well. Finally!

08.28 Ninth round.

08.27 As it was sung in one famous song - "little fire". Ward imposes his fighting style on Kovalev. And makes the opponent nervous. In general, Ward does not allow himself to be beaten.

08.24 Eighth round.

08.23 Kovalev manages to throw Ward off balance. But the main thing is not possible - to strike his signature blow. If they pass, they are exceptionally easy.

08.20 Seventh round.

08.19 There are many such viscous and unpleasant fights in the ring. Boxing itself is almost non-existent.

08.16 Sixth round.

08.15 Kovalev misses several extremely unpleasant blows in the fifth round. Perhaps, for the first time since the beginning of the fight, we can talk about a slight advantage of Ward.

08.12 Fifth round. And let's not forget that we are watching the fight of two undefeated boxers so far. Someone today will suffer the first defeat in their careers.

08.11 In the fourth round, Ward rebuilt a little - now he is trying to respond to every blow of Kovalev with his own. Several cross attacks happened.

08.08 Round number four!

08.07 The third round went in a very calm manner.

08.04 From the first seconds of the third round, Kovalev continues what he started, and Ward goes into the clinch and turns boxing into a fight.

08.03 In the second round, Kovalev pretty patted his opponent. And it is worth noting that, to some extent, Ward was lucky that everything was not over now.

08.02 There is the first knockdown of Ward!

08.00 A little rest - and the second round!

07.59 The first round is over. A couple of hard attacks were carried out by Kovalev, but he has not yet brought the matter to his famous crushing blows.

07.56 The fight has begun!

07.50 Recall the main this moment victory.

07.40 Chelyabinsk nugget - the most titled Russian boxer - will meet with the most serious opponent in his career, an American Andre Ward. Both did not know defeat, both claim the title best boxer in the world, regardless of the weight category, and at stake is the defense of three titles - WBA, WBO, IBF. Kovalev spent 31 fights without a single defeat. Ward's statistics are also impeccable - 30 wins, never lost. This is enough to understand that the felling will be serious.

07.30 Hi all! In about 30 minutes in Las Vegas undefeated champion world WBA, WBO and IBF light heavyweight titles will meet with the most serious rival in his career - an American Andre Ward.

About how it was.

Kovalev - Ward. War

Talk about the dubiousness of the victory of the American in the first battle did not subside until the revenge. Then, in November 2016, Kovalev and Ward spent all 12 rounds in the ring. Undefeated at that time, the Crusher clearly dominated the fight, once knocked down the American. However, it was not possible to win ahead of schedule, and it came to a referee's decision.

Did the home refereeing factor work (this fight, like the rematch, took place in the USA), or did Ward really counterattack so effectively, but three judges unanimously awarded the victory to the American - 114:113. One may agree or disagree with such an outcome, but it is pointless to deny the highest class of Ward. Kovalev demanded a rematch almost immediately, and although Ward's team ruffled the Russian's nerves, they did not refuse negotiations, even despite the fact that the first fight was not a success from a business point of view.

Before the fight, Kovalev talked a lot about the opponent, recalled the previous fight, promised to knock out Ward and end his career. The American responded accordingly. The hostility between the boxers arose even before the November fight, and has only intensified since then. Still - Kovalev was dissatisfied with the unfair, in his opinion, decision of the judges, and Ward believed that the judges stole some of his well-deserved fame from him.

The revenge took place in Las Vegas in the presence of 10.5 thousand spectators. At stake are the champion belts of the World Boxing Association (WBA), the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) in the light heavyweight (up to 79.4 kilograms) weight, well known to the opponents in the first fight.

Kovalev immediately began to work as the first number, forcing Ward to defend. But it is even easier for such a master of defense to act from an opponent. In the first match, the Russian also went ahead, but did not extract big dividends from this.

In the second and third rounds, the picture did not change. In the second three-minute period, Ward hit Kovalev below the belt for the first time. The referee warned the American, and the fight continued. The Russian was advancing, his opponent was defending. It was alarming that in terms of tactics, Sergei did not learn from the first fight. He still made little use of his height advantage, and when he came close, Ward immediately tied him in the clinch.

In the clinch, both acted rather dirty, once they collided heads, but in war, as you know, all means are good. And that was the war. In the fourth round, the referee urged Kovalev and Ward to act cleaner, but they did not even think to listen to him. At the same time, the Russian was physically addicted, and for the first time the round was unconditionally won by an American.

In subsequent rounds, Ward's lead increased. Kovalev was tired, often dropped his hands and missed blows to the head and body. The famous jab of the Russian almost did not work, and attempts to get the opponent with deuces were mostly unsuccessful. Kovalev occasionally responded with successful actions. In the seventh round, Ward again scored a low blow.

The fight ended in the eighth round. Kovalev missed Ward's strongest right and staggered, but kept his feet. The American rushed to finish off the opponent with blows to the body, most of which hit the belt area. The Russian bent over, and after another series of Americans, the fight was stopped. The referee considered that Ward acted within the rules. However, when viewing the replay, it is clear that he struck below the belt.

Was it low? #wardkovalev2 @andresogward @sergeykrusherkovalev

Kovalev suffered the second defeat in his career, losing ahead of schedule for the first time. The 34-year-old Russian has 30 wins and one draw. 33-year-old Ward won 32 wins (16 by knockout) in 32 fights.

"It's a shame"

Kovalev's team has already stated that it intends to protest the results of the fight. “We will ask the commission to review repetitions with blows to the Russian below the belt. It's a shame. Kovalev will fight next in the fall. He is OK. The referee didn't do his job. Ward deliberately landed several low blows and he was not penalized for it. The referee forced Sergey to continue the fight after a few dirty punches," said Kovalev's promoter Katie Duva.

The future of Kovalev is now in question. The promoter promises that he will hold the next fight in the fall, but his opponent will clearly not be Andre Ward. After the second defeat in a row, there is practically no chance of this. By the way, and from a commercial point of view, the second fight is unlikely to be much more successful than the first. Ward earned $6.5 million, Kovalev even less. His fee depends on the sale of rights to view the battle on the Internet (PPV). Ridiculous sums against the background of the upcoming fight between McGregor and Mayweather.

Let's hope that no matter what, Russian athlete will draw the right conclusions from the defeat and return to the world boxing Olympus in the very near future.

Eleider Alvarez shocked Sergey Kovalev (and the whole boxing world). Andre Berto defeated Devon Alexander via split decision. And Dmitry Bivol did not look very convincing in a fight with a strong opponent.

But let's take a closer look at how these fights went so as not to miss the most important boxing news over the past weekend.

What I liked. Well, we've got a new potential superstar in the light heavyweight division, and the name of that star is Eleider Alvarez, alias Storm. He entered the fight not as a favorite (betting a hundred on him, you could win $ 400), but in the seventh round the Colombian dealt a powerful blow to Kovalev and then knocked him out. Alvarez spent several years waiting for a mandatory fight for the belt of Adonis Stevenson. After a while, he decided not to wait, but to focus on Kovalev's light heavyweight belt. Despite the fact that there are few knockouts on Alvarez's account, he knows how to hit, and hits hard. Ask Kovalev.

What I didn't like. Since Kovalev is 35 years old, the question should be asked if he can still compete in the light heavyweight elite and make a good impression. After two losses to Andre Ward (both controversial in their own way), there are many questions for Kovalev about whether he is still best fighter in this division. Kovalev's last two fights, in which he scored impressive victories over inexpressive opponents, gave boxing fans a false sense of security. If at the moment Kovalev was fighting Dmitry Bivol or Alexander Gvozdyk, he would look like a whipping boy.

Context

Match Kovalev-Ward: it's not about corruption

The Guardian 11/21/2016

The future of Bernard Hopkins is in doubt

The Washington Post November 11, 2014

10 best punchers in the world of boxing

The Guardian 11/10/2013

What does it mean. Before the fights, a lot of people were talking about the fact that Kovalev and Bivol would win, and then they would meet each other in a duel for the title. Now this won't happen anymore. But even if they fought, it wouldn't cost much. But Kovalev can take revenge by repeating the fight with Alvarez (there is a clause on such a revenge in the contract). And since he looked quite confident and comfortable for most of the fight, and was ahead of Alvarez on points until the fight was stopped, it is possible that Kovalev will try to take a second chance.

Other notable fights

For the second time in a row fortune (on points) was not on the side of Devon Alexander (27-5-1) as Andre Berto (32-5, 24 KOs) came out of an early knockdown and did enough for the rest of the fight to get a split decision win. Two judges gave the victory to Berto (115-112), and one decided that Alexander should win (114-113). In the previous match, Alexander, who was on the title list in two weight categories, as if he defeated Victor Ortiz, but the judges decided that there should be a draw. “I didn’t fight for a while, but it felt really good,” Berto told the Boxing Scene website. “He got away from a lot of my punches, so I started combining and punishing him. It’s an amazing feeling.” Welterweight is a vast category, and even with his win on Saturday, Berto is unlikely to be a favorite against any top ten boxer.

Dmitriy Bivol (14-0, 11 KOs) confidently defeated Isaac Chilemba (25-6-2) and if it wasn't for one referee's dubious tally, Chilemba wouldn't even come close to him on points. But Bivol failed to win the sympathy of the fans. He just did enough to take down a solid fighter like Chilemba, but nothing more. But you remember that Kovalev in 2016 also looked rather ordinary against the background of Chilemba, and therefore it is quite possible that Bivol was simply trying to win without thinking about the effect on the audience. This fight can hardly be called a demonstration of all the talents of Bivol and his prospects in his category.

Although young featherweight Tevin Farmer (26-4-1, 5 KOs) had only 16.7% knockout wins at the start of the bout, he knocked down Billy Deeb (43-5) and ended up winning a landslide victory, winning his first world title. One of Farmer's possible rivals could be Gervonta Davis, who is one of best boxers in the second featherweight category.

InoSMI materials contain estimates exclusively foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.