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By: Hans Themistode
At 38 years of age, Sergey Kovalev will attempt to revitalize his career. As first reported by Mike Coppinger of ESPN, the former unified light heavyweight belt holder is finalizing a March 12th showdown against Meng Fanlong at a catchweight of 185 pounds.
At one point, Kovalev was considered by most as the number one 175 pounder in the world. The Russian native was also a consistent staple on virtually every pound-for-pound list. At his sadistic best, Kovalev was a violent and ruthless finisher, scoring knockout victories 12 of his 13 bouts from 2011-2015.
Kovalev’s time at the top of the light heavyweight mountain, however, came to an end in the following year. Following back-to-back defeats at the hands of Andre Ward, Kovalev has struggled with consistency. Although he would eventually reclaim the WBO 175 pound title against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy in 2017, Kovalev was unseated once again, this time at the hands of Eleider Alvarez.
In the first quarter of 2019, Kovalev avenged his shocking defeat to Alvarez, winning a wide decision. He would then score a stoppage win over Anthony Yarde before losing via knockout at the hands of Canelo Alvarez.
Kovalev is now expected to move up in weight and compete as a full-fledged cruiserweight. In Fanlong, the undefeated light heavyweight contender picked up arguably the most impressive win of his career, a 12 round unanimous decision over Adam Deines in 2019.
Prior to Fanlong stepping up in weight to take on the once prominent champion, the Chinese product is set to return to the ring on February 25th, against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. Should Fanlong take care of business, he’ll then move on to a showdown against Kovalev just a few weeks later.
