Former world champion Sergey Kovalev suffers HUGE knockdown in points defeat by Robin Safar on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s heavyweight showdown with Oleksandr Usyk
Former two-time light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev was knocked down and comprehensively defeated on points on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s heavyweight bout with Oleksandr Usyk.
In just his second fight since being knocked out by Canelo Alvarez in November 2019, Kovalev moved up to cruiserweight to take on undefeated Swede Robin Safar in Riyadh, but he couldn’t turn back the years.
After falling behind on the scorecards, Kovalev was sent to the canvas in the closing seconds of the final round after a left-right combination from Safar.
Kovalev, 41, stood to hear the final bell, but all three judges scored the fight in Safar’s favor.
Throughout the ten-round bout, Kovalev looked like a shadow of his former self, and it could spell the end of his stellar career.
Sergey Kovalev (left) suffered a heavy defeat in his fight against Robin Safar (right)
Kovalev was able to get back to his feet to hear the final bell, but lost on points
It was Kovalev’s first fight in two years and he was completely defeated
Kovalev, nicknamed the ‘Krusher’, was widely recognized as the best light heavyweight in the world in his prime.
He became champion in the 175lb division for the first time by beating Britain’s Nathan Cleverly via fourth-round knockout in 2013.
He would collect two more titles over the next three years before losing a controversial decision to American Andre Ward in November 2016.
Ward defeated Kovalev again the following year, this time stopping the Russian in the eighth round, and Kovalev lost for the third time in his professional career to Eleider Alvarez in 2018.
However, just six months later he took revenge on Alvarez to become a two-time champion, defeating Briton Anthony Yarde in August 2019 in his home country.
But his subsequent loss to Canelo led to an extended period of inactivity during which he didn’t fight for over two years before returning with an uneventful victory.
Another two years out of the ring followed, and Kovalev was clearly defeated on Saturday night as his overall record rose to 35 wins, five losses and one draw.