WBO world light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (34-3-1) is on to the next one after he TKO’d Anthony Yarde (18-1) yesterday in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
And the next one is a fight for the ages. In his interview after the fight, the 36-year-old vet called out one of boxing’s superstars – WBC Franchise champion and WBA “Super” middleweight king Saul Alvarez.
The two were in negotiations this summer, but they were unable to put the fight together. The reason the fight didn’t materialize was Anthony Yarde who was a mandatory challenger and he didn’t want to be sidelined. Now when the 28-year-old Brit is gone from Kovalev’s schedule, the Russian is open to restarting the negotiations with Canelo.
“I am happy,” the champion said after his stoppage win.
“I fought in front of my boxing fans. Hopefully, my next fight will be against Canelo. He’s strong,” said Kovalev about Yarde. “He had a good IQ. Good defense. He has not enough experience. I won by experience. I can’t lose anymore. Right now, I’ve got the right training camp, and the right life. 100 percent,” said Kovalev when asked if Yarde will win a world title in the future.
Kovalev was humble in his victory, as he paid respect to Yarde a couple of times. Canelo has been vocal that he’d like to move up and face the light heavyweight champ, but after Kovalev’s last night performance, one would think that Canelo will be considering other names than “Krusher”. Yarde is still not on Saul’s level, but Canelo is lacking the physical attributes the Birt posses and that might be a massive trouble for the Mexican if he chooses to square up against Kovalev.
