Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) will return to the ring Saturday night, November 25 at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City after two tough loses to Andre Ward in consecutive bouts.
Kovalev will face the gritty Ukrainian, Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (19-1, 16 KOs) for the vacant WBO Light Heavyweight title.
The Krusher is back in action Saturday night and he is looking to prove he still deserves to be atop the Light Heavyweight division after two straight loses to Andre Ward. After drama in his training camp, Kovalev switched trainers from John David Jackson to Arbor Tursunpulatov leading up to this clash.
At the age of 34, there are many questions surrounding Kovalev at this point in his career and Shabranskyy is looking to provide those answers.
“For me every fight is important, but right now this is the situation where I lost the belts, but thank God I am fighting for them again,” stated the humbled Sergey Kovalev (via Sky Sports).
Shabranskyy has taken this camp very seriously–he believes he is going to be able to spring a major surprise and send Kovalev into retirement.
Shabranskyy has only one defeat on his record to another 175-pound warrior in Sullivan Barrera (20-1, 14 KOs). Looking for the edge, Shabranskyy put in work with two reigning titleholders in his training camp, Dmitry Bivol and David Benavidez.
On media day, Shabranskyy explained the impact of Bivol and Benavidez on his camp, “Dmitry Bivol and David Benavidez have helped me a lot with sparring. They come to the gym and they give me real work,” said Shabranskyy (via Bad Left Hook). “We just train real hard and help each other. It’s great being able to spar and train with these champions.”
The vacant WBO world title was one of the three belts Ward won after defeating Kovalev. The belt was vacated by Ward after his surprise retirement in September. This fight takes Kovalev back to square one, at the beginning of Kovalev’s rise, he took the WBO title from Nathan Cleverly back in 2013.
While Kovalev looks to rebuild his legacy as a supreme Light Heavyweight, this is all or nothing for Shabranskyy as he looks to prove he is a true champion and a rising star.
Don’t miss out on an exciting tripleheader showcasing Sergey Kovalev vs. Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, Sullivan Barrera vs. Felix Valera and Jason Sosa vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa, Saturday night, November 25 on HBO starting at 10:00 pm, EST.
Boxing fans can expect an exciting night of boxing as a lot of questions will be answered in the Light Heavyweight division–make sure you tune in.
