HBO World Championship Boxing heads to The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York for a light heavyweight Championship double header Sergey Kovalev vs Igor Mikhalkin and Dmitry Bivol vs. Sullivan Barrera live on March 3.
Former light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev of Russia only has two losses to former pound for pound king Andre Ward and wants to make a statement tonight against Mikhalkin.
After a break and a revaluation of his lifestyle and training habits he left longtime trainer John David Jackson and headed to California to focus seriously on his career.
On November of 2017, Kovalev returned a new man with a vicious 2nd round stoppage against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, capturing the WBO world title, showing the ferocity that matched his Krusher nickname that night.
Tonight he is looking to continue his rebirth to show the world he wasn’t the same fighter when he fought Ward.
His opponent Igor Mikhalkin (21-1, 9KOs) is also Russian, but very different in style to Kovalev, he is a southpaw and not a power puncher with only 9 of his 21 wins coming by way of knockout.
Mikhalkin is looking to outbox the Krusher, while Kovalev is aiming for a vicious finish.
WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (12-0, 10KOs) is one of the rising stars out of Russia, only 27 years old and with a few fights was able to capture the WBA title, he is a boxer puncher and an exciting fighter.
Sullivan Barrera (21-1, 14KOs) is a very crafty Cuban boxer, his only loss is to Andre Ward, but since then he has accumulated a 4 fight win streak upsetting Vyacheslav Shabranskyy and Joe Smith Jr. in the process.
Can Barrera continue his upset streak or will Bivol overcome what some say is his toughest opponent to date.
Watch Sergey Kovalev vs Igor Mikhalkin and Dmitry Bivol vs. Sullivan Barrera live on Saturday, March 3 at 10:05 PM on HBO.
