FRISCO, Texas — When Eleider “Storm” Alvarez won a majority decision against Isaac Chilemba on Nov. 28, 2015, he became the mandatory challenger for then-light heavyweight world champion Adonis Stevenson, but it would be a long wait for him to fulfill his world title dreams.
Although Stevenson’s mandatory obligation was not yet due, it was only a matter of time. The fight between fellow Montreal residents figured to be a popular attraction in a city that other top light heavyweights have also called home in recent years, including Jean Pascal, Lucian Bute and Artur Beterbiev.
Yet it was not until nearly three years after winning an official title elimination bout that Alvarez finally got the opportunity to fight for a world title, and when he did, it was not against Stevenson even though the mandatory fight had been ordered.
Instead, Alvarez lucked into a shot against Sergey Kovalev when a fight he had in the works with Marcus Browne was not finalized because Browne was dumped after a domestic violence charge against him came to light. That led to the to Alvarez.
Rather continuing to wait for Stevenson, Alvarez and his team accepted a deal to face Kovalev in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Aug. 4. It proved to be the right decision as Alvarez, trailing on all three scorecards – 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 – going into the seventh round, mounted a huge rally. Alvarez knocked a tiring Kovalev down three times for the knockout victory to claim a 175-pound world title and fulfill the promise he had shown as a standout amateur and 2008 Colombian Olympian.
Kovalev quickly exercised his contractual right to an immediate rematch and they will tangle again in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on Saturday night (midnight ET) at the Ford Center at the Star, the training facility of the Dallas Cowboys.
This is your ESPN.com Ringside Seat for the fight:
Kovalev turmoil
The 34-year-old Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) said he knows how hard it was for him to get the chance to fight for a belt in the first place, so he is not about to overlook Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs), 35, a Russia native fighting out of Los Angeles, despite scoring a definitive knockout the first time around.
“He’s one of the best fighters in the division still. He’s a great (former two-time) champion, but now I’m the champion,” Alvarez said through a translator. “Some people say that when you become champion you don’t train as hard but I’m training harder for this fight than I did for the first one. I will be ready. I have a great team around me. I have a great trainer (Marc Ramsay) that pushes me. I know this is going to be an even tougher challenge but I am training hard to be a champion for a very long time.”
Kovalev, who has continually called the result of the first an “accident” and claims he overtrained, heads into the rematch with having ended a three-fight stint with trainer Abror Tursunpulatov to work with Buddy McGirt and strength coach Teddy Cruz. Besides the changes in his camp, he faces serious issues outside the ring.
Kovalev faces a maximum of four years in prison because of a felony assault charge stemming from a June 9 arrest because of an incident in Big Bear Lake, California, in which he is accused of punching a woman in the face after she rejected his sexual advances. Unlike the Browne situation, Kovalev was allowed to remain in Saturday’s fight. He is due back in court next month and has declined to discuss the incident, which only became public a couple of weeks ago, other than saying in a statement, “I would like to ask all of you not to make hasty conclusions on the situation in which I am accused. … After all, you do not know the details of what happened. Doesn’t it seem strange to you that the incident happened in June of last year, and they announced it on the eve of my rematch against Alvarez?”
Alvarez and his team have declined to comment on Kovalev’s legal situation. Alvarez’s only concern is being ready for the rematch, especially since his road to the title was a frustrating one.
After Alvarez became the mandatory challenger, he fought four times before facing Kovalev, a stretch that included major back-to-back wins, a fifth-round knockout of Bute in February 2017 and a majority decision over Pascal four months later.
By the numbers
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Alvarez: Knocked Kovalev down 3 times in 7th round in KO win in first fight (took fight as a late sub for Marcus Browne 3 1/2 months before the fight)
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Alvarez: Fourth consecutive fight vs. a champion/former champion (3-0, 2 KO in previous 3)
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Alvarez: 50% KO pct is the lowest among current title holders above junior lightweight (130 lbs)
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Alvarez: Won gold in the 2007 Pan American Games; represented Colombia in the 2008 Olympics
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Kovalev: All three losses came in last five fights
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Kovalev: Suffered second career KO loss in first fight vs Alvarez (was leading on all three scorecards at time of knockout)
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Kovalev: 11-3 (9 KO) in world title fights
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Kovalev: Seeking to win light heavyweight title for third time (would be third fighter to accomplish feat and first since 1990)
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Kovalev: Threw 82 punches (60 of them power) in fourth round of first fight, according to CompuBox; Alvarez’s power punch connect pct went up from 29% to 36% after that round
Alvarez waits. And waits. And waits
All the while, Stevenson was fighting sporadically and ignoring him Alvarez.
“(Stevenson) believed that the fight was not a big television fight,” said Yvon Michel, who promoted both fighters and now co-promotes Alvarez with Top Rank. “It should have been (Alvarez’s) turn after the Pascal fight and we really pushed for it.”
But Stevenson wanted yet another optional defense, this time against former two-division titlist Badou Jack last May.
“We were asked to step aside for Badou Jack by (Alvarez adviser) Al (Haymon) and he was going to be paid (a step-aside fee) for that. He was promised to fight the winner,” Michel said. “The fight was May 19 but we got the call in April to fight Kovalev and we got the same purse to fight Kovalev that we were promised to fight Stevenson.”
Alvarez, the married father of a nine-year-old daughter, just wanted a shot at a belt. He said the wait while he was mandatory fight was sometimes difficult.
“I got frustrated sometimes but I always kept my head up,” he said. “I knew the opportunity was going to happen and so when it happened I took advantage of it.”
Yet, he never received a step-aside payment, which is typical when a titleholder wants to face somebody other than his mandatory challenger when that bout is due.
“It’s all speculation that they were giving me money (to step aside) for the fight against Stevenson,” Alvarez said. “(People were saying) that they gave me like a $1 million dollars but that’s not true. They just offered me other fighters with the hopes of if I won that fight I would get the title shot.
“I got upset a little bit. But you wake up and you train for a reason and that’s to win a world title. And I knew that would happen eventually so that is why I kept going.”
Michel said although Alvarez wanted the title fight, he, Ramsay and manager Stephane Lepine did not believe he was ready for it yet, so they had him fight other opponents in order to hone his skills, gain experience and raise his profile in Quebec.
Alvarez fought on multiple Stevenson undercards in an effort to help build the fight and then had the big win over Bute, who had been Montreal’s longtime most popular fighter.
“And then after the Pascal fight we all decided it was time to do Stevenson,” Michel said. “He was ready then. Stevenson fought in May (in a draw with Jack) and Eleider got the title fight (with Kovalev) a couple of months after. It should have been Eleider’s turn instead of Badou Jack. He was paid to fight (other fights before) but not paid to step aside. He was going to get paid big money not to fight against Stevenson.
“We thought he was ready for anybody. We saw what he was doing in the gym and also when we sat down together it was like, OK, you’re going to get paid a good amount not to fight while Stevenson fights Jack and then fight winner, or fight Kovalev. His trainer and manager preferred to fight Kovalev and the rest is history.”
Rafael’s prediction: Alvarez by KO.