Sergey Kovalev, former triple champion, ended his career with a knockout victory over Artur Mann in Russia.
Three-time light heavyweight world champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev let his fists fly one last time in his home city of Chelyabinsk – with an impressive knockout in round 7 against German cruiserweight Artur Mann. In front of his home crowd, the 40-year-old Russian put an exclamation mark behind his impressive career.
Kovalev (36-5-1, 30 knockouts) celebrated his international breakthrough exactly twelve years ago when he defeated WBO champion Nathan Cleverly by technical knockout in Cardiff to become world champion for the first time. Just one year later, the feared puncher unified the light heavyweight titles with a dominant points victory over IBF champion Bernard Hopkins. Two controversial defeats against Andre Ward – the first of which was particularly controversial – caused him to falter in the meantime, but Kovalev fought back: with victories against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy and in a rematch against Eleider Alvarez, he became world champion again – three times in total.
After his knockout against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2019, Kovalev moved up to cruiserweight. There he celebrated a comeback with a clear victory against Tervel Pulev. However, a long break and a points defeat to Robin Sirwan Safar on the undercard of Fury vs. Usyk I in Riyadh cast doubt on whether “The Krusher” would return.
Kovalev wanted to finally call it a day in Chelyabinsk – but not without a final statement. His opponent Artur Mann (22-5, 13 knockouts), an experienced German boxer and former world championship challenger, was supposed to add some tension to this farewell. However, Mann was knocked down in round two after a precise right-left combination. Although he managed to get into the break on shaky legs, Kovalev increasingly increased the pressure.
Kovalev returned to his old form in round six, controlling the action from the center of the ring and dictating the pace. Then the decision in round seven: A clean left hook put Mann down. The German got to his feet, but the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight at 2:11 minutes.
With this clear victory, Sergey Kovalev bids a dignified farewell to professional boxing – as a three-time world champion, a knockout artist and one of the defining fighters of his era. The crusher goes – but his legacy remains.