New York: Eleider Alvarez of Columbia knocked out Sergey Kovalev in the seventh round with a stunning upset victory to capture the World Boxing Organisation light heavyweight title here Sunday.
The 35-year-old Alvarez hit Kovalev with a devastating right hook that sent the Russian to the canvas for the third and final time late in the seventh round. This was Kovalov’s first real test since losing in back-to-back fights to Andre Ward.
Kovalev was the more aggressive of the two boxers and was winning the majority of the rounds heading into the final round at the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City.
But he let down his guard in the seventh and Alvarez seized the opportunity to land several power punches and go on to win the fight in one of the biggest boxing upsets of the year.
Alvarez knocked Kovalev down twice and then finished him off with consecutive right hooks to the head that sent him down for the third and final time. At that point the referee moved in and called an end to the fight with 15 seconds left in the round.
Meanwhile, the result derailed plans for a light heavyweight unification bout between Kovalev and Dmitry Bivol, who retained his World Boxing Association belt with a unanimous decision over Isaac Chilemba on the same card. Bivol controlled the early and middle rounds but seemed to tire near the end as Chilemba started to win some rounds.
