Eleider “Storm” Alvarez shocked the boxing world this past August when he knocked Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev down three times in the seventh round en route to a stunning upset via TKO.
Now, the “Krusher” will have his chance to avenge that loss and get his career back on track. On Friday, Top Rank announced that Kovalev and Alvarez will have a rematch early next year live on ESPN. An exact date for the bout hasn’t been confirmed just yet.
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“Bringing this marquee rematch to boxing fans on ESPN is a great way to start 2019,” said Top Rank President Todd duBoef in a press release statement. “The light heavyweight division is loaded, and both Kovalev and Alvarez have fan-friendly styles that will make for another gripping fight.”
Following two notable losses to Andre Ward, Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs) looked like he was reasserting his light heavyweight dominance via back-to-back TKO wins over Vyacheslav Shabranskyy and Igor Mikhalkin. But even Kovalev couldn’t have seen an upset loss to Alvarez coming. This will mark a shot at redemption, with a win setting up bigger fights and paydays ahead.
For Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs), this rematch will mark his chance to show the boxing world that his August victory over Kovalev wasn’t a flash in the pan by any means.
