By Jake Donovan
Isaac Chilemba he was facing a significant uphill battle the moment he signed on to face unbeaten, unified light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev in the latter’s native Russia homeland.
That he goes in as a heavy underdog for Monday’s affair – which airs on Russia Match TV and via same-day tape delay on HBO - matters little to the veteran contender from South Africa by way of Malawi, who has spent much of this decade playing the role of road warrior. He has done so by plying his trade while placing his career and his faith in the hands of manager Jodi Solomon, whose gender isn’t looked upon with much respect in their corner of the world.
“Isaac and I started working together eight years ago and I was the only woman working in boxing in South Africa,” Solomon explained during the final pre-fight press conference Saturday in Ekaterinburg. “As a result, most people in boxing decided I would never make it and neither would Isaac because he was working with me.
“In a matter of three years we proved them wrong when he won five titles during that time. I feel like now we have come full circle. For the first time in six years Isaac and I have trained in South Africa again. Again we are faced with doubters. Again we are going to prove them all wrong.”
Interestingly, Chilemba (24-3-2, 10KOs) is coming off a loss heading into his first world light heavyweight title fight. However, his 12-round majority decision to Eleider Alvarez last November was viewed as a close and highly competitive fight that could have gone either way prior to the final scores being announced.
That the bout took place in Alvarez’ native Canada left an initially dejected – and irate – Chilemba of the belief that what came of the night was a moral victory. So too did his team, who feverishly sought to land a title fight for his next ring appearance.
The hardest part for promoter Main Events – the predominantly female company whose staff, particularly its CEO Kathy Duva can relate to Solomon’s plight of females operating at the top level of a still prehistoric-minded sport – has always been to get an opponent for Kovalev (29-0-1, 26KOs), who is universally regarded as the best light heavyweight in the world and one of the sport’s most feared punchers.
Once Chilemba was board - which was almost immediately the fight was presented to him – there came the sense that perhaps there exists the chance for an upset.
“I have known Isaac Chilemba for as long as I have known Sergey. He has worked very hard to get his opportunity,” noted Duva. “I know he is coming to win this fight. However, I believe Sergey is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. I know he cringes when I say that, but he is special. We all know Sergey always comes to win too.
“As always we expect a tremendous fight on Monday night. I am not going to say the best man will win because they are both very good men. But the fans will win in the end because I know it will be a great event.”
Naturally, Chilemba isn’t quite as interested in hedging his bet here.
“Since I moved to light heavyweight we have been chasing the WBC title and we came up short three times,” acknowledged Chilemba, speaking to the close loss to Alvarez as well as a draw with and loss to Tony Bellew in their pair of title eliminators. “Now I have a shot at three world titles. I really believe God works in mysterious ways. This is my time. This is my destiny. I believe I was destined to be WBO, WBA and IBF World Champion.
“In my life I have been through a lot of obstacles. I stumble and fall and I know how to pick myself up. I have been through hell and made it back. Nothing can stop me.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2
