Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City - Sergey Kovalev (26-0-1, 23KOs) was forced to go the twelve round distance for the first time in his career, but he had more than enough firepower to dominate the 49-year-old Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2, 32KOs) to win a lopsided unanimous decision to unify the WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight titles. The scores were 120-107, 120-107 and 120-106. Photos by Ed Mulholland/HBO.
Kovalev started strong, applying pressure in the first and scoring a knockdown with a short counter on Hopkins. Following that round, Hopkins was mostly on the defensive and landing one punch at a time here and there, while Kovalev dominated the action with activity, hard punches and combinations.
Hopkins appeared to rattle Kovalev in the final round with a neck punch, but Kovalev came on strong in the final minute where he battered Hopkins and nearly knocked the veteran out.
