By Keith Idec
ATLANTIC CITY – Eleider Alvarez is contractually obligated to give Sergey Kovalev a rematch.
It isn’t clear, however, whether their second fight will take place immediately after Alvarez’s seventh-round knockout win Saturday night. Main Events’ Kathy Duva, whose company promotes Kovalev, told BoxingScene.com early Sunday morning that she’ll give Kovalev some time to rest and think about when he’ll want to attempt to regain his WBO light heavyweight title.
“Knowing Sergey, he’ll definitely want to come back and avenge this loss,” Duva said. “But right now, after what just happened, it’s just too soon to say when that might be.”
HBO’s Peter Nelson had reserved December 8 as the date for the network to potentially televise a Kovalev-Dmitry Bivol bout if both boxers won their title fights Saturday night at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Etess Arena. After suffering three knockdowns and a seventh-round knockout defeat, New Jersey’s State Athletic Control Board will place Russia’s Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs) on medical suspension for at least 90 days.
Fighting Alvarez in four months might be took quick of a turnaround for Kovalev coming off such a brutal loss.
“We’re gonna talk about it,” Duva said. “We’ll see. We have to take some time and think about it. I don’t think [the rematch] needs to be [immediate].”
If Kovalev takes an extended break, that could afford Alvarez an opportunity to make an optional title defense in Quebec.
The Colombian champion moved from his homeland to Quebec in 2009, when he launched his pro career. Twenty-one of Alvarez’s 24 professional fights have taken place either in Montreal or Quebec City.
The 34-year-old Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) was down on all three scorecards – 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 – when he landed a right hand to the side of Kovalev’s head that knocked Kovalev to the canvas in the seventh round. Kovalev got up, but Alvarez knocked him down twice more and referee David Fields stopped their fight at 2:45 of the seventh round.
Duva declined to answer when asked if this type of devastating defeat will permanently prevent the 35-year-old Kovalev from thriving at boxing’s top level.
“I don’t wanna take anything away from what Alvarez accomplished,” Duva said. “Sergey was dominating and the guy managed to come back and stop him. It was a great accomplishment [for Alvarez], so I don’t want to make those kinds of judgments.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
