The old Frank Galarza (18-2-2, 11 KOs) is back and his timing couldn’t be better. In his second fight coming off of a 14-month layoff after suffering two difficult back-to-back losses, Galarza put together a strong performance at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on the Kovalev vs. Shabranskyy undercard, winning with solid scores in a unanimous decision.
Sergey Kovalev
Sergey Kovalev faces Igor Mikhalkin on March 3 on HBO
Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev (31-2-1, 27 KOs) will be making his first defense of his WBO 175lb. title against Igor Mikhalkin (21-1, 9 KOs) on March 3 on HBO at Madison Square Garden in New York. Kovalev’s management wanted Sullivan Barrera for the fight, but he decided to fight WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol for his title.
Video: Sergey Kovalev vs Vyacheslav Shabranskyy – Post Fight Recap
Saturday night on HBO former unified light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev (31-2-1, 27 KOs) defeated Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (19-2, 16 KOs) for the vacant WBO title that Kovalev once possessed. Kovalev dropped Shabranskyy twice in the opening round, and again in round two. He bravely rose to his feet once again following the third knockdown, but by then the damage had been done. Cool as an assassin, Kovalev continued breaking Shabranskyy down until referee Harvey Dock mercifully called a halt to the contest.
“Krusher” is back; Kovalev destroys Shabranskyy – Beterbiev, Bivol, Stevenson next?
Once the most feared man in the light-heavyweight division, Sergey Kovalev went at least a little ways towards regaining that status last night in New York. In totally destroying the decent if not great Vyacheslav Shabranskyy inside two short rounds, “Krusher” regained a portion of the belts he lost to Andre Ward (the Russian dropping a controversial decision to the now-retired Ward last year and being stopped in this year’s return fight).
Sergey Kovalev destroys Vyacheslav Shabranskyy
Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev regained his WBO Light Heavyweight World Title in classic Krusher fashion with a second round stoppage of Vyacheslav Shabranskyy at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and live on HBO World Championship Boxing. Kovalev came out of the gates swinging, knocking down Shabranskyy twice in the first round. The second round continued with more hard shots from The Krusher and a third knockdown. Finally, at 2:36 of the second round, the referee called a halt to the action and Kovalev was named the new WBO champ.
Results: Kovalev destroys Shabranskyy; Barrera & Gamboa win
Former IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (31-2-1, 27 KOs) overpowered Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (19-2, 16 KOs) in obliterating him in 2 short rounds to win the vacant WBO light heavyweight title on Saturday night in their fight on HBO World Championship Boxing at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Kovalev-Shabranskyy Weights & final press conference quotes
Weigh-In Results
Sergey Kovalev 174 vs. Vyacheslav Shabranskyy 174.8
Jason Sosa 131.2 vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa 130.6
Sullivan Barrera 174.8 vs. Felix Valera 174.2
Bakhram Murtazaliev 153.8 vs. Carlos Galvan 151.8
Frank Galarza 153 vs. Jaime Herrera 153.2
(Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events)
Kovalev v Shabranskyy: Preview
On Saturday night, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) will look to regain the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title from The Theater at Madison Square Garden live on HBO World Championship Boxing against Vyacheslav “Lion Heart-Chingonskyy” Shabranskyy (19-1, 16 KOs). The scouting report for this much-anticipated battle is below: The Krusher has knockout power in both hands and can end a fight with any punch he throws. He has a sharp jab that has been effective in keeping his opponents at bay and has plenty of big-fight experience coming into this bout.
Sergey Kovalev wants his belts back; looking ahead to big fights against the likes of Bivol, Beterbiev
Now that Andre Ward, the only man to have beaten him at pro level, is out of the way, Russia’s Sergey Kovalev is on a mission to get all his belts back – “Krusher” of course losing his WBA/WBO/IBF light-heavyweight titles to the now-retired Ward last year.(Photo credit Craig Bennett/Main Event)
Kovalev, who says he has very much cleaned up his act (no more beer, two a day being his intake according to a recent interview Kovalev gave with fighthype) as well as getting himself a new trainer, faces Vyacheslav Shabranskyy for the vacant WBO belt he lost to Ward. This fight goes down next Saturday (November 25) and Kovalev is favorite to win – but it will prove much tougher getting the three other recognized belts around his waist.
Barrera vs. Valera on Kovalev vs. Shabranskyy card
Sullivan Barrera – “Camp has been great. It continues to get better with my new coach, Derik Santos. Every camp we work on different things. I am enjoying camp because I am learning a lot from him and we mix well. Nov 25 expect a great performance from me!”
“The door is wide open for everyone in the light heavyweight division. There are a lot of great fights to be made and I’m just looking to continue being in the mix with all the great fighters we have in our division.”