Former United Lightweight Champion Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev (36-5-1, 30 COs) ended his 16-year-old pro career on a positive note and scored a seventh round about Artur Mann (22-5, 13 COs) in the Yunost Arena in Chellyabins on Friday night.
The 42-year-old Kovalev fought in front of his hometown crowd and landed a beautiful left-hand combination of the left to put Mann on the canvas. After the Kazakhstan-born Mann got back to his feet, his corner chose to stop the fight. His legs hovered after rising again, and it would not have been a good idea to let it go on.
Mann’s resilience
Earlier in the fight, Kovalev Mann struck in the second round with a short left hook. Mann was severely injured after rising again, but defended the storm after taking a barrage of heavy push from Kovalev. In the final seconds of the round, Mann went down a second time, but the referee decided it a slip. It seemed like it could have been a legitimate knockout.
In rounds three and four, Mann fought well and Kovalev sometimes marked with short blows and made him spend energy. Mann gained a cut over his right eye in the third round to be hit with repeated stiff stiffs from Sergey.
‘The Krusher’ looked visibly tired of the energy he spent in the second round. Still, Mann could not use his fatigue because of his low peculiar production. He constantly emerged, but did not throw, and allowed Kovalev to land Jabs and power punch at will. Mann had the power, but he did not let his shots go.
Kovalev got its second wind in sixth place and significantly increased its punch production. He labeled Mann with many bumps in those rounds, and you can see that the fight wouldn’t take much longer if Artur didn’t throw anything back.
Retirement thoughts?
This performance by Kovalev may retire second thoughts, because he looked good in this battle compared to some of his recent. However, he does not have to worry about something that comes back to him, because Mann was like a punch. The Cruiserweight Division is weak. So there is a possibility that Kovalev works itself in a title shot.
His age can be an obstacle because he can’t afford to try to spend years fighting in the position to fight a world title. The money would not be life -changing for Kovalev, unless Turki Alalshikh is interested in financeing a fight between him and one of the champions.
Last updated on 04/18/2025
 ended his 16-year pro career on a positive note, scoring a seventh-round){kind=link}