Artur Beterbiev

Sergey Kovalev wants his belts back; looking ahead to big fights against the likes of Bivol, Beterbiev

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.

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Results: Beterbiev stops Koelling

Results: Beterbiev stops Koelling

Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) won the vacant IBF light heavyweight title last Saturday night against a reluctant Enrico Koelling (23-2, 6 KOs) by a late 12th round knockout in front of a large crowd of booing boxing fans at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.

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Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev: Can the two Russian terrors rule the light-heavyweight division?

Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev: Can the two Russian terrors rule the light-heavyweight division?

With the recent departure via retirement of Andre Ward and with Adonis Stevenson coming towards the end at age 40, the light-heavyweight division needs a new star to come along to light up the weight class. Fortunately, there are two 175 pounders who are, between them, either already holding a major belt or set to challenge for one very soon.

And both of these unbeaten and hard-hitting light-heavyweights come from Russia. Dmitry Bivol (born in Krygyzstan and relocating to Russia at the young age of 11) is the WBA champ, and he showed again on Saturday night in Monaco – with his first-round icing of Trent Broadhurst – how hard he hits and how ruthless he is.

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