Alvarez claims world boxing title

NEW YORK: Unbeaten Eleider Alvarez stunned Sergey Kovalev on Saturday, knocking the Russian champion down three times in the seventh round to capture the World Boxing Organization light heavyweight title.

Alvarez hit Kovalev with a powerful combination that sent him to the canvas for the final knockdown of the fight at 2:45 of the seventh to give the Colombian his first world title.

“I just can’t describe how I feel,” Alvarez said. “I wanted to show him that I am strong, I have a good chin and am ready for big things.”

The 35-year-old Kovalev was trying to re-establish his dominance in the light heavyweight division in his first real boxing test since losing in back-to-back fights to Andre Ward in November 2016 and June 2017.

Kovalev was the more aggressive of the two boxers and was winning the majority of the rounds heading into the seventh. But then he let his guard down and Alvarez seized the opportunity to land a barrage of heavy punches and go on to win the fight in one of the biggest boxing upsets of the year.

He knocked Kovalev down the first time with an overhand right to the side of the head and the second time with a left hook and a straight right to the forehead.

He then finished him off with a right hook and left uppercut combination and at that point the referee stepped in with 15 seconds before the bell in front of a crowd of 5,600 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Kovalev was taken to the hospital after the fight to receive medical treatment.

“I feel OK. Thank you everyone, thank you very much to all the fans around the world for your support,” Kovalev said. “I love you, and I’m fine.”

It may have hurt Kovalev that his two most recent fights — after losing his titles to Ward — were victories over weak opponents.

With this loss he drops to a record of 32-3-1, while Alvarez, who is based in Montreal, Canada, improved to 24-0 with 12 knockouts.