Sergey Kovalev is not wasting any time in getting a rematch against WBO light heavyweight champion and has decided to exercise his contractual rematch clause.
According to ESPN, Kovalev has stated his intent to fight Alvarez in a rematch less than a month after Kovalev lost the WBO title to Alvarez. The report states that Kovalev has 60 days from the date of the fight to formally notify the Alvarez camp of his intentions about the rematch. Such a rematch needs to take place by early February.
Kovalev's manager Egis Klimas told ESPN of his fighter's intentions to have the rematch.
"Yes, he wants to have the rematch. There's no other fight that he wants and there is no fight as big for him as the rematch," Klimas said.
When Kovalev and Alvarez fought in early August in Atlantic City, Kovalev was in control halfway through the fight, being ahead in the official cards 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 and ahead on Fightful’s scorecard 58-56. In the seventh round of the fight, Alvarez hurt Kovalev, knocking him down and eventually stopping him, winning his first world title.
The loss snapped any hopes of Alvarez getting to fight WBA champion Dmitry Bivol in a unification fight at the end of the year. It also was Kovalev’s third loss in his last five fights.
Kovalev won the title last year after Andre Ward, who beat Kovalev in 2016 to win the WBO, WBA and IBF titles, retired and the belt was vacated. Kovalev defeated Vyacheslav Shabranskyy to win the vacant belt.
