Sergey Kovalev claimed he wasn't at his best when he lost his WBO light heavyweight title against Eleider Alvarez.
Days before Kovalev fights Alvarez in a rematch for the WBO title, Kovalev spoke on that first fight between the two boxers. During a media workout, Kovalev said he was not at his best when he got knocked out by Alvarez in the seventh round of their fight, which took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey and that there was something wrong with his body that night in August 2018.
"I didn?t have enough gas, enough power. You saw my condition. I was lazy it was like something was wrong with my body," Kovalev said.
Despite Kovalev claiming that he didn't have enough power to put away Alvarez, Kovalev was still ahead on all three judges scorecards (58-56, 59-55, 59-55) at the time of the stoppage. But in the seventh round, Alvarez would knock Kovalev down three times and the former champion said he lost focus for a very brief period and that was what led to his defeat.
"The last fight he got lucky. He got lucky of course. I lost concentration for just a couple of seconds ? a lack of attention just for one second. Then I couldn?t get focused after the knock down," Kovalev said.
The fight will take place in Texas in the main event of an ESPN+ card promoted by Top Rank on February 2. The card will also feature two world title fights on the undercard, set to be televised on ESPN.