Former unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev is expected to return to the ring in a big way.
According to an ESPN, report, Kovalev is expected to headline a November HBO card, likely at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on November 25.
This would be the third time HBO would hold a boxing card at Madison Square Garden in 2017. One of those cards was Gennady Golovkin's last fight, a close unanimous decision victory over Daniel Jacobs back in March. The other was earlier in May when Terence Crawford defeated Felix Diaz. That fight also took place at the Theater.
Kovalev is bouncing back from two straight losses to Andre Ward, the first of which saw Kovalev lose his unified light heavyweight titles in a decision loss. In the rematch, Kovalev lost via TKO. These losses are the only ones in Kovalev's career up to this point.
No opponent has been set for Kovalev. The planned HBO card would come only three weeks after UFC 217, which was recently announced and will also take place at Madison Square Garden. Despite two losses, Kovalev is still in the top 10 in the WBA, IBF and WBO official rankings, with Kovalev still the No. 1 boxer in the WBO rankings behind the champion Ward.
