Sergey Kovalev on Saturday knocked out Anthony Yarde to retain the WBO light heavyweight title in his first defense since winning back the belt in February.
Kovalev was rocked by heavy punches from the British challenger in the eighth round, but Yarde tired, allowing Kovalev to floor him with a left jab in the 11th round.
After Yarde’s flurry in the eighth round, Kovalev’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, warned the Russian veteran that he would throw in the towel if he kept taking punishment.
Photo: AP
It is one month since another Russian fighter trained by McGirt, Maxim Dadashev, died from injuries sustained in the ring. The light welterweight suffered a brain injury against Subriel Matias, despite McGirt intervening to stop the fight when Dadashev took heavy punches to the head.
“It’s hard for me now when everyone is celebrating, and I have to think about him,” Kovalev said, referring to Dadashev.
Kovalev, who was hugged in the ring by his mother at the end, was fighting in Russia for only the fourth time as a pro. He could now be heading for a big-money bout with middleweight champ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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