In a tune-up fight before his anticipated showdown with Andre Ward in November, #1 light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev found it more difficult than expected to dispatch Malawi's Isaac Chilemba.
Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) is one of the hardest and most ruthless punchers in boxing, but in a rarity, the WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion was unable to get a knockout win on Monday night in Russia. "Krusher" took a unanimous decision (117-110, 118-109, 116-111) over Issac Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs), who was expected to be another victim on Kovalev's knockout list, but Chilemba kept his own record intact of having never been stopped in his career.