On Saturday, February 2nd at The Star in Frisco, Texas, WBO light heavyweight champion Eleider Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) defends his title for the first time against Sergey Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs), the very man he took the belt from last August. It headlines a tripleheader of title fights as part of Top Rank Boxing’s Super Bowl weekend special on ESPN/ESPN+.
A Canadian by way of Colombia, Alvarez had long earned a title shot but never actually managed one until last year, and he was still a heavy underdog against the Russian power puncher. Despite being down on the scorecards at the halfway mark, Alvarez dropped Kovalev three times in round seven for the upset victory.