Boxing Results: Sergei “Krusher” Kovarev ends his 16-year boxing career in illustrious with victory victory over Altul Mann in his farewell in his hometown

Former unified light heavyweight champion Sergei “Krusher” Kovalev (36-5-1, 30 KOs) won the seventh technical knockout of Artur Mann (22-5, 13 KOs) on Friday night at Sheyavins Yunosato Arina in Russia, finishing his 16-year professional career with a positive note.

Fighting in front of a crowd in his hometown, Kovalev, 42, landed a beautiful left-right combination to place the man on the canvas. After the Kazakh-born Mann returned to his feet, his horns chose to stop the fight. After he returned, his legs wobbled, and it would not have been a good idea to allow it to continue.

Man’s Resilience

Early in the fight, Kovalev knocked down Mann with a short left hook in the second round. Mann was seriously injured after he stood up, but he managed to get through the storm after taking a barrage of heavy punches from Kovalev. In the final seconds of the round, Mann made his second time, but the judge ruled it as a slip. It looked like it was a legitimate knockdown.

In rounds 3 and 4, Mann fought well, tagging Kovalev with occasional short punches, expending energy. Mann cut off his right eye in the third round as he repeatedly hits Sergei’s hard jabs.

“The Krusher” looked visibly tired from the energy he spent in the second round. Still, Mann couldn’t take advantage of his fatigue due to his low punch output. He was constantly moving forward, but not throwing. Mann had power, but he didn’t let go of the shot.

Kovalev got his second wind in the sixth, significantly increasing his punch power. He tagged Mann with many punches in that round, and you can say that the fight wouldn’t last that long if Artur hadn’t started throwing something.

Thinking about retirement?

This performance by Kovalev may give him a rethink about retirement as he looked better in this fight compared to some of his recent fights. However, Mann was like a punching bag so he didn’t have to worry about coming back to him. Cruiser class is a weak division. So there’s a possibility that Kovalev will tackle the title shot.

His age can be a disability. Because he can’t afford to spend years in a position to fight for a world title. Also, unless Turki Alalshikh is interested in funding the battle between him and one of the champions, money is not life-changing for Kovalev.