Krusher Is Back! Kovalev tops Shabranskyy in Two

*New York, NY:* Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev regained his WBO Light Heavyweight
World Title in classic Krusher fashion with a second-round stoppage of
Vyacheslav Shabranskyy at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and live on
HBO World Championship Boxing. Kovalev came out of the gates swinging,
knocking down Shabranskyy twice in the first round. The second round
continued with more hard shots from The Krusher and a third knockdown.
Finally, at 2:36 of the second round, the referee called a halt to the
action and Kovalev was named the new WBO champ.

The punch stats clearly favor Kovalev, who connected for 50 of 113 punch
attempts (44%) compared to 16 of 71 for Shabranskyy (23%). The Krusher also
landed 62% of his power punches (36 of 58), compared to 30% (8 of 27) for
Shabranskyy. Finally, for jabs, Sergey landed 25% (14 of 55) and
Shabranskyy landed 18% (8 of 44).

After the fight, Kovalev said, “I did it and worked very hard to get to
champion status. My brain, mentally, my conditioning, my body – I’m back.
It’s my goal to be the best in this division. I am here, I love boxing, I
love to make great fights. This makes boxing interesting. We can make good
fights for boxing fans, and make boxing history. Let’s find out who is the
best. Chickenson is on my list.This is very good for boxing. Let’s do it.”