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Kovalev vs. Mikhalkin & Bivol vs. Barrera
Set For March 3 At Madison Square Garden
Sergey Kovalev continues his rise back to the top of the
light heavyweight division when he returns to the Mecca of
Boxing on Saturday, March 3rd to defend the WBO Light
Heavyweight World Title versus southpaw Igor Mikhalkin,
originally of Irkutsk, Russia, now fighting out of Hamburg,
Germany. A skilled boxer, Mikhalkin puts his ten-bout
winning streak on the line as he steps up to challenge one
of the most fearsome punchers in professional boxing at New
York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden.
In the co-main event, newly minted WBA World Light
Heavyweight Champion Dmitry Bivol of Russia makes his second
defense of the title against Cuba's streaking Sullivan
Barrera, the mandatory challenger. Viewed as a "toss-up"
bout by boxing insiders, Bivol-Barrera matches a young,
explosive champion against an experienced veteran hungry for
his first world title fight. Presented by Main Events,
Krusher Promotions and World of Boxing in association with
EC Box Promotions, the doubleheader will be televised live
on HBO World Championship Boxing®. Ticket information will
be announced shortly.
Last month, the Big Apple welcomed Kovalev (31-2-1, 27 KOs),
the two-time light heavyweight world champion, with open
arms as he made his New York debut with a stoppage of
Vyacheslav Shabranskyy in the second round to reclaim his
WBO Light Heavyweight World Title at the Theater at Madison
Square Garden. Eager to return to the ring and to his new
home, "Krusher" thrilled his large following of Russian fans
last month and he expects an even bigger contingent to greet
him in March. As he sits comfortably atop the light
heavyweight rankings and in the top five pound-for-pound,
Sergey's goal is to put on a great show for the fans in
attendance and watching on HBO.
Kovalev said, "I really enjoyed fighting at Madison Square
Garden in November. It feels like my home. I'm very excited
to go back to MSG and to fight on HBO. Everyone should to
have a great time watching my fight!"
Kovalev's manager, Egis Klimas, added, "It's still very
difficult to find light heavyweights who want to fight
Sergey. I'm surprised! Many thanks to Igor Mikhalkin, who is
confident enough to take on The Krusher and get a big
opportunity. I don't think it's a coincidence that
Shabranskyy is Ukrainian and Igor is Russian. They're tough!
Not afraid!"
Mikhalkin (21-1, 9 KOs), 32, a southpaw originally from
Irkutsk, Russia, now resides in Hamburg, Germany. He made
his professional debut in 2007 with a second-round stoppage
against Stefan Stanko and went on to win his first 11 bouts
with seven of those wins coming by way of knockout. The lone
blemish on Mikhalin's record is a unanimous decision loss to
former WBO Light Heavyweight Title contender Aleksy
Kuziemski in 2010. In the eight years since, Igor amassed
several belts: the IBO Light Heavyweight World Title, EBU
Light Heavyweight Title and the WBO Intercontinental Light
Heavyweight Title. Mikhalkin will be making his US debut
against Kovalev on March 3.
When asked about his upcoming title shot against Kovalev,
Mikhalkin replied, "It is a great honor for me to fight in
the United States. This will undoubtedly be the biggest and
hardest fight in my career. Kovalev is for me the strongest
man in this weight class. But I feel ready. The fight
against Kovalev comes at the perfect time. I feel stronger
than ever and I want to show the American boxing audience a
great fight."
Mikhalkin's promoter, Erol Ceylan, of EC Box Promotions
added, "We are happy to organize this fight together with
Main Events. Kovalev is a big name in the light heavyweight
division. Igor has absolutely earned this fight and he has
the class to defeat Kovalev. Igor has already won many great
foreign victories in his career and I'm sure that he will be
successful again."
In the co-main event, the young champion, Dmitry Bivol
(12-0, 10 KOs), makes his New York debut and fights in the
United States and on HBO for the second time. Sullivan
Barrera (21-1, 14 KOs), who has become a fixture on HBO,
returns to The Garden for his first world title fight. Both
men were very focused on making this fight and facing each
other. Some boxing commentators believe this matchup could
be the fight of the night.
"This is not the first time that I am training for the most
important fight of my career, and this motivates me and
makes me happy! Sullivan Barrera is what we wanted and I am
glad that we will meet in the ring soon," explained WBA
Light Heavyweight World Champion, Dmitry Bivol.
Andrei Ryabinskiy, of World of Boxing, Bivol's promoter,
explained, "We have planned a very active schedule for
Dmitry Bivol and World of Boxing in 2018 and are happy to
start the year with an event at Madison Square Garden on
March 3rd with Dmitry Bivol vs Sullivan Barrera. I would
like to thank Kathy Duva and HBO and hope that our
partnership will prosper."
Bivol's manager, Vadim Kornilov added, "We are glad that our
first appearance in 2018 will be against one of the best in
the division in the legendary Madison Square Garden.
Sullivan Barrera is a serious test for Bivol and we have a
lot of respect for him taking this fight. We want to prove
to the world that it was not by accident that this young kid
became a world champion in only his 12th ring appearance, he
is already fighting on HBO for his third time, and he is
fighting one of the best fighters in the division with only
one career loss that came at the hands of Andre Ward. Bivol
has already been mentioned as a possible pound for pound
prospect by many and we will continue fighting the best out
there to prove this!"
Barrera said, "I came from Cuba with one dream and that was
to win a world title. I know it won't be easy and I know I
chose the toughest road than anyone to get here. But I know
all of the tough opponents I have agreed to fight and hard
work will pay off. On March 3rd, I will become the most
deserving light heavyweight champion in boxing."
Main Events CEO Kathy Duva remarked, "We're ready to
showcase the light heavyweight division again at Madison
Square Garden! We have Kovalev and Barrera both returning to
The Theater after big wins in November and we're adding
another light heavyweight champion to the card! Dmitry is a
young champion with a bright future ahead of him if he can
get past Sullivan, which is no easy task. And Sergey is
taking on Igor Mikhalkin, who is a young, but experienced,
southpaw and that's given him some trouble in the past.
We'll round out the show with another lineup of prospects
and local guys in great fights to make sure the fans see a
really entertaining and satisfying night of boxing."
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