Isaac ‘Golden Boy’ Chilemba’s bid for a world light heavyweight title ended in a disappointing unanimous’ points (117-110, 116-111, 118- 109) decision loss to unbeaten Sergey Kovalev in Russia last night.
The South Africa-based pugilist was not readily available for a comment but his manager Andson Kazembe, painted a bright picture after this fight which was staged at DIVS Palace of Sports in Ekaterinburg in Russia.
“Great fight. Isaac showed a heart. Went through 12 rounds. He had great moments, unfortunately, lost it on unanimous points’ decision,” Kazembe said yesterday.
“He put on a good show of himself and the commentators were saying that he has done better than any of Kovalev’s opponents including Bernard Hopkins.”
The coach’s optimism seemed to be shared by a report on www.badlefthook.com, which summarised the 12-round fight.
“Both guys clearly tired, which is not a surprise. Kovalev has stalked all night, largely not terribly effectively. Chilemba has really taken the right hand away in this fight,” the website reported.
‘They had the right plan and Chilemba executed pretty well. A tumble to the canvas! A true tumble that time. Kovalev pressing for a knockout in the final 30 seconds here. He’s really throwing everything he’s got. Chilemba’s nose busted. Chilemba survives, and still has never been stopped.”
The Malawian, who has now lost two consecutive fights, missed out on World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) belts, which Kovalev, 33, holds.
Chilemba, 29, had before the fight, which was broadcast on HBO, been infuriated that the Russsian was merely fine-tuning for a November date with Andre Ward in America.
However, the hard-hitting Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KO) dominated most rounds after Chilemba, (24-4-2, 10 KO), had earlier reportedly started the fight promisingly. The last time the Russian fought at home, his opponent eventually died due to injuries received from the fight.
Leave a Reply