Sergey Kovalev is one of the greatest light heavyweights of the 21st century.
Throughout his career the Russian held world honours at 175lbs on multiple occasions, having become IBF, WBA and WBO champion.
He claimed victories over fighters such as Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal, and also shared the ring with Canelo Alvarez – who stopped him inside 11 rounds – and Andre Ward.
Kovalev fought Ward twice, with their first meeting coming in November 2016 and was arguably the toughest test of the American’s career. Ward was dropped in the second round, before winning on points, with some fans believing that was the wrong decision.
Despite Kovalev sharing the ring with those greats, he has now named the opponent he fought that was tougher than all of them. Speaking to Talksport, the Russian gave an unlikely answer for his most difficult fight.
“Darnell Boone. I fought him in fight number 10 I believe. That fight was very tough for me, I had just come back from Russia and for a long time I hadn’t fought. My manager gave me this opponent and he was like 17-15, I was very tired in this fight.
“I don’t remember the fight after round number five, the fight was eight rounds and for three rounds I fought without my memory. It was very tough and I was very tired. I won the fight but Darnell Boone didn’t agree I won.”
Kovalev defeated Boone by split decision in October 2010, before they met in a rematch in June 2012, with Kovalev claiming a second round stoppage win on that occasion. Kovalev currently holds a record of 35 wins, 5 defeats and 1 draw, with his last fight being a points loss to Robin Safar in May 2024.
He steps through the ropes for the final time this weekend – a ten rounder against Artur Mann at the Yunost Arena, Chelyabinsk.
