Kovalev-Caparello
Sergey Kovalev knocked out Blake Caparello in the second round to retain his WBO Light Heavyweight belt. Kovalez knocked Caparello down in the second round with a crisp body shot. Caparello got up but then the Krusher closed the show by landing accurate power punches and adding a few more knockdowns before the referee stopped the fight. Kovalev actually went down in the first round on a stiff punch by Caparello but it was more of a case of Kovalev being off balance than being hurt by the punch. Replays showed that Caparello stepped on Kovalev’s foot as usually happens when a southpaw and orthodox fighter get together. With the victory, Kovalev will now face Bernard Hopkins, the ageless alien in November.
Rios-Chaves
Brandon Rios and Diego Chaves went to war on Saturday night and when the dust settled it was the referee who had the biggest impact. Vic Drakulich disqualified Chaves in the ninth round for holding? He had already deducted a point from Chaves in the third round for holding and in the eighth for scrapping Rios across the face with his glove when he was told to break. Rios wasn’t immune to the wrath of VDrak, he also lost a point in round five for adding a little MMA and utilizing a takedown. The fight was close at the time of the stoppage; however, Chaves was winning on two of the three judges scorecards but the case could have been made for either fighter. Rios claimed that Chaves was poking him in the eyes at the time of the disqualification and earlier in the fight. In watching the fight, I did see that occur a few times in the clinch, as slight as it was, Chaves was doing it.
During the fight when points weren’t being deducted, the two fighters had their moments. Chaves was effective landing solid rights, lefts and timely uppercuts. He also was controlling the fight in spots when he boxed and fought from the outside. Rios stalked Chaves while landing some wicked body shots and did his best work on the inside with a high output of power shots. Both gave as good as they got and too bad it got a little messy and ended the way it did. After their fight Rios said he didn’t want to win that way and he’s not back just yet. Chaves stated he’d like a rematch and doesn’t understand why he was disqualified. I would agree a rematch is needed here, many unanswered questions.
Standing-8 