FanSided’s 2018 boxing awards and review of boxing’s best moments

2018 Upset of the Year: Eleider Alvarez KO’s Sergey Kovalev in round 7

On paper, Eleider Alvarez’s (24-0, 12 KOs) seventh-round knockout of Sergey Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs) doesn’t seem like much of an upset, but at the time, it was quite the surprise.

Alvarez came into the August matchup with Kovalev undefeated and rated as a top light heavyweight. He had wins over Jean Pascal, Lucian Bute and Isaac Chilemba, but they were all past their prime when he fought them. Also, Alvarez only had 11 KOs to his credit which is why he was a 4-1 underdog going into the fight.

Kovalev was the WBO light heavyweight champion and looked like he had recovered after two consecutive losses to Andre Ward. He had a new trainer and claimed to have learned from his previous mistakes.

He told FanSided before the bout, “When I was 20 years old I could do one workout a week and beat everybody. I’m spending more time in the gym and get more focused for training. I drink clear water only—no sugar, no sweet drinks, just healthy food. Right now I’m feeling great.”

For the majority of the contest, Kovalev looked excellent. He was outboxing Alvarez and hitting him with power shots, but his stamina started to fade. Alvarez took advantage and floored Kovalev with a straight right hand. Kovalev got back to his feet, but his legs were gone.

Alvarez knocked him down two more times before referee David Fields stopped the bout. There were several big upsets in 2018, but Alvarez turning into a knockout artist against the man who was once the most feared puncher in the light heavyweight division earns our Upset of the Year award. They are set to do it again in February of 2019.