Will Sergey Kovalev Be A Boxing Hall Of Famer?

Forbes

29-04-2025

After 16 years and 42 professional fights, Sergey Kovalev has retired from boxing after ending his career in style with a TKO of Artur Mann in his home country of Russia earlier this month. Kovalev was once one of the most feared fighters on the planet, and though he lost five of his last 11 bouts, observers have openly wondered in the past few days whether Kovalev will eventually be a Boxing Hall of Famer.
In his prime, Kovalev was a ruthless power puncher, stopping 12 of 13 opponents (including a number of undefeated fighters who were at about the B-level) from 2011-2016. Kovalev has beaten champions and at least one Hall of Famer. He perhaps should have been awarded a victory over another. But the last few years of his career could also be a detriment to earning an induction into the HOF.
As a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America since 2016, I've been honored to have voted for the Hall of Fame for the past eight years. If Kovalev is done fighting for good, he'd have to wait three years before the HOF could put him on the ballot. When he makes the ballot, he would need to be among the top-three vote-getters from that year (or be selected on more than 80% of the ballots).
Let's talk about Kovalev's chances of earning entry into the HOF.
After winning 16 straight to start his career, he had a strange draw against a 5-4 opponent in 2011. But after that, Kovalev had quite a run, stopping Nathan Cleverly in 2013 for a light heavyweight title, knocking down and then shutting out Bernard Hopkins the next year to unify a pair of 175-pound belts, and beating Jean Pascal twice in 2015 and 2016. Is that run good enough for the HOF? No. But he did go on to beat the undefeated Eleider Alvarez in a 2019 rematch (Kovalev lost in the first meeting) and then knocked out the undefeated Anthony Yarde in his next fight.
Kovalev's first defeat came against Andre Ward in 2016 (all three judges had it 114-113 for Ward), though many observers believed Kovalev, who knocked down Ward in the second round, deserved the win. Ward stopped Kovalev in the rematch with some nasty-looking body shots. From there, Kovalev was stopped by Eleider Alvarez and Canelo Alvarez in a high-profile matchup where Kovalev actually boxed on equal footing with Canelo before Kovalev got knocked out in the 11th round. Kovalev's final defeat came at the hands of the relatively unknown Robin Sirwan Safar in 2024.
One of the big misses of Kovalev's career was the inability to land a mega-fight vs. Adonis Stevenson. The two fought on competing networks (Stevenson only wanted to fight on Showtime; Kovalev was an HBO fighter), and no deal could ever be made. If Kovalev could have fought and beat Stevenson, who held a 175-pound title from 2013-2018, his HOF candidacy could look a little different. As he told Boxing News, 'I'm very disappointed that we never fought Adonis Stevenson. It killed my dream to be absolute [undisputed] world champion.'
Still, Kovalev was considered for a time to be a top-5 pound-for-pound fighter – which is an important qualification for me when I turn in my ballot. In fact, The Ring magazine ranked him as the No. 2 fighter in the world in parts of 2015 and 2016, only behind Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez.
He's also had some low moments outside of the ring, including a 2018 arrest for allegedly punching a woman in the face. He was charged with felony assault, and more than two years later, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Will that factor into a voter's decision on whether he should enter the HOF? Only time will tell.
The amount of money you make doesn't make or break you as a Hall of Famer. But let's talk about it anyway, because Kovalev had some nice paydays. His first seven-figure check came against Bernard Hopkins, where Kovalev earned a $1 million payday. He then made a $2 million base for the first Ward matchup (but probably ended up earning much more). Interestingly, Kovalev didn't have a base purse for the rematch (he was only guaranteed a percentage of the PPV and ticket sales money).
But all of that was an appetizer to the reported $12 million he made for the Canelo Alvarez bout.
If we're making an educated guess, we can say that Kovalev likely made somewhere in the $20 million-$22 million range during his career.
As I've written many times in the past, one voter's criteria can be much different from another's. Here's what I value as a voter: Dominance in a division and inclusion on the mythical pound-for-pound list; a sustained reign as one of the top fighters in their weight division; and victories against the top-notch boxers of his era. Some voters don't believe a fighter's popularity or money-making abilities should factor into the equation. I disagree (I'll always believe Arturo Gatti and Ricky Hatton deserve their places in the HOF because of the sheer excitement they brought to the sport).
Kovalev was one of the best fighters in the sport for a solid period of time. He was feared (until he got knocked out by Ward), and the early part of his career was certainly leading him on the path to the HOF. To me, Kovalev is a borderline candidate. If he'd beaten Ward the first time, he'd be a definite yes. Without that victory, it's a more difficult slog.
On a down year, where there's no surefire HOF candidate, I could see myself potentially voting for Kovalev and him potentially getting his induction. But I also wouldn't bet my mortgage that he'll one day be enshrined. He's perhaps just missing that one massive victory.
More Hall of Fame predictions:
Will Deontay Wilder Be A Boxing Hall Of Famer?
Will Regis Prograis Be A Boxing Hall Of Famer?