(Photos by Kevin Howard) This past Saturday night at the Revel Resort casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KO) defended his WBO light heavyweight championship against fellow undefeated fighter Blake Caparello (19-1-1, 6 KO). Kovalev was making the third defense of his belt and had the extra pressure of a potential Bernard Hopkins unification fight also on the line.

As the boxers entered the ring, the buzz of the crowd heightened, and both men looked ready to put on a show. The first round started with Kovalev slowly coming forward, pawing with a jab trying to close the gab of his opponent. Caparello took command of the round early with a solid jab that kept Kovalev at a distance, and kept anything meaningful from landing. The round took an interesting turn that surprised most in attendance, and most of all of Sergey Kovalev, when Caparello landed a straight left hand that briefly put Kovalev on the canvas. After a standing 8 count, the knock down seemed to wake Kovalev up, as he quickly gathered himself and went on the attack to close the round strongly.

In the second round, Kovalev continued to come forward and apply pressure to Caparello which lead to a hard shot to the body that put Caparello on the floor for the first time in the bout. While Caparello did get up from the blow, Kovalev smelled blood in the water, and quickly put him on the canvas two more times, forcing a stoppage at 1:40 of round two.

“After the punch to the liver, I felt he was done,” Kovalev told Max Kellerman. “I finished the job.”

With the win, the 31 year old Kovalev secured his November 8th showdown with the 49 year old Bernard Hopkins, a bout that will be one of the most highly anticipated match ups this year. The two champions met after the fight during the interview with Max Kellerman, and Hopkins gave his early thoughts on the bout.

“I see a champion like myself,” Hopkins said regarding Kovalev. “I always ran to the fire, not away from the fire. That’s who I am, that’s my personality. I come from an era that’s not the era of today. I just happen to be here. I get to show at this stage something that you could never imagine, Max or anybody that’s listening — that I can possibly pull off the undisputed, twice in one career, and be the champion at the light heavyweight division that won four major titles. I get to do it in 2014, November 8. Pay attention and don’t get sick that night!”

Kovalev vs. Hopkins is one best fights that could be made in boxing and in this day and age where we don’t usually see the best face the best, it is very refreshing to see a fight like this come together and after November 8th, the winner in my opinion will be the best light heavyweight in the world.

(More Photos from Kevin Howard)