Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) returned home late Monday evening to his family and got to say hello to his newborn son, Aleksandr Kovalev, for the first time.
Because the Baby Krusher was born on October 20 in Los Angeles after Sergey had already left California for training camp in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on October 12, this was the first time father and son got to meet face-to-face. Sergey was able to Skype with his wife, Natalia, and the baby just after she gave birth but Krusher could not take time away from training camp with John David Jackson to fly back to Los Angeles. Doctors had told the Kovalevs that the baby was due on October 18 so they were hoping Natalia would give birth before Sergey left Big Bear Lake to go to Florida; unfortunately, the baby arrived two days late.
When he was finally able to hold his son in his arms he said, “I was waiting for this moment for such a long time. The first night I met my son was sleepless but I didn’t think about that because I am just finally enjoying time with my family. My newborn son is healthy and that is most important thing to me. I am with my family now for the very first time.”
These last several weeks have been action-packed for the 31-year old champ from Chelyabinsk, Russia. In addition to his three title unification and the birth of his first child, he was also named the WBO Fighter of the Year. Sergey explained, “I didn’t know at the beginning of the year that I would get three belts by the end of the year. I would have been happy with the two and I am so happy I got three belts.”
After his win on Saturday night Kovalev said, “I was too excited to sleep.” He left the press conference a little after 2:00 AM ET to call his wife and son as the newly crowned unified champ. He spent all day Sunday wandering alone on the boardwalk just basking in his win.
Monday morning, however, before catching a late flight back home to his family, he travelled to Connecticut to visit his dear friend Magomed Abdusalamov. Mago suffered grave neurological injuries following his fight with Mike Perez earlier this year. After his last title defense against Blake Caparello in August, Sergey auctioned off memorabilia from the fight on eBay and donated the proceeds to help the Abdusalamov family with his medical bills.
His manager, Egis Klimas, travelled back with Sergey to Los Angeles and said, “Now Sergey is the happiest person on earth. Finally he met his son, finally he has three belts but he is not done yet. He is looking forward for more sons and more belts.”
Sergey’s wife, Natalia, has been patiently waiting for her husband to return home to her and her son. “I was waiting for my husband to come home whether with victory or no victory but of course knowing him he brought his newborn son a victory,” explained Natalia. “Now we work together to raise our son and we are very, very happy.”
Donations can be made to the Abdusalamov family at Ring10NY.
