Former champion Sergey Kovalev was among the winners at TrillerVerz 5 recently.
The event from the Kia Forum was presented by Triller Fight Club. It featured professional boxing and an iconic Verzuz between Cypress Hill and Onyx.
In the main event, Kovalev dominated the previously-unbeaten Tervel Pulev. The bout was his first in 31 months and first at cruiserweight.
“I’m just going to keep in shape after this fight, we’ll rest one week and then get back in the gym,” Kovalev said. “I worried how it was going to be in the fight, of course there was some ring rust. Without boxing at a high level for over a year, my body doesn’t like this. I want to fight every three or four months. The plan was just to use the jab and distance. But I felt like I didn’t have enough energy in my body. I think in my next fight, it would be at a higher level. Give me one more fight, and I’ll be ready for a world title opportunity.”
In the co-featured heavyweight bout, the brother of Tervel, Kubrat ‘The Cobra’ Pulev, (29-2, 14 KOs), also won a dominant unanimous decision over Jerry Forrest.
Pro debuting Emiliano ‘The General’ Vargas, (1-0, 1 KO), made his pro debut a highly successful one. The 18-year-old amateur standout lived up to his billing, using fast, vicious left hands to knockdown and stop Mark Salgado, (1-2-1, 1 KO), at 2:09 of the first round.
In a huge upset fighting in the super welterweight division, Jurmain McDonald, (7-5, 3 KOs), stopped Evan ‘Yung Holy’ Holyfield, (9-1, 6 KOs) in the second round (1:56). A huge right hand to the jaw would drop the son of boxing legend Evander Holyfield as referee Raul Caiz Jr. called a halt to the fight as the count reached eight.
Super welterweight Fernando ‘El Feroz’ Vargas Jr., (6-0, 6 KOs), stayed undefeated with a resounding first round knockout of Terrance Jarmon, (3-0, 1 KO). The heavy-handed southpaw earned the victory as he dropped Jarmon three times in the opening stanza, all from huge left hands with the bout being halted at the 0:36 mark.