Quan Paxton, far left, with Sergey Kovalev and the crew following the Bernard Hopkins victory (Photo: Instagram)
By Chris Robinson
On Saturday, Nov. 8, Russian-born Sergey Kovalev left another stamp on the boxing world with a rousing, dominant 12-round unanimous decision over living legend Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City.
The victory for the 31-year old Kovalev, who added Hopkins’ WBA and IBF titles to go with his WBO light heavyweight belt, is profound, as it helped wrap up another huge year for him. During the match, Kovalev showed grit and guile, never falling into Hopkins’ traps while boxing wisely and showing glimpses of his heralded power.
Their is a definite sense of jubilation coming from the side of Kovalev, and he already appears to be on course for a March 14 clash with former champion Jean Pascal on HBO.
Shortly after the match, we learned about a new face in the corner of Team Kovalev in the form or aspiring strength and conditioning coach Quan Paxton.
Having been ringside in Carson, Calif. on June 20 during a Showtime tripleheader, Paxton spotted Kovalev’s manager Egis Klimas during the show, as he was with his fighter Vasyl Lomachenko at the time, and made sure to reach out to him.
A few months later and Paxton found himself in Big Bear, Calif. inside of Kovalev’s training camp with trainer John David ahead of the Hopkins meeting.
“It was off the chain,” Paxton said during a recent exclusive with HustleBoss.com. “We had a very tough, exhausting camp. I went up to Big Bear early so that Sergey and I could click. I learned a lot about him and he learned a lot about me. We really bonded a lot in and I felt that would be key.”
Paxton added that a key motivational factor for Kovalev heading into the match was the birth of his son Aleksandr during camp that took his focus to a different level.
“He would have been willing to die that night, [for] that fight,” said Paxton. “He really wanted to greet his son with all three of those belts.”
In speaking with Paxton you sense nothing but positivity and he is embracing the chance to continue his run with Kovalev.
*** Please check below for the FULL interview with Paxton below, including much more about Kovalev’s story, as well as some bonus features below…
Chris Robinson can be reached at CRobinson@hustleboss.com