For a time, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev had a case to be made that he was the most feared man in boxing, yet as we head into 2019, you might not remember.

Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOS) who held three of the four world title (IBF, WBA and WBO) at light heavyweight saw history get rewritten after a competitive and close fight with Andre Ward, Kovalev was stopped in their second pay-per-view bout.

In the lead-up to the second Andre Ward fight, Kovalev spent most of the time with the media complaining about Ward, which was unlike what he did prior to any other fighter as well as Kovalev’s personal alcohol consumption came into question.

Enter James “Buddy” McGirt, a former two-division champion who most famously trained Arturo Gatti, Antonio Tarver, Vernon Forrest and Laila Ali. It is a change after the most disappointing loss of his career, a devastating knockout loss to now WBO light heavyweight champion Eleider Alvarez in the seventh round of their fight.

Kovalev was most remembered for his rise to fame with John David Jackson as his head coach, but split with Jackson after the second Andre Ward fight as it appeared the two couldn’t stand each other by the end of the night. Kovalev spent his last few camps in Oxnard, Ca, training with a group of Russians looking to be as good as ever.

Kovalev, who is heading into the final act of his career is looking at a future hall-of-fame trainer in McGirt to help him make a final stand in the divsion, he once was king.

Eleider Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev will take place on February 2nd at The Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, which will be televised on ESPN, and co-promoted between Main Events and Top Rank Inc.