Duva Felt Kovalev would win when Alvarez used Gatti's music

By Keith Idec

FRISCO, Texas – Kathy Duva has many reasons to believe in divine intervention, no matter what others may think.

Boxing's most prominent female promoter survived the death of her husband, Dan, who was barely 44 years old when he succumbed to a brain tumor in January 1996. She then survived bad cancer a few years later later. Then, in a dirty and male dominated affair, there would be more obstacles than she could have counted afterwards.

Duva, 65, would be the first to tell you that almost everything was on Saturday night when Main Events franchise fighter Sergey Kovalev met Eleider Alvarez in their rematch for the heavyweight championship. Another defeat in the playoffs for Kovalev, 35, would have been extremely damaging for her company.

She was nervous because, how could she have thought otherwise?

Only when Alvarez entered the ring under the "Thunderstruck" sign of AC / DC did Duva finally feel comfortable with what would happen at the Dallas Cowboys training site.

"Thunderstruck", for those who did not know it, was the song of Arturo Gatti, the hymn that the late legend preferred to hear when he went to the ring for his many unforgettable fights.

Coach Buddy McGirt and fitness and fitness coach Teddy Cruz were in the corner of Kovalev on Saturday night. These two men were largely responsible for reviving Gatti's career from the end of 2001.

Alvarez was perhaps not even aware of this link, especially if it is considered that Gatti is loved in his adopted city, Montreal, where Alvarez resides and his coach, Marc Ramsey. The boxer of Colombian origin could simply have chosen "Thunderstruck" because one of the lyrics said, "I went to Texas, yeah to Texas, and we had a lot of fun."

Never mind, as soon as Duva heard this song playing Saturday night, she immediately resonated with her.

"When I heard him get into the ring for" Thunderstruck, "says Duva," I looked at Buddy and went there. "Oh no, he can not do that. Not with you and Teddy in this ring. I said, "That's it. He finished. I could feel Arturo up there like, "No, not with Buddy and Teddy. Not in my care. "

Nearly 10 years after his devastating death, Gatti remains one of Duva's favorite fighters, like a missing family member, in an area where promoters and boxers are too often separating in bad conditions. She smiled widely, reading again that she thought that Gatti's mind had something to do with Kovalev completely outclbading Alvarez to regain his WBO heavyweight title.

"It's softer," she says, "when no one thinks you can do it."

Duva gave McGirt and Cruz all the credit for allowing Kovalev to realize that he had to train smarter, not harder, for this immediate revenge.

"Buddy and Teddy," said Duva. "Do not neglect Teddy Cruz because you know what? [Kovalev] had breakfast and lunch [Friday] before weighing. He did not dehydrate one ounce, while the other guy was dry two days before weighing. It's a guy, like [manager] Aegis [Klimas] he said in 10 years, he never told him to eat before weighing. And he ate twice [Friday], and he was a pound under.

"Teddy told me, and I always talked to him, [matchmaker Jolene Mizzone has] Teddy spoke to me two weeks ago, "It's all for the legs. Do not worry about that. It's all about legs. "You know," these [biceps] are for the show, these [legs] are to go. That's all he worked on. Teddy told the guys to lift weights, to do everything he's done before, he was just wasting his time. "

Whatever you think of the divine intervention, it's the same approach that McGirt and Cruz used to form the same stubborn Gatti once they were instructed to help him overcome what was thought to be a technical defeat against Oscar De La Hoya in March 2001.

Keith Idec is a senior writer / columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be contacted on Twitter @ Idecboxing.