Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) will defend his WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight championship belts against former champion Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs) live on HBO this Saturday, March 14, 2015 in Pascal’s hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The championship match will headline a triple header beginning at 9:45 pm, EST.
Kovalev had a banner year in 2014 where he had three big victories including his defeat of the legendary Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins in November.
Both Ring Magazine and Sports Illustrated named Kovalev their fighter of the year for 2014. Making the year more memorable for Kovalev and his wife was the birth of their first child Aleksandr.
On March 14, Kovalev will travel to hostile territory to face Pascal, who is looking to make history by handing the Krusher his first defeat. Kovalev already has experienced fighting in enemy territory. In 2013, Kovalev stopped Nathan Cleverly in Cardiff, Wales in front of a pro-Cleverly crowd.
Will Pascal be able to pull off the upset or will he become another notch under the Krusher’s belt?
Read on for the three keys to victory for Sergey Kovalev.
http://www.wedgies.com/question/54fd033a018cd30e00008f69
1. Show Patience
Sergey Kovalev beat Bernard Hopkins at his own game by out boxing the crafty veteran. Jean Pascal has an awkward style, which can confuse fighters, but Kovalev will undoubtedly try to test Pascal’s chin to see if he can handle the power shots. As he did in the Hopkins fight, Kovalev must be leery of taking unnecessary risks.
In Kovalev’s fight against Cedric Agnew last March in Atlantic City, Agnew was hurt but managed to withstand the big shots to last into the later rounds. Kovalev simply began picking Agnew apart with jabs and hooks to the body and ultimately he was able to stop Agnew in Round 7.
Pascal makes his home in Quebec so the fans will be on his side and they will be rowdy. Kovalev must block them out, not feed into the noise and focus on his game plan similar to when he fought Nathan Cleverly in the UK.
2. Cut off the Ring
Sergey Kovalev must use his footwork not only to get out of the way of shots, but to get himself in better position to land his own. Kovalev must cut the ring off because Jean Pascal will be looking to move around a lot.
In Round 1 of his fight against Ismayl Sillah in 2013, Kovalev was not able to land much because of Sillah’s movement. In Round 2, Kovalev made the adjustments and blocked off any path for Sillah to take so that Kovalev was able to land multiple unanswered head shots, which knocked Sillah out.
Pascal is smart enough not to engage in a slug fest with Kovalev, but he will try to move around to make it difficult for Kovalev to land the big shots. Kovalev must set traps to get Pascal into a vulnerable place where he cans start landing the missals to inflict damage.
3. Go to the Body
Photo by Tim Larsen/AP
One way to land hard shots against awkward and unorthodox fighters is to go to the body when the opportunity is there to stop them in their tracks.
Sergey Kovalev has shown lately he can attack the body as hard as he can attack the head. In his fight against Blake Caparello last year, Kovalev landed a body shot which dropped Caparello in the second round. Although Caparello got up, he never fully recovered and Kovalev was able to knock him out.
Kovalev has even dropped fighters with jabs to the body. He also likes to mix in left hooks to the body before going back upstairs.
If Kovalev is able to land an effective body shot on Pascal, causing him to be susceptible to the barrage of punches that Kovalev is known for, he will have the chance to hurt and ultimately stop Pascal in this fight.
http://www.wedgies.com/question/54fd033a018cd30e00008f69
Header photo by Rich Graessle
