Photos by Craig Bennett/Main Events
Sergey Kovalev Q&A Ahead of Andre Ward Bout
It’s not often that we see two undefeated champions get to fight for the pound-for-pound spot in boxing. When Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward step into the ring on November 19, they will be the third undefeated matchup of champions competing for the pound-for-pound spot in the world of boxing.
This fight is guaranteed to bring out the very best out of each man.
Earlier this week, Kovalev and his team hosted an open question and answer conference for his upcoming fight against Ward in November. It was a good moment to get a better sense of where Kovalev’s head is at, leading up to the fight that we all want to see.
Kovalev answered every question asked, without hesitation or self doubt about his up coming fight against Ward. Kovalev mentioned how important this fight is for him, for his boxing career and for the boxing world in general.
It’s a high-level fight that needs to be made because it’s one step closer to achieving his childhood dream of being the best boxer in the world.
“I am not disappointed that he is not here – it will be much better if he was here but if he is here it is no problem. We can speak without him. The most important thing is that he will be in the ring on the 19th.”
Kovalev went on to say that he sets himself up with goals to accomplish and one of those goals is to be able and outbox Ward. It wasn’t his goal to be the pound-for-pound best in the world before, because he didn’t always know such a thing existed.
“I never dreamed about it because I never knew about this word “pound-for-pound,” so I never thought about being the best pound-for-pound. I always wanted to be the best in the Light heavyweight division. But now that Andre said this is the fight for the best pound-for-pound, yes it is now my goal,” said Kovalev.
Kovalev was asked if he would make any changes to his boxing style against Ward. Kovalev stated that he wouldn’t make any changes, and that he was only looking to add a few things to his arsenal. Kovalev and lead trainer John David Jackson stated that they will look to capitalize on the mistakes Ward makes and stick to their game plan.
Furthermore, Kovalev said that although Ward may posses the power to hurt him, he will go out there to outbox Ward and take the cautious risks to go out and knock him out. Kovalev seemed confident that he will live up to his name the “Krusher” by knocking Ward out.
In conclusion, Kovalev wants to fight big names and among them is Andre Ward.
Although he’s not looking past his opponent, when Kovalev was asked if he would fight Adonis Stevenson.
“If you understand that I am focused on this fight, why would you ask that question? It would be up to him. I am ready for him but it is not my decision to fight against Stephenson, I am fighting Ward and he is Chickenson,” said Kovalev.
After the interview finished, Kovalev came off as looking more than ready for his first pay-per-view event. Team Kovalev looked confident about their strategy going in against Ward and about the potential rewards this fight has in store for them, should they win.
When I spoke with John David Jackson about any weaknesses they see in Ward, he didn’t really say yes or no.
“Ward’s best years of his life are gone. His past five years have been wasted outside of the ring, so we won’t see any improvement other than what we’ve already seen from him,” said Jackson.
“We’re going to fight a measured fight and we’re training to go the distance. We don’t train for a knockout. Kovalev just has the power for a knockout.”
However this fight goes and whomever emerges victorious, this fight is a once in a blue moon type of fight that the boxing world desperately needs.
These are the type of fights that go into the history books and are talked about for a long time.
November 19 can’t come any sooner.
