Chilemba: I'll Upset Sergey Kovalev, The Pressure is On Him!

By Keith Idec

Isaac Chilemba clearly understands his presumed role in his fight against Sergey Kovalev.

Though a legitimate light heavyweight contender, the 29-year-old Chilemba is supposed to help keep Kovalev sharp on the Russian knockout artist’s way to a November 19 showdown with Andre Ward. The South African is a 16-1 underdog, has just 10 knockouts in 29 professional fights (24-3-2) and is about to challenge a dangerous foe who has knocked out 87 percent of his pro opponents.

Oh, and the undeniable underdog has traveled to Ekaterinburg, Russia – nearly a three-hour drive from Kovalev’s hometown of Chelyabinsk, to challenge the 33-year-old Kovalev for his IBF, WBA and WBO 175-pound championships Monday at DIVS Sports Palace.

Those aforementioned facts are supposed to amount to an intimidating assignment. But Chilemba believes Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) is the one who should be worried about what’ll happen in a scheduled 12-round fight HBO will televise via delay Monday night at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.

“I believe the pressure is on him,” Chilemba said during a conference call. “He is fighting at home. He needs to show his home people what he is made of. I am happy to fight anyone, anywhere – in their backyard, in their own house. I don’t care.

“I will give a show. I am gunning for a win. I don’t care where we are fighting. I don’t care what Kovalev is made of. We know his weaknesses and we know his strengths. I am going to beat him in his own town.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.