Duva, Caruso Not Minding Odds on Kovalev-Mohammedi

by David P. Greisman

Sergey Kovalev was already going to be considered the favorite to win against Nadjib Mohammedi when you recognize that he has three world titles and victory over the likes of Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal, while Mohammedi has three pro losses and has been toiling in relative obscurity for much of the 13-bout win streak on which he’s been.

The wide odds for Kovalev-Mohammedi, which takes place July 25 in Las Vegas and on HBO, reflect that Mohammedi is the clear underdog. But neither the fight’s promoter, Main Events (which has Kovalev as the star of its stable), nor Mohammedi’s co-manager are paying much mind to what the numbers gamblers are seeing.

“We don’t set the odds. There was a 60-1 fight the other night where the guy on the short end won,” said Kathy Duva of Main Events, speaking on a July 15 media conference call. “Odds don’t reflect the competitiveness of the fight so much as the willingness of people to bet on the fight.”

Vince Caruso, one of Mohammedi’s managers, said he’d been told by HBO in a fighter interview that the odds were up to 45:1 in favor of Kovalev.

“That’s just as high as Buster Douglas was [against Mike Tyson],” Caruso said. “I don’t care. Odds are odds. Honestly, I think they’re being nice. I think we’re more of a 100:1 shot. We’re in with the best. We’re in with a guy that doesn’t make mistakes.  Of course the odds are going to be against us. No one knows who we are. But I think that this’ll be the last time that Nadjib is going to be involved in a fight where he’s vastly overlooked, I can guarantee that.”

Kovalev, 32, is 27-0-1 with 24 KOs and is coming off a shutout win over Bernard Hopkins and a technical knockout of Jean Pascal.

Mohammedi, 30, is 37-3 with 23 KOs and earned this mandatory shot at one of Kovalev’s belts about a year ago with a stoppage of Anatoliy Dudchenko. He’s since stayed busy with two wins over designated opponents. Mohammedi’s losses came via first-round technical knockout to Thierry Karl in 2009, by unanimous decision to Nathan Cleverly in 2010, and by second-round stoppage to Dmitry Sukhotsky in 2011.

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