Kovalev's Trainer: I Warned Hopkins Years Ago To Avoid

By Edward Chaykovsky

John David Jackson faced Bernard Hopkins in the ring and he also helped prepare him for several of his past fights. Back when they were working together, Jackson warned Hopkins to avoid Sergey Kovalev at all costs.

Now several years later, Jackson is the head trainer of Kovalev, who holds the WBO light heavyweight title and wants to add Hopkins' WBA/IBF titles to his collection. The two champions will fight in an HBO televised high stakes unification on Saturday night from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

"Sergey's talent is still untapped. He could be a really special fighter. He needs to get past this fight here first and then the sky is the limit for him. His punching power is so unreal it makes him hard to deal with," Jackson said.

"I warned Bernard's camp a few years ago, don't fight this Kovalev kid. I don't know what they told Bernard. But I told them please don't fight this kid."