Nadjib Mohammedi: record, next fight and profile →
Saturday’s HBO World Championship Boxing doubleheader telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT). Opening up the telecast from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada pits Jean Pascal vs. Yuniesky Gonzalez in a 10-round light heavyweight attraction. The main event features light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev defending his titles against challenger Nadjib Mohammedi for 12 rounds.
The WBA will utilize the Pod Index to review two title fights Saturday night. Three anonymous judges will score the championship bout between WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev and Najib Mohammedi at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas by watching HBO with the sound muted. Meanwhile, another three judges will do the same for the fight at the Palms Casino & Resort between Beibut Shumenov and B.J. Flores for the interim WBA World cruiserweight title by watching the fight on NBCSC.
WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) will compete in his first mandatory title defense against Nadjib "Irondjib" Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) on Saturday, July 25 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. The co-feature will include a ten-round light heavyweight match-up between Jean Pascal (29-3-1, 17 KOs) and Yuniesky Gonzalez (16-0, 12 KOs). Tickets are on sale now and start at $25. Tickets can be purchased through TicketMaster and all MGM Resorts Properties Ticket Offices. The HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev - WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion "Thank you to WBO. This was my first belt and mean a lot to me. Thank you for this ring." "Thank you for everybody that came here today. Thank you Kathy Duva my promoter, Egis Klimas my manager and Nadjib Mohammedi. I want to show this Saturday who I am. I would like to still be champion as long time as possible. I did not get all my goals in my career yet. My amateur career I didn't give me a lot of opportunities. I was hurt in amateur career and I had to try not to closed doors. Some of my dreams in the boxing and my goals not finished. For my dreams, my goals this Saturday is the next step in my career."
Sergey Kovalev’s promoter is sure, though, that viewers still will tune in to watch their fight Saturday night on HBO. After beating Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal in back-to-back higher-profile fights, the heavily favored Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) will make a mandatory defense of the Russian knockout artist’s IBF light heavyweight title against France’s Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas (HBO; 10 p.m. ET/PT).
Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev - WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion "Thank you to WBO. This was my first belt and mean a lot to me. Thank you for this ring." "Thank you for everybody that came here today. Thank you Kathy Duva my promoter, Egis Klimas my manager and Nadjib Mohammedi. I want to show this Saturday who I am. I would like to still be champion as long time as possible. I did not get all my goals in my career yet. My amateur career I didn't give me a lot of opportunities. I was hurt in amateur career and I had to try not to closed doors. Some of my dreams in the boxing and my goals not finished. For my dreams, my goals this Saturday is the next step in my career."
According to his promoter, among the things Sergey Kovalev must prove Saturday night is that he can remain motivated for a title defense he’ll enter as a heavy favorite. Several Internet sports books have installed Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) as a 50-1 favorite over mandatory challenger Nadjib Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) as they move toward their 12-round fight Saturday night at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas (HBO; 10 p.m. ET/PT). The Russian knockout artist was favored over Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal as well, but those two accomplished opponents were at least considered live underdogs prior to Kovalev’s victories over them.
By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Sergey Kovalev aced the interview. Then he got the job. And this weekend in Las Vegas, he heads into the office for the first time. The three-belt light heavyweight champion scored the most significant victories of his career in his last two fights – battering Bernard Hopkins over 12 rounds and stopping Jean Pascal in eight – and returns to the ring Saturday night against top-ranked IBF contender Nadjib Mohammedi. The 30-year-old Frenchman is a 10-year professional with 37 wins and 23 knockouts in 40 fights, though he’s never fought for a world title and dropped a unanimous decision in 2010 to the same foe – Welshman Nathan Cleverly – who was halted in four rounds by Kovalev nearly three years later. Kovalev concedes to having not done a whole lot of Mohammedi research. “I know almost nothing about him,” he said.
WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (27-0-1 24 KOs) is days away from facing his IBF mandatory challenger Nadjib Mohammedi (37-3). The HBO televised fight takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The hard hitting Russian is a crowd favorite who has been compared with fellow heavy hitter Gennady "Triple G" Golovkin. Triple G has recently adopted the slogan "Mexican Style" and has become a huge draw in Southern California.
Ryan Burton catches up with unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, to discuss the mandatory defense of Nadjib "Irondjib" Mohammedi, training camp, getting a high level of activity, and more. <br /> <br /> WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) will compete in his first mandatory title defense against Nadjib "Irondjib" Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) on Saturday, July 25 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. The co-feature will include a ten-round light heavyweight match-up between Jean Pascal (29-3-1, 17 KOs) and Yunieski Gonzalez (16-0, 12 KOs). Tickets are on sale now and start at $25. Tickets can be purchased through TicketMaster and all MGM Resorts Properties Ticket Offices. The HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.