By Ryan Burton
On Saturday night HBO will televise the light heavyweight clash between WBA/IBF/WBO champion Sergey Kovalev and former champion Jean Pascal live from Montreal, Quebec.
Pascal has been training in the high altitude of Big Bear, Calif. with Roy Jones Jr. and his strength and conditioning coach Angel Heredia who is working on getting him in shape to face the undefeated Russian.
"Pascal is looking sharp. He is looking very, very strong and explosive. It is a very difficult fight we are facing but he is ready. He is ready mentally and physically. We anticipate a good victory," said Heredia.
The former title holder was the mandatory challenger for WBC champion Adonis Stevenson but after disagreements of how the purse should be split, Pascal opted to face Kovalev instead in what could be the biggest fight in Canada this year.
The two Haitian fighters have battled several time on Twitter and other social networks and it isn't clear if the fight would have come to fruition even if a purse bid had been ordered.
"Well Pascal is a fighter. He is not there to fight for money - well obviously the money is there - but he wants to make history and he wants to fight the best challenges.
"I think with him he always wants to fight the top ranked guys. He wanted to fight Stevenson but that fight wasn't made yet. I don't know if it will be made. We have Kovalev next. Speed versus a puncher. It's a very good fight," Heredia stated.
Kovalev held the WBO title and captured the WBA and IBF belts with a dominant victory over Bernard Hopkins in November. Pascal has faced a younger version of Hopkins twice, going 0-1-1 against the future Hall of Famer.
While many feel that Kovalev is close to unbeatable during his current run, Heredia said that he does see some weaknesses and feels Pascal speed advantage will be a key Saturday night.
"Speed beats him. Right now Pascal is punching very hard. He is very explosive and is in tremendous shape. He is durable and it is going to be a factor Kovalev will have to deal with Saturday night," Heredia told BoxingScene.com.
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