By Jake Donovan
Sergey Kovalev may be headed home to Russia for his next fight, but he's already doing his part to arouse stateside interest.
The unbeaten, unified light heavyweight titlist fights in his birth country for the first time in more than five years when he faces perennial Top 10 contender Isaac Chilemba on July 11 in Yekateringburg, Russia. He and his promoter Main Events held court with the media in the greater Los Angeles area over the weekend to formally announce the event, with the boxer himself appearing on Monday's edition of ESPN Sports Nation.
Among the several subjects that came up was the suggestion that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is more popular than boxing. Kovalev was quick to disagree, but professed his admiration for the caged sport and its biggest star in particular.
"I don't think that it's more popular. But it's popular now (thanks to) Conor McGregor," Kovalev (29-0-1, 26KOs) pointed out during the segment. "I like him a lot. He has a big heart and great future."
McGregor has done a masterful job in marketing his own brand while also raising awareness to the UFC world in which he competes. Kovalev is still feeling his way around in that regard, but with each day commands greater comprehension of the English language which he already fluenty speaks.
For now, his in-ring prowess has served as the driving force behind his star power. The 33-year young light heavyweight has scored knockouts in 12 of his last 13 starts. The lone boxer to last the distance over that stretch was Bernard Hopkins, whom Kovalev shut out in their Nov. '14 three-belt unification match in Atlantic City.
He is now on course for a November showdown with Andre Ward, the unbeaten, former super middleweight champ who is now campaigning full-time as a light heavyweight. To date, Kovalev has lacked a formidable in-ring rival, which he hopes will come with Ward.
In the interim, he takes on Chilemba (24-3-2, 10KOs), who is coming off of a hotly-contested decision defeat to Eleider Alvarez last November but remains a tough out for anyone in the division. He goes in as a considerable underdog versus Kovalev, who with a win will go on to celebrate three years as a light heavyweight titlist.
The only other boxer with a legitimate title at light heavyweight is Adonis Stevenson - who is the recognized lineal champion as well as the World Boxing Council (WBC) title claimant. Efforts to get the Haitian-Canadian in the ring have proven futile, a shame as the two are recognized as the best in the division, at least until Ward is able to further establish himself in the weight class.
A fight with Stevenson is now more than two years in the making, but with the patience of Kovalev and Main Events long exhausted in trying to make the fight happen.
"I will never say no," Kovalev stated when asked if there was any opponent he would ever turn down, a sentiment that at least one divisional peer can't share. "(Boxing) is my job. It's not for my mentality, or for Russian mentality to say no."
As for his top divisional rival?
"Stevenson is like...," Kovalev started before shrugging off what has already been a tiresome topic in his quest for light heavyweight supremacy. "Forget about Stevenson."
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow him on his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2
