By Luke Furman

Light heavyweight contender Ismayl "Black Russian" Sillakh (21-1, 17KOs) of Ukraine, is confident he will unseat WBO champion Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (22-0-1, 20KOs) of Russia on Saturday night at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada. The fight will be televised on HBO.

Sillkah, once regarded as one of the best prospects in boxing, is looking to redeem his career after suffering an upset TKO defeat to Denis Garchev in April of 2012. At the moment he was stopped, Sillakh was well ahead on the cards and knocked Grachev down in the third. Sillakh has won four in a row since, three of those wins by knockout. Kovalev had been destroying his opponents, including a recent four round demolition of previously undefeated Nathan Cleverly of the UK to win the title. 

"I'm going to outbox Kovalev. I am perfectly ready and fully focused on the fight. I know I can beat him. I just need to be myself and show everything that I am capable of doing. I will use movement and be more active than Kovalev," Sillakh said.

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org