By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Andre Ward didn’t mince words after he and Sergey Kovalev made weight Friday afternoon for their light heavyweight title fight Saturday night.
“I mean, it’s simple,” Ward told HBO Sports’ Kieran Mulvaney after weighing in at 175 pounds at MGM Grand Garden Arena. “He don’t like me and I don’t like him.”
Ward, of Hayward, California, will challenge Kovalev for the Russian knockout artist’s IBF, WBA and WBO 175-pound championships at T-Mobile Arena (HBO Pay-Per-View; $64.95-$69.95 in HD).
“At the end of the day, he’s a champion, so I respect him as a champion,” Ward said. “He’s a great champion. I’m a great champion as well. I’ve been a champion for many years. And I’m trying to become a five-time world champion and a two-division world champion. And I’m not leaving Las Vegas without these belts.”
The 32-year-old Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) hasn’t lost in 20 years, not since the 2004 Olympic gold medalist was a 12-year-old amateur. The 33-year-old Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) has made eight straight defenses of the WBO light heavyweight title he won when he stopped Wales’ Nathan Cleverly in the fourth round of their August 2013 fight in Cardiff.
“I believe tomorrow night is gonna be my best performance the fans have ever seen,” Ward said. “That’s what I trained for. That’s what I’ve prepared for. In big fights like this, great fighters rise to the occasion. And that’s what I plan on doing.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.