By Steve Kim
There's no doubt that Sergey Kovalev (30-1, 26 KOs) is an angry fighter coming into his return about with Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) - who defeated him in a controversial decision back in November.
The Russian fighter has made it clear of his dislike for Ward and has talked of not just knocking him out, but ending his career this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Emotions are running high from Kovalev but the question is: does that equate to Kovalev fighting a more complete fight this time around?
His trainer, John David Jackson, says of this - "We've discussed that and I always put that in his head everyday in camp, 'don't go into this fight looking for the knockout. Don't be so mad about what happened, you can't change what happened in the first fight. The decision was made, the judges aren't going to change it. It's not going to be overruled. So you have to accept it.'
"'Now, get that hunger back to become champion but don't channel it to a way where you're trying to knock this guy out with every shot. Break him down systematically and do what you do best. Like I said, if you fight the first half of the fight and then the second half of the fight, put a little more pressure on him, make him fight you - you'll win the fight easy.'"
Jackson has always believed that Kovalev would be a tough match-up for Ward.
"I told him six years ago that he would beat Ward and the first half he proved that he could beat Ward. Now, the second go-around, let's keep proving you can beat Ward," Jackson said.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.