Sergey Kovalev wants to end his career with one last piece of hardware.

The former longtime light heavyweight titleholder from Russia is hoping to become a two-division titlist by winning a belt in the cruiserweight ranks, according to his manager Egis Klimas. Kovalev, a force in the light heavyweight class for the first half of the 2010s, has seen his career plunge dramatically ever since his 11th-round knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez in November of 2019, which was the last time Kovalev fought.

Recently, Kovalev was shown working out with trainer Buddy McGirt, gearing up for a comeback, reportedly against Chinese contender Meng Fanlong at a contracted weight of 185 pounds on a Triller Fight Club card in the spring. Klimas made it clear Kovalev won’t be returning to light heavyweight at this juncture in his career.

“For him to fight [at] cruiserweight it’s not gonna be a big issue,” Klimas said on The 3 Knockdown Rule. “He has a good name. Right now he’s hungry. He wants to fight. Right now at the end of his career, we don’t see no point for him to go to 175.

“At cruiserweight, [after] three or four fights we can walk into the championship bout, and then just close [his career].”

The current champions in the cruiserweight division (200 pounds) are England’s Lawrence Okolie (WBO), Latvia’s Mairis Briedis (IBF), France’s Arsen Goulamirian (WBA), and the Congo’s Ilunga Makabu (WBC).

Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs), who is still under promotional contract with Main Events, was originally supposed to get in the ring with Sullivan Barrera in April 2020, but COVID-19 protocol put the kibosh on that bout. Kovalev was then set to face Uzbek prospect Bektemir Melikuziev in January 2021, but that bout was cancelled after Kovalev tested positive for a banned substance. Melikuziev is a Golden Boy fighter, and Kovalev, per an agreement with Golden Boy heading into his bout Alvarez, was owed a couple of fights under their banner, as a compromise for settling for a lesser purse that he initially demanded from the Alvarez bout. Klimas said that Golden Boy has refused to offer those fights to his charge, which has prompted them to take legal action.

“As far as [legal matters go], we have arbitration with Golden Boy,” Klimas said. “I believe right now the date is April. When we fought Canelo we agreed for such amount and they said, ‘no.’ [Golden Boy said] ‘We give you less, but in case you guys lose, we give you two comeback fights. We include this amount in these two comeback fights.’ But they never gave us [the fights].”

Asked if that agreement was essentially voided after Kovalev tested positive for a PED heading into the Melikuziev bout, Klimas declined comment.

“I’m gonna let the judge rule on that,” Klimas said.

Klimas said that Kovalev, who has had his fair share of out-of-the-ring troubles in recent years, has struggled to reach the light heavyweight limit in his last several fights.

“At 175 he was struggling all the time,” Klimas said, adding that Kovalev walks around at 200 pounds. “Most of the weakness for him was to do 175. Sometimes even in the morning, before the weigh-in, he goes to the sauna, he leaves everything out of him to lose that weight.

“He’s good for seven, eight rounds, then he’s done. Even against Canelo. Look what he did with Canelo in the beginning. Then he just drained. He has no power. In the 11th round he was already like [wobbly].”

The undefeated Fanlong (17-0, 10 KOs) is coming off a 10-round unanimous decision over Israel Duffus last October.