Sergey Kovalev acknowledges that this quick turnaround isn’t ideal.

The WBO light heavyweight champion is scheduled to face Canelo Alvarez only 10 weeks after a grueling fight against Anthony Yarde. The 36-year-old Kovalev would’ve preferred more time to recuperate from that fight and the taxing training camp that preceded it.

Ultimately, though, DAZN demanded that Alvarez’s next fight occur outside that streaming service’s same 30-day billing cycle that’ll include the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Anthony Joshua heavyweight championship rematch. That fight is scheduled for December 7 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, thus giving Kovlaev a few more weeks of rest wasn’t workable.

Had Kovalev balked at fighting Alvarez on November 2, he essentially would’ve passed on a career-high, eight-figure payday for the second time in less than two months.

“Of course, it would’ve been much better if I fought Canelo in the middle of December,” Kovalev told BoxingScene.com before a press conference Wednesday in Los Angeles. “But I wasn’t hurt in my last fight. I didn’t get any injuries. After the fight, I went to a region [in Russia] that has a lot of trees and lakes and rivers. It’s a very good area. I got a lot of energy for my next fight. I recharged my batteries. I’m fine.”

England’s Yarde (18-1, 17 KOs), who was Kovalev’s mandatory challenger, hurt Kovalev badly late in the eighth round of their fight August 24 in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Kovalev’s hometown. A resilient Kovalev quickly came back to regain control of their fight early in the ninth round and knocked out Yarde with a jab in the 11th round.

Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) left for the aforementioned vacation soon after that victory and awaited word from his promoter, Kathy Duva, on a deal for his fight versus Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs). The deal between Duva, Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. (Kovalev’s co-promoter) and Golden Boy Promotions (Alvarez) was wrapped up September 11 and officially announced two days later.

While a few more weeks of rest would’ve helped him, this timetable isn’t too far off from Kovalev’s preferred schedule.

“My goal was always to fight every three months,” Kovalev said, “because I cannot be just waiting a long time for each fight.”

Kovalev returned to Oxnard, California, last weekend to begin training camp. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.