By Steve Kim
This upcoming weekend Sergey Kovalev takes on Nadjib Mohammedi in what could best described as a stay-busy fight for 'the Krusher' who's coming off two victories over Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. The reason why Kovalev is facing Mohammedi is to fulfill an IBF obligation to face his top ranked challenger.
Kovalev, who has the WBO, WBA and IBF belts, has no intention of relinquishing any of his titles, anytime soon.
"Evander Holyfield used to always say - 'everyone tells me the belts don't mean anything but I seem to make a lot more money when I got them all' - and that has stayed in my head as you can see," said Kathy Duva, the head of Main Events, which promotes Kovalev.
"Truer words were never spoken," continued Duva.'' And I care about it from a marketing perspective and Sergey cares about it from his personal desire to hold all the titles. The day may come when he may not need them all but right now he's still building his brand, he's still growing and the intention is to absolutely keep the belts and that's why he's facing Mohemmedi who is the mandatory, who has waited a year, patiently, for his shot and he's going to be ready."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com