By Ryan Burton
Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (27-0-1) recently held a press conference to announce his July 25th fight against Nadjib Mohammedi that takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight will be televised by HBO and be the first fight under his recent contract extension with the premium cable channel.
Kovalev has faced Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal in his last two fights and has had his name linked with WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and former super middleweight champion Andre Ward. Despite all of the rumors, Kovalev said that it is easy for him to focus on the task at hand.
"Boxing is a part of my life. My life hasn't been easy. I just concentrate and I am ready to go when I get in the ring. I don't know how to explain it. I have had this habit since I was 11 years old. It is a routine," Kovalev explained.
A fight that most boxing fans have wanted to see is a unification battle against Stevenson. Both fighters have said that they want the fight but differences network allegiances have made the fight difficult to make.
I asked the 32-year-old if he will feels someone else will knock off the 37-year-old Stevenson before he gets a chance to face him. Kovalev didn't mince words as his dislike of Stevenson is very evident.
"I want to knock him out myself but if somebody else kicks his ass it would be good too because he does not deserve to be champion. Maybe he watched too many cartoons. Watching Superman or something. You are just a boxer and not a real champion. You are not fighting good opponents. He is choosing from the trash. I am sorry (to talk about his) opponents (like that). He is choosing easy opponents. How he says that he is ready for the fight? Come to HBO and make the fight. I have three titles. He has the one title. We will split the purse 50-50. What is the problem? It is more than fair," Kovalev told BoxingScene.com.
Even with the bad blood, Kovalev feels that Stevenson actually does deserves one belt in particular.
"He doesn't deserve to be the champion. He deserves to have the belt of Mickey Mouse but not of champion of the world," Kovalev said with a grin.
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