by David P. Greisman
Sergey Kovalev wouldn’t be going into an immediate rematch with Jean Pascal anyway, not given his desire to hold all four major world titles at light heavyweight, a desire that will bring him into other showdowns first.
Even without that goal and the obligations that come with it, Kovalev’s promoter says she wouldn’t want to have Kovalev get straight back in with Pascal just yet.
She’s not opposed to it happening again eventually, though.
“I’m not going to kid you, we sure wouldn’t do that next, even if he didn’t have requirements to do other fights first,” said Kathy Duva of Main Events. “That was a really rough fight. We’re not going to do that immediately. I’m not going to pretend. But I don’t have to wrestle with that.”
First comes a bout with Nadjib Mohammedi, the mandatory challenger to the IBF title, one of three belts Kovalev holds. Then Kovalev wants to fight for the WBC title, which is presently held by champion Adonis Stevenson, though there’s also the possibility that belt could be vacated if Stevenson’s team opts against facing Kovalev.
“After that, obviously at some point in time a rematch is absolutely called for,” Duva said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that. Look, Pascal fought like a warrior. I always say my best result is a fight where everybody says, ‘I want to see both of those guys back again.’ We got that tonight. I think that’s great for both fighters. Pascal absolutely proved that he should be back on TV again and should stay in the mix at light heavyweight.”
Will that mean Kovalev and Pascal facing each other again?
“My gut feeling is they probably will,” she said.
Kovalev is a big fan of having the sanctioning body titles, Duva said.
“When Sergey won his first title in Cardiff [against Nathan Cleverly], we were talking in the ring. I said, ‘This is your dream, you’re the world champion.’ He said, ‘How soon can I fight for another belt?’ Those were the first words out of his mouth. He’s made it clear to me from the day I signed him that all he wanted to do is hold all four world title belts, so that’s our mission.”
Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com
