Ryabinsky Very Interested To Stage Sergey Kovalev Bout in Russia

By Yuri Tarantin

The discussions continue to stage Sergey Kovalev's next defense on Russian soil.

Main Events, who promote Kovalev, are in talks with Russian promoter Andrei Ryabinsky of World of Boxing.

Kovalev retained his WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight world titles in January with an easy stoppage of Jean Pascal in their rematch from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Kovalev (29-0-1, 26KOs) wants to have one more fight before a potential fall showdown with Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (28-0, 15KOs).

Ward is set to face unbeaten Sullivan Barrera tomorrow night at the Oracle in Oakland, California. Should he win, Ward may take another interim-bout before facing Kovalev in the fall.

Ryabinsky is very busy with finalizing all of the details for the May 21 showdown between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin - which takes place in Moscow. Once that card is finalized, he will then focus his energy on bringing Kovalev back to Russia. The last time Kovalev fought in Russia was back in December of 2011, which saw him stop Roman Simakov in a tragic bout. Simakov died of fight related injuries several days later. 

"I am staying in touch with the management of Kovalev and his promoter Kathy Duva. Now we are with her in the process of discussing a possible fight for Sergey in Russia, somewhere in Moscow. It is unlikely that this issue will be resolved before May 21st. But in general I would like to do it, and Sergey's side wants to do it. There are some technical difficulties, but I think we will overcome them," Ryabinsky said.

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru