by David P. Greisman

Abel Sanchez will be an interested observer when Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal fight Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal. After all, he is the trainer of Nadjib Mohammedi, a light heavyweight contender who is the mandatory challenger to one of Kovalev’s three belts.

And he’s not making a firm prediction on who the winner will be.

“Jean has proven that he’s a great champion and I think that the fans are going to be treated to a good fight,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think it’s as one-sided as the Hopkins fight was [for Kovalev]. Pascal’s going to put up a hell of a fight, and if Kovalev’s not ready I think Pascal may take it.

“I think it’s a 50-50 fight,” he said a little later. “Pascal has proven that he’s a very worthy challenger and actually is an ex-world champion that can adapt to a lot of styles. Sergey is going to have to impose his will. If he doesn’t impose his will early, it could be a difficult fight for him towards the end.”

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