By Igor Lazorin, tass
Sergey Kovalev is planning to hit Big Bear, California on April 29th to begin preparations for his scheduled rematch against World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) light heavyweight champion Andre Ward.
According to Kovalev's promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events, her fighter will have a new conditioning trainer on board. Kovalev is trained by John David Jackson.
"On April 29, Sergey will go to Big Bear and hold camp there for three weeks to gain the necessary physical conditioning. Then he will move to Oxnard and for his boxing training," Duva said.
Last November at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Ward survived a second round knockdown to win a close and some felt controversial twelve round unanimous decision over Kovalev to capture the unified light heavyweight crown.
There was a rematch clause, which Kovalev exercised a few days later.
Kovalev's training is being carefully monitored, because he seemed to have stamina issues in the second half of the contest with Ward, and also displayed similar problems one fight prior, when he won a twelve round decision against Isaac Chilemba in a tougher than expected assignment in Russia.
The victory by Ward, the last American male to win Olympic gold, helped him become a unified world champion in his second weight class. He was previously the unified champion at super middleweight.
After weeks of negotiations, a deal for the rematch was finalized and it is set to take place on June 17th, also in Las Vegas, but this time in the Mandalay Bay Events Center. This time around, Ward's promoter Roc Nation Sports is handling the event as the A-side.
Kovalev has a record of 30 wins (26 KOs), one loss and one draw. Ward's undefeated record has 31 victories (15 - KOs) and no losses.
