Eleider Alvarez has a message for Sergey Kovalev if the Russian thinks a simple mistake cost him his WBO light heavyweight championship belt last summer.
The rematch is Saturday night at team headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys north of Dallas.
Alvarez won in his first shot at the title in Atlantic City New Jersey, last August when he knocked down Kovalev three times in the seventh round. Kovalev was leading on all three scorecards going into the round.
There was talk of a unification bout for Kovalev (32-3-1) in the 175-pound division if he had kept his title against Alvarez. Instead, there were more questions for the 35-year-old following his third loss in five fights.
"My goal is to collect all four belts, but I dropped this belt on my way to my huge goal. After {the Alvarez loss}, a lot of people thought I should stop my boxing career. No, that's not in my character to stop my career by losing. When I win, I will think, stop or not to stop? But when I lose, it was 100 percent no," Kovalev said.
Half of the undefeated Alvarez’s 24 victories have been knockouts. The 34-year-old Colombian was a replacement in his first match with Kovalev after legal issues nixed a bout with Marcus Browne. Alvarez isn’t the unknown fighter now.
Oscar Valdez is set for another defense of his WBO featherweight title almost a year after his jaw was broken in a 12-round decision over Scott Quigg. The two-time Mexican Olympian will face fellow unbeaten Carmine Tommasone.
Valdez (24-0, 19 knockouts) persevered through a grueling challenge in a steady downpour at the StubHub Center’s outdoor venue south of downtown Los Angeles last March.
Tommasone (19-0, 5 KOs) is making his first appearance outside his home country of Italy.
