Saturday’s HBO World Championship Boxing doubleheader telecast begins at 9:45 p.m. (ET/PT).
Opening up the telecast from the Bell Centre in Montreal is a 10-round welterweight matchup between Dmitry Mikhaylenko and Karim Mayfield.
The main event of the evening, a 12-round light heavyweight championship rematch, features knockout artist Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev defending his titles against Jean Pascal in his back yard.
Official Weights from Montreal:
Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev: 174.6 lbs.
Jean Pascal: 174.3 lbs.
Dmitry Mikhaylenko: 146.7 lbs.
Karim Mayfield: 147 lbs.
Sergey Kovalev, WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion - Photo Credits: Vincent Ethier - Interbox
"I want to thank you. I am really excited to be here in Canada and repeat this fight again. I am really happy. I am happy to fight Saturday and show you quality boxing. I have nothing to say just watch HBO channel on Saturday night and at the Centre Bell in Montreal. It should be a very interesting fight in the ring because is going to be two good boxers. It is going to be very not a war; it is going to be a mental fight who is personal fight for me. I have nothing to say. He is not a fighter. I hope that he will bring something in the ring. We will be great fight for boxing fans. Appreciate to all my fans worldwide and more to my Canadian fans. Montreal remind me of my hometown in Russia with the snow and the weather. Thank you so much. I will try to make shorter. See you Saturday."
Jean Pascal, Former Light Heavyweight World Champion
"Saturday night I am not just a boxer, I am a promoter. I have my boxer Joel Diaz on the card. He is my boxer. He is a rising star. Right now we have a chance to have this young lion in our backyard. He is 20-0 and is going to be 21-0 on Saturday. Don't miss his fight. The reason why I am a promoter is Kovalev said he is going to end my career. Do good on Saturday night, Diaz, because Saturday night is supposed to be the end of my career. I woke up good this morning and in a great mood. I don't want to insult anybody. I don't want to trash talk to anyone. I feel like training camp was great. I did 12 weeks: four in weeks in Canada and eight weeks in California with Freddie Roach. It was great. I had a great time in Los Angeles. The training was intense. I pushed myself beyond the limits. I woke up late this morning. I did not have breakfast. I feel hungry right now. He called me and [Adonis] Stevenson a piece of shit, because we are black. The things that Kovalev don't know yet he is going to find out Saturday night."
