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Totowa, NJ: WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) was scheduled to fight for the first time as a champion in Russia, his home country, in late November but the fight has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts. Kovalev will return to the ring very early in 2016. The date, opponent and location will be revealed shortly.
Totowa, NJ: Isaac "Golden Boy" Chilemba (24-2-2, 10 KOs) was faced with a difficult decision regarding his future in the light heavyweight division. He received offers from two major sanctioning organizations to fight for mandatory positions. The first offer came from the IBF against Artur Beterbiev and the other from the WBC against Andrzej Fonfara. Although Fonfara may be unavailable to participate, Chilemba, the 28 year-old from Malawi, decided to stick with his plan to pursue WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson and forego the IBF offer.
Totowa, NJ: Curtis "Showtime" Stevens (27-5, 20 KOs) the30-year old middleweight from Brownsville, Brooklyn has signed a new promotional deal with Main Events. Stevens originally signed with Main Events in February 2013. During his first two years with the promotional outfit, he won the vacant NABF Middleweight Title against Saul Roman, challenged Gennady Golovkin for the WBA Middleweight World Championship and made his debut DirecTV BKB debut against Gabriel Rosado.
Big Bear Lake, CA: On July 25, 2015 undefeated Cuban light heavyweight Sullivan Barrera (15-0, 10 KOs) will face his biggest challenge to date in the ring since his professional debut in 2009, Vasily "The Professor" Lepikhin (17-1, 9 KOs), but for the 33 year-old from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the hardest time in his life is most definitely in his past. In 2009, Sullivan defected from Cuba with four other fighters from the Cuban National Team. It was his third attempt to flee Castro's regime and become a professional fighter in the United States. After many days at sea, the five men finally landed in Mexico where they were detained for more than three months. Eventually, Sullivan was able to make it over the Mexican border into the United States.
Las Vegas, Nevada: On July 25, 2015 WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) will defend his three world titles for the second time against IBF mandatory opponent Nadjib "Iron Djib" Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) but the road to success was not an easy one for him and his manager, Egis Klimas, who reflects on the journey. Kovalev was introduced to Klimas via a mutual friend, Anatoliy Rubinchikov, and the two met for the first time in Kazakhstan prior to Kovalev's professional debut. Klimas was travelling to Kazakhstan with his long-time friend and trusted advisor Don Turner, so the two of them met with Sergey together. Turner said he knew instantly that Kovalev was a special fighter, "He was an interesting guy. He was shadow-boxing and he never changed the expression on his face and I thought this guy is for real. So I told Egis that this guy can't miss."
Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) the undefeated unified WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion will take on his first IBF mandatory contender Nadjib "Irondjib" Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) on Saturday, July 25 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada and televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing. Tickets priced at $300, $200, $100, $50 and $25, not including applicable tax and service fees, go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, May 27 at 10 AM PT and will be available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith's Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at mandalaybay.com or ticketmaster.com.
Main Events adds two new fighters to their already impressive stable with the signing of two New England prospects: middleweight Thomas "The Souljah" Falowo (13-3, 8 KOs) of Providence, Rhode Island and heavyweight Cassius Chaney (1-0, 1 KO) of New Haven, Connecticut. Falowo, 26, is coming off an impressive win over his long-time amateur rival, Russell Lamour, on ESPN Friday Night Fights on January 30 at Foxwoods in Connecticut. The two met several times as amateurs with Lamour winning all but one match-up but, in their first fight as pros, Falowo took the victory in an exciting unanimous decision.
Totowa, NJ: - Mairis Briedis (14-0, 11 KOs), the undefeated cruiserweight from Riga, Latvia, has just signed a co-promotional agreement with Main Events. Briedis is currently promoted overseas by J.C. Courreges' Biggers Better Boxing, the co-promotion will cover all of Briedis' US and Canadian fights. The 30-year old Briedis is the current International Boxing Association Cruiserweight and WBC Baltic Cruiserweight Champions and undefeated in 14 professional fights. After making his professional debut back in 2009 he knocked out his next eight opponents in a row over the span of three years.
Steve "USS" Cunningham [On his first fight in Montreal] I am excited. This is my first time in Canada. From the Pascal fights I have seen, the fans in Montreal are crazy for boxing. I am excited to go. [On his first fight on HBO] It is 14 years in the making. I am happy to finally be here. [On Glazkov] He struggled against Malik Scott and Derric Rossy and they have similar styles. I ain't worried about none of that though. I need to do what Steve Cunningham does. I come to kick butt. I come to win. I come to walk out of there with my hands raised. [On the stakes riding on this fight] The stakes for this fight are the ultimate stakes. This is the fight to get to the heavyweight title. This is that fight that gets you there. Every fight I have had has been the most important fight of my career but this fight is on the stage for that #1 spot. This is to get to the champion. This is the biggest fight of my career. This is the biggest fight of a lot of peoples' careers. I want to capitalize on it. I want to make the best of it. I want to get in there and do what I am supposed to do. I want to get in there and do what I know I can do. I don't want to be concerned with Glazkov himself I am just focusing on me. This is the upper echelon stakes. [On fighting Klitschko or Jennings if he wins] I just need to get in there and handle this business. I can elaborate more on that March 15. Right now Glazkov is the tip of the spear.
Oxnard, CA: On March 14 Vyacheslav "Czar" Glazkov will face Steve "USS" Cunningham for the #1 position in the IBF and the USBA Heavyweight Title as the co-feature on the Kovalev-Pascal HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast. Although Cunningham is a formidable opponent, the 30-year old from Lugansk, Ukraine faced much bigger adversity outside of the ring over the last year. Early in 2014, Czar won the biggest fight of his career when he defeated veteran Tomasz "Goral" Adamek in a 12-round unanimous decision to secure the IBF North American Heavyweight Title. Shortly thereafter, along with his wife and daughter, he immigrated to the United States from war-torn Ukraine. They had difficulty crossing over the border into Russia, but were finally able to make it to sunny Florida to start their new lives as American residents.