Kovalev very unhappy with his performance against Pascal

Interview with a Russian sports magazine translated by a guy on reddit. Talks about a lot of stuff but here are some of his comments about his performance last week: Yeah, pretty bad. I mean, I'm satisfied with the result, but not with how the fight went. I didn't like how I boxed, but this was expected, as I knew that the fight will be difficult. My training wasn't really smooth, always being interrupted by different reasons. Something always came up, forcing me to take breaks. I think I spent too much time enjoying my victory over Hopkins, delaying my training. Fighting with such preparation was risky. This time I wasn't 100% sure that the fight will go well, but I decided to just do it and see what happens. It seems the powers to be (meaning heaven), decided that my reasons for interrupting training were justified. So you believe it was possible to overcome your training shortcomings? Were they outside influences or wholly your fault? 50/50, it's hard to really say what and how some things unfolded. On the other hand, I definitely took too much time in the resting phase: Hopkins, New Years'; the associated food. *(in Russia, the new year celebration is a very big thing, the festivities usually last a week or so, during which lots of very tasty but maybe not so healthy food and drink is consumed). I gained a few extra kilos, had to fight with those too. This time making weight was my first victory. In general, I weighted the same as always, but with missed training came difficulties in dropping that weight. How many times did he get you cleanly? Pascal certainly wasn't a punching bag. I consider him the best opponent in my division, someone who deserves the chance to fight for the title of champion. I would say that during the fight I let through 4 serious hits. I didn't drift off or lose balance, but they were serious hits from his side. He's not a standard fighter, punches often came from weird angles, so it wasn't easy. From my point of view, I'd say I accomplished 40-50% of what I set out to do. There was this unexplained aggression that went beyond that which is present in a typical fight. I guess the stuff that happened before the fight really made me angry, and I wanted to punish him as quickly as possible. I suppose this one of the things that got in my way, in some ways I overextended and got tired sooner. Interesting interview - http://www.reddit.com/r/Boxing/comments/2zpksr/kovalev_interview_post_pascal_fight_translated/ Picks Manny to beat Floyd.