By Steve Kim
This Saturday night, WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol and WBO belt-holder Sergey Kovalev will co-headline an HBO card from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
Bivol faces veteran contender Isaac Chilemba in the opener and Kovalev faces undefeated challenger Eleider Alvarez in the main event.
But many boxing fans wonder when Bivol and Kovalev will clash.
During his in-studio visit to 'the 3 Knockdown Rule' with Mario Lopez, Bivol (13-0, 11 KO's) was asked about this possibility and stated - "I want to fight against the best guys in the world because people like fights when the best beat the other. But it's not my preference to fight against guys who are from the same country because people don't like those fights, I think. Maybe not, but I want to fight unification fights."
Bivol, who's mother is Korean and father is Moldovan, lives in Russia.
"But if people will want our fight, of course I will be glad and I will take this fight," added Bivol.
His manager, Vadim Kornilov (who joined him in-studio) chimed in - "Nobody prefers to fight the guys from their country, especially when all these guys come to this country to prove themselves and now they have to fight each other. But at the end of the day, it's looking like most of the champions are going to be from the same country.
''(Artur) Beterbiev (the IBF titlist) is Russian, (Adonis) Stevenson (WBC champion) - he doesn't want to fight anybody - but if (Oleksandr) Gvozdyk fights him and beats him, he's Ukrainian. So they're going to have to do it and a lot of it is with "Krusher'' and Bivol being on HBO. I respect Sergey, we're friends, but it's probably going to have to happen."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com
