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Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward already have a finalized agreement in place for a fight later this year, and now the date for that potential bout has been revealed. Kovalev-Ward, which would be an HBO pay-per-view event, is tentatively set for November 19, according to ESPN.com. The location of the fight has not been set.
The Kovalev-Ward bout, of course, hinges on both fighters not losing by that point. Ward (29-0-1, 26 KO) is coming off of a dominant defense of his WBA, IBF, and WBO light heavyweight titles on January 30, demolishing Jean Pascal in a rematch in Montreal. Ward (28-0, 15 KO) is set to make his full 175-pound move on March 26, when he faces Cuba's Sullivan Barrera in Oakland.
If Ward wins, it would probably be his last fight before the showdown with Kovalev. But Kovalev is expected to fight again this summer. There had been talk of him finally facing Adonis Stevenson in June, but that never went very far. The two met up ringside with one another at the DeGale-Bute fight last November in Montreal, and Stevenson did an "invading the ring" deal that convinced nobody after Kovalev beat Pascal last month, but the discussions were limited at best, and the fight has been all but written off at this point.
More likely, Kovalev will face some other mid-tier challenger in the summer, at best someone like Andrzej Fonfara, who is a legitimate contender, at least.
But if neither man loses a fight, it's set for November. This isn't a Golovkin-Canelo situation. Everyone is definitely on board.
The Kovalev-Ward bout, of course, hinges on both fighters not losing by that point. Ward (29-0-1, 26 KO) is coming off of a dominant defense of his WBA, IBF, and WBO light heavyweight titles on January 30, demolishing Jean Pascal in a rematch in Montreal. Ward (28-0, 15 KO) is set to make his full 175-pound move on March 26, when he faces Cuba's Sullivan Barrera in Oakland.
If Ward wins, it would probably be his last fight before the showdown with Kovalev. But Kovalev is expected to fight again this summer. There had been talk of him finally facing Adonis Stevenson in June, but that never went very far. The two met up ringside with one another at the DeGale-Bute fight last November in Montreal, and Stevenson did an "invading the ring" deal that convinced nobody after Kovalev beat Pascal last month, but the discussions were limited at best, and the fight has been all but written off at this point.
More likely, Kovalev will face some other mid-tier challenger in the summer, at best someone like Andrzej Fonfara, who is a legitimate contender, at least.
But if neither man loses a fight, it's set for November. This isn't a Golovkin-Canelo situation. Everyone is definitely on board.
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