By Lyle Fitzsimmons
Sergey Kovalev aced the interview. Then he got the job.
And this weekend in Las Vegas, he heads into the office for the first time.
The three-belt light heavyweight champion scored the most significant victories of his career in his last two fights – battering Bernard Hopkins over 12 rounds and stopping Jean Pascal in eight – and returns to the ring Saturday night against top-ranked IBF contender Nadjib Mohammedi.
The 30-year-old Frenchman is a 10-year professional with 37 wins and 23 knockouts in 40 fights, though he’s never fought for a world title and dropped a unanimous decision in 2010 to the same foe – Welshman Nathan Cleverly – who was halted in four rounds by Kovalev nearly three years later.
Kovalev concedes to having not done a whole lot of Mohammedi research.
“I know almost nothing about him,” he said.
“I know he has 40 fights, and he has 37 victories and three losses. He’s motivated. But I don’t like to watch a lot of fights of my opponents. For me, it doesn’t matter. Any street fight or boxing fight is the same. Inside the ring it’s dangerous. The opponent’s goal is to kick my ass. My goal is to kick his ass. Everything pushes me to improve my health and my body to get a victory over my next opponent.”
Kovalev sat down for an interview to discuss his ascension at 175 pounds, Mohammedi as an opponent and the potential opponents on the horizon that intrigue him the most.
Q: You’ve beaten Hopkins. You’ve beaten Pascal. Do you feel like you’ve graduated to a certain level that you hadn’t reached previously? Are you a better fighter now than you were prior to those wins?
A: Yes. Those were the best fights for me. They were important for me. But every fight is important. The next fight is important, too. But yes, the strongest and highest levels of boxers I’ve faced were Hopkins and Pascal.
Q: Coming off those wins, is there any danger that this one isn’t taken as seriously? How do you make sure that doesn’t happen?
A: I have to fight any fight responsibly. I train hard for each of my fights. It’s the same. I don’t care if it’s going to be a title fight or not a title fight, I don’t like to lose in the ring.
Q: How much do you think about fights down the road? A lot of people mention Stevenson. Do you think of guys like Ward or Golovkin or others who could be big down the road?
A: If Andre Ward or Gennady Golovkin are going to be 175 pounds, we could talk about a possible fight. Gennady is a great fighter and he’s dangerous and he’s a nice guy, too. He’s my friend.
Q: Are there specific guys in the future who you would like to fight?
A: Anyone who will be a contender. I know that Stevenson is a piece of sh*t. All he says is “I want this fight. I want to fight this boxer. I don’t want to fight this boxer.” He’s not a fighter. He’s a businessman. I’m a fighter. I’m going to fight any contender and any challenger who is coming to get my titles. My titles are my babies. I worked a long time to get them, and my goal now is to save them for as long as possible.
Q: If Stevenson never gets made, who are the other priorities? Is Ward the No. 1?
A: This fight will happen, yes. It will be an interesting fight and a very exciting fight because Andre Ward is a very talented guy. He’s champion of the world. He’s one of the best pound for pound. One of the best. It’s a big name and he’s a big boxer and a big talent.
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This week’s title-fight schedule:
FRIDAY
IBO welterweight title – East London, South Africa
Ali Funeka (champion/No. 31 IWBR) vs. Tsiko Mulovhedzi (No. 31 contender/Unranked IWBR)
Funeka (36-4-3, 29 KO): First title defense; Unbeaten since 2012 (5-0, 4 KO)
Mulovhedzi (9-7-3, 5 KO): First title fight; Unbeaten (6-0-2, 4 KO) since starting career at 3-7-1
Fitzbitz says: Funeka is no Mayweather or Pacquiao, but it’s still hard to believe that he’d lose his share of the welterweight empire to a guy who lost seven of his first 11 fights. Funeka by decision
IBO super flyweight title – East London, South Africa
Lwandile Sityatha (champion/No. 25 IWBR) vs. Gideon Buthelezi (Unranked IBO/Unranked IWBR)
Sityatha (19-3-1, 7 KO): Second title defense; Undefeated in 12-round fights (6-0-1, 0 KO)
Buthelezi (14-4, 4 KO): Sixth title fight (3-2, 0 KO); Held IBO titles at 105, 108 and 115 pounds
Fitzbitz says: Buthelezi has been an IBO claimant in three divisions, but he’s also been stopped early in two of his last four fights and might be closer to the end of the line than his foe here. Sityatha in 9
SATURDAY
IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight titles – Las Vegas, Nev.
Sergey Kovalev (champion/No. 2 IWBR) vs. Nadjib Mohammedi (No. 1 IBF/No. 8 IWBR)
Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KO): Sixth WBO title defense; Second fight in Las Vegas (1-0, 1 KO)
Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KO): First title fight; Third fight in United States (2-0, 2 KO)
Fitzbitz says: The Frenchman has a nice enough overall record, but the fact that he’s already been KO’d by two lighter hitters than Kovalev doesn’t bode well for his staying power in Las Vegas. Kovalev in 3
Last week's picks: 2-2 (WIN: Arroyo, Frampton; LOSS: Cuenca, Abraham)
2015 picks record: 48-13 (78.6 percent)
Overall picks record: 687-236 (74.4 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.
