Boxing
Sergey Kovalev's message to Canelo Alvarez: 'This is my division'
Sergey Kovalev's name has been synonymous with the light heavyweight division ever since he defeated Nathan Cleverly in August 2013 to claim the WBO title for the first time.
He became king of the mountain in November 2014 when he battered Bernard Hopkins for 12 rounds and secured three of the four championship belts in the 175-pound weight class. He stopped former WBC titlist Jean Pascal on two occasions.
After going 2-3 in a five-fight stretch that included back-to-back losses to Andre Ward and Eleider Alvarez, Kovalev appears to have regained his footing. He defeated Alvarez in their rematch in February to take back the WBO belt, and then he knocked out Anthony Yarde in the 11th round in August.
Even with Artur Beterbiev as the IBF and WBC champion and Dmitry Bivol as the WBA titleholder, Kovalev has remained a marquee fighter in the division. However, now he's facing the man boxing pundits have deemed the face of boxing, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who is moving up two weight classes to challenge Kovalev and attempt to capture a world title in four different divisions. Kovalev and Canelo will fight Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, live on DAZN.
Some have said that Alvarez, the unified middleweight and WBA (Regular) super middleweight champion, is biting off more than he can chew against Kovalev. "Krusher" admires what Alvarez wants to do, but he has a simple message for the Mexican star.
“You know, I respect his steps and his risks," Kovalev said at Tuesday's grand arrivals. "This is boxing, but in boxing, only real men try to prove themselves, that they’re a real fighter, and Canelo is that. But this is my division, I have been in this division since my first fight, and I want to make my history, my story. He’s just trying. Right now, 175 has a lot of good fights right now, a lot of good fighters right now, even Canelo has come to 175.”
Saturday's contest is essentially a home game for Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs), who has made Las Vegas his go-to locale. This will be his 13th fight since May 2010 in Sin City and his seventh there in almost four years.
Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) has experience going into enemy territory. He beat Cleverly in his native England and won both of his fights vs. Pascal in Pascal's home country, Canada. The Russian knows the MGM crowd will be pro-Alvarez and is eager to send the Canelo supporters home unhappy.
"I want to disappoint a lot of people on Saturday," Kovalev said. "In England, everybody was going against me, but after the fight, everyone was asking for my autograph. Your boo is good."
