Montreal, Quebec, Canada: On Saturday March 14, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) will defend his WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Titles against Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs) at the Centre Belle in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kovalev is known for his knockout power, but he is travelling to the lion’s den to face Pascal on his home turf. Pascal, a former world champion, is known for his great chin – he’s never been knocked down. Below is the scouting report for this explosive match-up:

Category
Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev
Jean Pascal
Age
31
32
Record
26-0-1 (23 KOs)
29-2-1 (17 KOs)
Strength
Kovalev possesses knockout power in both hands; he has the ability to end a fight with any punch he throws. He is able to physically break his opponents down throughout the bout. He cuts the ring off very well.
Pascal is quick when he puts his punches together and has power in both hands. Having never been knocked down, he has a really good chin. He has been competing against the division’s top fighters since 2008, before Sergey even made his pro debut.
Weakness
Kovalev tends to leave openings in his guard allowing himself to be hit. He has been knocked down before but not hurt.
Pascal has only fought two rounds in the last 14 months, which may cause him to experience some ring rust. He has a tendency to tire out late in fights, so he could run into a problem if he does not conserve his energy properly. He has a tendency to let his opponents get into his head. In his second fight with Hopkins, he was noticeably rattled when Bernard started doing push-ups in the ring prior to the seventh round.
Experience
Kovalev may be at a slight disadvantage here since Pascal has fought more top-level opposition.
Pascal has been in seven major title fights, and holds victories over Chad Dawson and Lucian Bute.
Power
Kovalev has unbelievable power in both hands, he throws every punch with bad intentions, and puts together effective combinations.
Although he has power when he puts his punches together, he will be at a disadvantage here when paired up against Kovalev’s power.
Speed
Kovalev has average speed that picks up once he smells blood in the water and goes for the knockout.
Pascal’s speed becomes more noticeable during his flurries of punches; he really turns it on when he knows he has his opponent hurt and can possibly finish the fight.
Endurance
Sergey proved he could go the distance when he went 12 rounds for the first time in his most recent bout against the legendary Bernard Hopkins.
Pascal may have the advantage here as he has gone 12 rounds on eight different occasions.
Accuracy
Sergey demonstrated great accuracy with his one punch knockouts. He also throws very accurate and powerful body shots.
Pascal will be at a disadvantage here. He does not utilize his jab at times and tends to get wild when unloading flurries of punches.
Defense
Sergey’s main focus is his offense; there are times when his offense is so effective that it becomes his best defense.
Pascal does not move around the ring well. He likes to stand in front of his opponents and let his aggressiveness overwhelm them, which sometimes may be his best defense.
Chin
Kovalev has been knocked down twice in his career, but he has risen to the occasion both times and come back with the victory.
Jean has a really good chin and is willing to stand and trade with the division’s best and most powerful punchers. He has never been knocked down.
Style
Kovalev is an offensive fighter who likes to walk his opponents down and go in for the finish.
Pascal is an athletic, aggressive fighter that will not hesitate to go for the finish if given the opportunity.
Intangibles
Rather than take some more time off or settle for a tune-up bout after his title unification win over Bernard Hopkins, Sergey is taking on the division’s number one contender who has never been stopped and that held the light heavyweight crown from 2009-2011. Bernard Hopkins tried in vain to get into Sergey’s head but the Krusher was immune to his head games.
After his last bout ended in a controversial no contest midway into the 2nd round, Pascal has decided to waste no time at all and challenge the division’s scariest puncher and current WBO, WBA, and IBF titleholder Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev.

Crowd Support
Kovalev will be at a disadvantage here since he is fighting in Jean Pascal’s backyard.
Pascal will have an advantage here as he will be fighting in front of his home crowd where he has fought in his previous 11 bouts.
The Match-up
Will Pascal be able to take Kovalev’s power?
Will Kovalev be able to cut off the ring from the awkward Pascal?
Will Pascal’s ring rust be a factor in this fight?
Sergey went 12 rounds for the first time in his career in his last fight against Bernard Hopkins. Will that be a factor in this fight?
Was their scuffle at the final press conference on Wednesday an indication that one of them is winning the mental fight? If so, which one?

About Kovalev vs. Pascal
Kovalev vs. Pascal is a 12-round fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship Titles. The fight will be televised as part of a live triple header on HBO World Championship Boxing® Saturday, March 14 from the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tickets are on sale now at the Centre Bell ticket office, at www.evenko.ca, by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion 514-376-0980. This event is a co-promotion of Main Events and InterBox, presented by Vidéotron in association with Mise-O-Jeu.

Two of the world’s top light heavyweights face off in a highly anticipated title showdown when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: SERGEY KOVALEV VS. JEAN PASCAL, VYACHESLAV GLAZKOV VS. STEVE CUNNINGHAM AND ISAAC CHILEMBA VS. VASILY LEPIKHIN is seen SATURDAY, MARCH 14 at 9:45 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from the Montréal Bell Centre in Montréal, Canada, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will call the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates: March 15 (9:30 a.m.) and 16 (midnight)

HBO2 playdate: March 17 (11:00 p.m.)

In the main event, undefeated Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) of Kopeysk, Russia, now living in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., takes on Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs) originally from Port-au-Prince Haiti, now living in Laval, Quebec, Canada in a 12-round light heavyweight title contest. The fast-rising, hard-hitting Kovalev has taken the division by storm with an 85% knockout ratio, and solidified his standing with a 12-round unanimous decision in a title unification bout against future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins last November. One of the sport’s top attractions thanks to his fan-friendly style, Kovalev enjoyed a banner year in 2014, earning fighter of the year honors from a host of boxing news organizations. The fight marks his sixth HBO appearance.

Also known for his rugged style and never-back-down approach, Pascal was last seen on HBO in Jan. 2014 when he defeated Lucian Bute. He’ll draw support from a partisan hometown crowd in this showdown.

In the co-feature, Vyacheslav Glazkov (19-0-1, 12 KOs) from Lugansk, Ukraine, now living in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., takes on Steve Cunningham (28-6, 13 KOs) of Philadelphia in a scheduled 12-round heavyweight title elimination fight. The winner will be a contender for a heavyweight title bout with Wladimir Klitschko.

Glazkov was a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist for Ukraine. Cunningham, a former two-time cruiserweight titleholder, has drawn inspiration from his nine-year-old daughter Kennedy, who has triumphed over a heart defect and survived a heart transplant. Both fighters are making their HBO debuts.

In the opening bout, Isaac Chilemba (23-2-2, 10 KOs), originally from Blantyre, Malawi, now living in Johannesburg, South Africa, takes on undefeated Vasily Lepikhin (17-0, 9 KOs) from Gelendzhik, Russia, in a scheduled 12-round light heavyweight contest. Rising steadily in the ranks of the light heavyweight division, Chilemba has a 4-0-1 record against undefeated opponents. In his third North American appearance, Lepikhin will look to make a major move in the rankings.

Follow HBO boxing news at hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter at twitter.com/hboboxing.

All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.

The executive producer of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Dave Harmon; director, Johnathan Evans.

® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.

###

Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion
I studied French in school for six years but I remember nothing because I wasn’t interested in this language; my time was spent learning English. It will be big action for Saturday night. I love to be here and I am glad to be here in Canada. I am expecting a lot of fans because I was here in November 2013. Saturday night will be two best boxers of light heavyweight division facing each other. Jean Pascal is tough boxer and Saturday I will see how tough. I am not going say any prediction. This is boxing, anything can happen with a fight. For me this fight is very interesting because it is next step in my career, the next test in my career. For myself I want to prove who I am on this level, in front in this huge arena, in my first time fighting in huge arena like this. I am very happy and waiting for Saturday. Thank you so much.

[On comments by John David Jackson about Jean Pascal] I don’t know because I didn’t read what John said. It is his opinion. It will be me fighting in the ring on Saturday. What John sees is his vision. My vision is mine and may be different. I didn’t watch very many Pascal fights. I understand his style. I only watch a couple rounds of my opponents. I don’t spend much time watching fights of my opponents. If John thinks it is true, I believe him.

Krusher Kovalev
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

[On not fighting in front of his home crowd in Russia] This is a huge arena for me. This is something new for me. I love experiencing something new in my career. I love travelling the world to fight. If my job lets me travel and get victory, then it is good for me. It makes me happy. It is big motivation for me because a lot of people will be watching this fight. I am now responsible for three titles and it pushes me to work harder. I would like to fight in Russia but I don’t know when the opportunity will happen.

[On not taking easier fights] We are Russian, we are ready for anything. We are ready to make good fights. It is interesting fight. If I look for easy opponents, it will not be interesting for anyone. Who is the best right now in this division? We will find this out Saturday.

Jean Pascal
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Jean Pascal, former light heavyweight champion
It will be a great fight. I have 15 trainers because I am a general and I have an army behind me. Kovalev doesn’t like to talk and lets his trainer do the talking. John David Jackson doesn’t have to get in the ring with me. Sergey does. He needs to man up and talk for himself. I am a general. I’m not a follower. I am a wolf, not a sheep.

In hockey, Russian players do well during the regular season and then not do well in the play-offs. So I think that, like those hockey players, Kovalev will not be able to perform the same on Saturday night against me as he has in the past against other fighters. Nobody should take me lightly.

[On comments he made to the press about knocking Sergey out] I said the best scenario is to give the fans 12 good rounds and then try to knock him out in the last 15 seconds of the fight.

I will give 110% on Saturday night but I cannot predict the future. This is like game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and I am prepared to do whatever it takes to win. I’ve got balls and big ones and you will see them on Saturday night.

Kathy Duva
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events
We are so happy to be here in boxing-crazy Quebec. This fight is exactly what boxing is supposed to be: the two best fighters who are willing to fight each other. That is what this promotion is about: The very best against each other. Jean Bedard and his team have created a market that is the model for other promotions. It is going be hard to go into opposite sides of the ring from Interbox on Saturday night. I want to thank HBO and Peter Nelson for having the vision to see what we saw in Sergey Kovalev. This is exactly the kind of thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. This is going to be an amazing event and I am privileged to be able to watch it live.

I am so relieved that this fight is not going to be between John David Jackson and Jean Pascal’s 15 trainers. It is not about the money for Sergey. It is not about the fact that he had to come here. He wants to make everyone who watches this fight into his fans. I am going to make the prediction that he will do that.

This has been a wonderful experience so far. Thank you to Interbox and thanks Jean Pascal for being a man for taking this fight.

Kovalev and Pascal Face-Off
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Jean Bedard, President of Interbox
I want to thank our friends from HBO who have put their trust in us to deliver a great product. We intend to work with them in the future to bring many more great events to Canada. It has also been a pleasure working with Main Events and Kathy Duva. This sets the stage for what will be exciting times ahead in boxing. Interbox is optimistic about the future. Thanks to Jean Pascal and Sergey Kovalev for making this fight happen.

John David Jackson
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

John David Jackson, Trainer to Sergey Kovalev
It is a pleasure to be here. Thank you for allowing us to be here. I thought I retired from boxing. In this business, this is what we do. There is a lot of hostility from Team Pascal. I said a few things and it got a rise out of Team Pascal, so I did my job. We got under his skin so we did what we needed to do. He needs to back up all his talk on Saturday night.

[On his comments in the press] I am not going to back down on what I said. It is not about me. They have to fight on Saturday night, not me. I am glad they showed the weakness of their mentality. I said what I said and they reacted the way they did so I’m glad.

[On finding sparring partners for Sergey] It is always hard because Sergey is Sergey. In the ring he is all business. We aren’t going to find someone who fights just like Pascal to spar with. That is what boxing is about; a true fighter is going to find what he has to do to be victorious. Sergey is well prepared for Saturday night.

Egis Klimas
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Egis Klimas, Manager of Sergey Kovalev
What a great city, Montreal. What nice people. It is a big pleasure to be here. I want to thank Interbox. I want to thank Main Events, our promoter, and HBO for bringing us here to Montreal. It is a pleasure to represent Sergey Kovalev. He came in 2009 to the United States. He put his career into my hands. I was 100% trusted by him. We had a long and interesting run to get here. He is proud to have three belts. I want to thank him for putting me in the situation that I am in today. I don’t know who talks but Sergey Kovalev does not like to talk and neither do I. I have big respect for Pascal for taking this fight. He could have taken an easier fight. He is a tough fighter. He is not a puncher. Don’t miss it on Saturday night. Be here or watch on television because it is going to be a great fight.

Marc Ramsay, Jean Pascal’s trainer
On my way to the Centre Bell, someone asked me if I was starting to get nervous. This is why we do what we do; we want to live these challenges. We don’t have the pressure to fight on the road, to defend an undefeated record like Kovalev does. This is a no-lose situation for us. For the last ten weeks we have studied Kovalev. We have a profile of him and I have a lot of respect for Mr. Kovalev. They know how to conduct themselves inside and outside of the ring. I have coached Pascal since he was 14 years old. I lead him to the national team and Olympic Games. I lead him to the world championship. It is easy to take a fighter who is already built up and do something with him. It is a different to work someone from the beginning. Until then, you [points to John David Jackson] should be quiet.

To me Sergey Kovalev is a solid classic boxer. It isn’t hard to analyze him. He is best opponent he have ever faced.

Roy Jones Jr., Jean Pascal’s Assistant Trainer
Thank you. It is an honor and a pleasure to be here. It is always great to be here and back working with HBO. It is a great crew of people here. Boxing is an egotistical sport. It says a lot about Marc [Ramsay] that he reached out to me to assist with Pascal’s training. He is open-minded because he is willing to ask for anything that Jean needs to help get him a victory. I would like to thank everyone for coming out for this. It is so great to see two of the top guys facing each other. That is what we live for. I can’t wait until Saturday night. I look forward to a great fight.

Peter Nelson
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo

Peter Nelson, Vice President of Programming HBO Sports
Thank you. This is a great fight. We couldn’t be more excited and thrilled to be back in Montreal. We want to thank Kathy for bringing Sergey to us. We are a platform which provides the fans the fights that they want to see. Whenever the best fight the best the sport wins. The winner of this fight will benefit from their legacy. These fighters care more about their legacies than their earnings. Sergey Kovalev has proven that over and over again by telling us he will fight anyone. I want to thank Interbox and Main Events. We look forward to a tremendous fight on Saturday. Also Glazkov vs. Cunningham and Chilemba vs. Lepikhin are two incredible fights to make this a tremendous triple header.

Russ Anber, Assistant trainer to Jean Pascal
Kovalev, we welcome you here. We know you are a monster. We know what we are up against. Win or lose Sergey is going to be in the fight of his life on Saturday night. Which also puts Jean in the fight of his life. Sergey may be the most dangerous light heavyweight in the division in years. For both guys this is going to be an early contender for fight of the year. This is going to be the biggest fight ever to be held in this city. That is a fact.

[In response to John David Jackson’s comments] In defense of Marc Ramsay we are small unit of trainers. For someone turn around and try to discredit and be that disrespectful is uncalled for. Sergey understands what it means to develop as a fighter. He knows what that brings to the table. Not everyone is lucky to have a Sergey Kovalev fall in our laps like Jackson was.

Robert Schinke, Pascal’s Sports Psychologist
We are very excited about this fight. We don’t take it lightly. I have worked with Jean since he was 16 years old. In the psychological preparation for this fight, Jean Pascal he needs to be focused. He should not peak Saturday morning. We also needed to understand the opponent in front of us, the athlete and his coaches, their history and patterns. We are fully prepared.

About Kovalev vs. Pascal
Kovalev vs. Pascal is a 12-round fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship Titles. The fight will be televised as part of a live triple header on HBO World Championship Boxing® Saturday, March 14 from the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tickets are on sale now at the Centre Bell ticket office, at www.evenko.ca, by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion 514-376-0980. This event is a co-promotion of Main Events and InterBox, presented by Vidéotron in association with Mise-O-Jeu.

Joe’s Rants: Sergey Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal
Joe’s Rants: Sergey Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal

Isaac Chilemba vs Vasily Lepikhin March 14th HBO
Isaac Chilemba vs Vasily Lepikhin March 14th HBO

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Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Before fans watching live on HBO World Championship Boxing® and at the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada are treated to the light heavyweight showdown between Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev and Jean Pascal, they will get to enjoy the heavyweight battle between Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov and Steve “USS” Cunningham for the mandatory position in the IBF. Glazkov is an Olympic Bronze Medalist who is undefeated in his professional career. Cunningham is a former two-time cruiserweight world champion looking to get a title shot in the heavyweight division. Both are technical boxers with great defensive skills who are willing to mix it up. Below is the scouting report for this exciting match-up:

Category
Vyacheslav “The Czar” Glazkov
Steve “USS” Cunningham
Age
30
38
Record
19-0-1 (12 KOs)
28-6 (13 KOs)
Strength
Glazkov is a very active fighter who is consistently in the ring. He has solid defensive skills and a good chin. He physically breaks down his opponents, and he is not afraid to engage with anyone.
Cunningham is a veteran who has much more professional experience than his younger opponent; he is also a former two-time cruiserweight world champion. He is coming off of major wins over hard hitters and undefeated fighters: Amir Mansour and Natu Visinia.
Weakness
“The Czar” has a tendency to be a slow starter, which almost got him into trouble in a close decision win against Derric Rossy.
Steve lacks significant power for a heavyweight; since 2010 he has only recorded two knockout wins, and has only recorded 13 knockouts in his 28 career victories.
Experience
Glazkov had an impressive amateur career, earning a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. His recent and tough wins over veteran Derric Rossy and then-#2 ranked heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek have helped prepare him well for this big stage.
Cunningham will have the advantage here as he is a former cruiserweight champ and three of his past five fights have been against former or currently ranked heavyweight contenders. (Tomasz Adamek, Tyson Fury and Amir Mansour)
Power
Although he does not possess that one-punch power, Glazkov will have an advantage here. He has the ability to physically break his opponent down throughout the fight.
Although he did record a stoppage win in his previous bout, Steve is not known for his knockout power. He is more of a boxer and will need to be cautious when exchanging punches with the younger and more powerful Glazkov.
Speed
Although Glazkov is a natural heavyweight, he is still somewhat small for the division. He moves around the ring very well.

Steve is small for a heavyweight, which enables him to move around the ring well. He may need to keep a safe distance from the hard-hitting Ukrainian. He also possesses great hand speed and a quick jab that he must utilize to win this fight.
Endurance
Glazkov will be at a slight disadvantage here; he has only been 12 rounds on one occasion. However, he tends to be a slow starter so the additional rounds may help.
Cunningham may have the advantage here as he has gone a full 12 rounds on nine separate occasions during his career.
Accuracy
Glazkov is a very accurate puncher, much like his opponent, he picks his shots well and is a solid technical fighter.
Cunningham is a good technical boxer who picks his shots wisely and does not waste many punches.
Defense
Glazkov is a very effective defensive fighter who does a good job of shielding himself when dealing with his opponent’s onslaught.
Steve moves around the ring well and often, making it difficult for any big heavyweight to cut the ring off and land their significant shots.
Chin
In the past year, Glazkov has shown that he has a solid chin. He took a lot of big shots against Derric Rossy, and was able to weather the storm and box his way to a decision win.
Steve has only been knocked out once in his career by the #4 WBO heavyweight contender Tyson Fury. He was also knocked down twice against Amir Mansour, but he was able to rise to the occasion and defeat the previously ranked heavyweight in what some believe was the fight of the year for 2014.
Style
Glazkov is a defensive-minded fighter who will not hesitate to engage with his opponents if necessary.
Steve is a technical boxer who has no problem trading shots.
Crowd Support
Glazkov has been in big fights throughout the past three years. It is safe to say that he has built a fan base and they may be in attendance for this bout.
Steve may have a slight advantage here; he has never fought in Canada but has been in many big fights during his career and has a fan friendly style.
Intangibles
Glazkov has no problem facing opposition with more experience than him. He could have taken an easier road to a title shot, but instead has been willing to face a long list of veterans and current or former ranked contenders. Cunningham will be his 13th consecutive opponent who is older and more experienced.
Steve will face his third undefeated heavyweight opponent in a row when he squares off against the IBF #2 heavyweight contender Vyacheslav Glazkov.
The Match-up:
Will Steve’s professional experience be too much for Glazkov?
Will Glazkov capitalize on his youth and amateur experience?
They are both fighting for so much outside of the ring. Who will show that come fight night?
This is your typical veteran boxer against the up-and-coming-boxer. Who will come out on top and be the #1 contender in the IBF?

About Kovalev vs. Pascal
Kovalev vs. Pascal is a 12-round fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship Titles. The fight will be televised as part of a live triple header on HBO World Championship Boxing® Saturday, March 14 from the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tickets are on sale now at the Centre Bell ticket office, at www.evenko.ca, by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion 514-376-0980. This event is a co-promotion of Main Events and InterBox, presented by Vidéotron in association with Mise-O-Jeu.

Vyacheslav

March 5, 2015 – Ring legend Bernard Hopkins, who knows a thing or two about the light heavyweight division, will be ringside on Saturday, March 14 at the Bell Centre in Montreal working as the expert analyst for the HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast. Hopkins will work alongside Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Harold Lederman.

The live tripleheader (9:45 p.m. ET/PT) is headlined by the 2015 ring debut of light heavyweight champ Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev defending his title belts against the formidable Jean Pascal. Hopkins has faced both of these elite fighters in the ring. Bernard fought Pascal in Quebec in 2010 and 2011, registering a majority draw and a win. He lost a unanimous decision to Kovalev last November in Atlantic City in one of the year’s most intriguing events.

“We are delighted to have a personality as engaging as Bernard Hopkins filling in on such a terrific and important fight card,” said Rick Bernstein, executive producer, HBO Sports.

The telecast opens up with a light heavyweight bout between Isaac Chilemba and Vasily Lepikhin followed by the evening’s co-feature an important heavyweight tilt between Vyacheslav Glazkov and Steve Cunningham.

Miami, FL: On March 14 Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) will compete in his first title defense as Unified WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion against former lineal light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kovalev completed the first half of his preparations in Big Bear Lake, CA then moved to Miami, FL where he is finishing training camp with his trainer, John David Jackson.

Coming off of his big win against Bernard Hopkins on November 8, some expected Kovalev to take on an easier opponent than Jean Pascal, a former champion who has never been knocked down in his pro career. Sergey, however, does not look for easy fights. He prefers a challenge. When asked what makes Pascal a dangerous opponent, Sergey said, “His power and crazy style of boxing.” Sergey is also excited to return to Quebec, where he knocked out Ismayl Sillakh in his first WBO Light Heavyweight World Championship defense in 2013. He said, “I’m very glad to fight in Canada again because I like Canadian fans and country too. Canada remember me of Russian winter weather.”

Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev
Photo credits: Jose A Pineda/Main Events

This fight against Pascal will be a different test for Kovalev than Hopkins. According to Jackson, “Pascal is more of a herky-jerky type of fighter. Bernard was smoother in his approach. He was also more calculating in his risk. Pascal takes his chances because he punches without really looking at his target. He presents a different problem in the ring but it really isn’t a big problem as long as Sergey sticks to the task at hand. He needs to box him and set traps for Pascal to get caught in. Pascal throws punches with his head down and he is not even looking at his opponent. He is a little more surprising than Bernard; he can throw punches from any angle in hopes of landing that shot to hurt you.”

In the first real test of his championship reign, Krusher pulled off a stellar unanimous decision victory over Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins in Atlantic City in November of 2014 and added the WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship belts to his collection. Although Kovalev dethroned a ring legend, he was very humble about the victory. He said, “My life didn’t change after the Hopkins fight. I just got responsible for defending more titles now!” Sergey refuses to look back, adding, “I already forgot about Hopkins. I have to focus on this fight. It’s already past. Now I need to go forward.”

Photo credits: Jose A Pineda/Main Events

Going forward means providing for his growing family. Shortly before the fight with Hopkins, Sergey’s wife, Natalia, gave birth to their first child, Aleksandr. Sergey was not present at the birth of his son and did not meet him until he returned home after the Hopkins fight. For this training camp, he is separated from his young child again but, according to John David Jackson’s assistant trainer, Derik Santos, “Sergey always says this is a sacrifice, but it is for his family.”

Jackson added, “Now that Sergey is a father I think it is harder for him to be away from his family for training camp. He is a brand new father, this is his first child, and that weighs on him a little bit. He is a professional, however, and he is able to separate his feelings from the task at hand. He knows he needs to concentrate on camp. It may be tough on him but he doesn’t let it show. He just goes about his business of getting ready for this fight.”

Now that he is the unified champion, there are more demands on his time and additional scrutiny, but the Krusher is not fazed. According to John, “Slowly but surely it is beginning to sink in that he is a super star fighter. He is still humble to a degree where a lot of that stuff doesn’t bother him. He is not an attention whore and he doesn’t need all that attention on him like a lot of other fighters would.”

About Kovalev vs. Pascal
Kovalev vs. Pascal is a 12-round fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship Titles. The fight will be televised as part of a live triple header on HBO World Championship Boxing® Saturday, March 14 from the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tickets are on sale now at the Centre Bell ticket office, at www.evenko.ca, by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion 514-376-0980. This event is a co-promotion of Main Events and InterBox, presented by Vidéotron in association with Mise-O-Jeu.

Greatest Hits: Sergey Kovalev (HBO Boxing)
Greatest Hits: Sergey Kovalev (HBO Boxing)

Road to Kovalev-Pascal (Full Show)
Road to Kovalev-Pascal
(Full Show)

WCB: Kovalev vs. Pascal Preview (HBO Boxing)
WCB: Kovalev vs. Pascal Preview (HBO Boxing)

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Oxnard, CA:
As Vasily “The Professor” Lepikhin (17-0, 9 KOs) prepares to face Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba (23-2-2, 10 KOs) for the NABF Light Heavyweight Title on March 14 in the opening bout of the Kovalev-Pascal HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast he cannot help to reflect on his career thus far.

The common misconception is that Lepikhin earned the nickname, “The Professor” while attending university in his hometown of Gelendzhik, Russia. Although he does have two degrees, one in sports (similar to a US degree in athletic training) and one in management, he was coined “The Professor” when he made his professional debut back in 2005 at the age of 19. He explained, “When I had my pro debut in Russia, the promoter of the show thought I was so smart in the ring he said I was a professor of boxing. From that point on I was known professionally as ‘The Professor.'”

Berridge & Lepikhin
Photo Credits: Rich Graessle/Main Events

The undefeated Lepikhin has had a stellar career so far. He has an impressive 53% (9 of 17) knockout-to win ratio with the majority of his fights taking place in his home country of Russia. He made his US debut back in August of 2014 with an impressive fifth round stoppage of Robert Berridge of New Zealand to secure the PABA and WBO Oriental Light Heavyweight Titles. Shortly after the fight Lepikhin and his promoter, German Titov of German Titov Promotions, signed a co-promotional agreement with Main Events.

Lepikhin & Junior
Photo Credits: Rich Graessle/Main Events

In November, he returned to the US to face Brazilian Jackson Junior. Lepikhin appeared to struggle against Junior but still managed to secure the ten-round unanimous decision victory. He explained, “In my last fight I arrived to Pennsylvania and got very sick. I went into the ring sick.”

For this upcoming fight Lepikhin and his camp traveled from Russia to Oxnard, CA on February 21 to finish out the remainder of his training camp in the United States. “I came to Oxnard so I could adjust to the time difference and to get in a little sparring before heading to Canada,” said Vasily.

Igor, Vasily and Andrey Lepikhin
Photo Credits: Rich Graessle/Main Events

For Lepikhin, boxing is a family affair. He is trained by his father, Andrey Lepikhin, the same trainer that also trains fellow Main Events’ stable mate, middleweight Dmitry Mikhaylenko. His brother, Igor Lepikhin, will also work his corner for him on March 14 when he faces Chilemba in Canada. Vasily said, “I love training with my father. I love every single minute of it. It is great for me because I get to work with my family.”

Early in 2015 Lepikhin, Main Events and German Titov Promotions were approached about joining forces with Interbox to co-promote Lepikhin and add a fight between Vasily and Isaac Chilemba to the HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast. Lepikhin said, “I am very excited about fighting on HBO and this new opportunity with Interbox. I am looking forward to showcasing my skills on this large international scale.”

The fight with Chilemba, who is currently ranked #2 in the IBF, will be a ten-round fight for the NABF Light Heavyweight Title. When asked about the fight with Chilemba, Lepikhin said, “I think Chilemba is a very good, experienced fighter. It is going to be a very good bout.” His father/trainer added, “We travelled a long road to get to this point. We are very, very happy to finally be here. We are ready.”

About Kovalev vs. Pascal
Kovalev vs. Pascal is a 12-round fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship Titles. The fight will be televised as part of a live triple header on HBO World Championship Boxing® Saturday, March 14 from the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tickets are on sale now at the Centre Bell ticket office, at www.evenko.ca, by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion 514-376-0980. This event is a co-promotion of Main Events and InterBox, presented by Vidéotron in association with Mise-O-Jeu.

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Feb. 27, 2015 – HBO Boxing presents “Road to Kovalev-Pascal,” a compelling special spotlighting the upcoming light heavyweight championship bout between undefeated knockout artist Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev defending his crown against Canada’s Jean Pascal. Their highly anticipated slugfest takes place Saturday, March 14 at the Bell Centre in Montreal and televised live on HBO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®.

The “Road to Kovalev-Pascal” special will premiere tomorrow, Saturday, February 28 at 12:15 a.m. ET/PT on HBO. It will preview the hot 175-pound title showdown between these two ring warriors who are making their 2015 debuts in this high-stakes battle. Kovalev, one of the sport’s top attractions, enjoyed a brilliant 2014 campaign, earning ‘Fighter of the Year” honors from Bleacher Report, USA TODAY, New York Post, Sports Illustrated.com, The RING, SherDog.com and UCNLive.com.

The 15-minute special will also be available on the HBO On Demand® service, HBO GO® and at www.hbo.com/boxing as well as various other new media platforms that distribute the series.

Other HBO playdates: March 3 (11:00 a.m.), 5 (10:00 p.m.), 8 (10:45 a.m.), 9 (3:45 a.m. & 11:45 a.m.), 11 (6:00 p.m. & 10:45 p.m.), 13 (1:15 a.m.) and 14 (10:00 a.m.).

HBO2 playdates: March 1 (12:00 a.m.), 2 (3:30 p.m.), 4 (1:10 a.m. & 5:00 p.m.) 6 (11:10 a.m.), 7 (7:00 p.m.), 10 (1:00 a.m), 13 (10:45 p.m.) and 14 (7:45 p.m.).

All times are ET/PT.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Jean Pascal is called quick for hands that can put punches together in rapid succession. He’s called quick for graceful feet that are a human version of rapid transit. But a quick thinker? Not so much.

At least, Pascal’s sudden-strike agility in hands and feet was not evident in anything he said Tuesday during a conference call with Sergey Kovalev for a HBO-televised bout on March 14 in Montreal.

Maybe Pascal didn’t get the memo. But if Kovalev is vulnerable, this might the time. He’s coming off the November 9th demolition of Bernard Hopkins in a fight significant because it represents a changing of the guard at the top of the light-heavyweight division, if not the sport itself. He is The Ring’s Fighter of the Year. He’s first-time father.

If there’s a chance at upsetting Kovalev, this is the time. Maybe, the unbeaten Russian is distracted or content. That’s doubtful, but it’s a possible hedge, and Pascal needs every one he can find if he hopes to beat Kovalev. Instead, he only managed to eliminate that possibility with cheap trash talk during a conference call last week that was mostly a disagreement about drug testing.

Pascal rattled the lion’s cage.

Pascal, Kovalev promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events said, “is clueless, quite clueless.’’

Duva was expressing her exasperation at Pascal for the reasons he said no to more stringent testing by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.

VADA has no credibility because it tests only boxers, Pascal said repeatedly during a call gone free-for-all.

“We had been approached by the Pascal camp about doing drug testing,’’ said Duva, who argued that Kovalev had the right to dictate the protocol because Kovalev is the defending 175-pound champion. “We agreed to go to the people at VADA. Jean Pascal said he did not agree to VADA. He originally offered to pay for it. He wasn’t going to pay for VADA. We decided that since he didn’t want to pay the lower fee for the much more credible organization, then he must not have been serious about that, so there will be no drug testing.”

Greg Leon, CEO of Jean Pascal Promotions, then stepped into the rhetorical scrum.

“VADA didn’t come into the game until the 11th hour,” Leon said. “I was negotiating with Main Events attorney Patrick English, and we were trying to land in a place that Pascal originally planned on with the protocol he’s had in place since 2013. Out of the two athletes fighting on March 14, only one of them has been tested randomly over 10 times, and that’s Jean Pascal. It’s unfortunate we could not land on a mutual organization, but it is what it is. Main Events shouldn’t be caring what Pascal is spending on a test if he’s willing to pay for all of it.”

According to Leon, Pascal has been tested by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) for the last two years.

It’s an argument the figures to go on – and on – until opening bell, mostly because Angel “Memo” Heredia is Pascal’s strength-and-conditioning coach. Heredia, who was involved with disgraced track-and-field Olympian Marion Jones, also works for Juan Manuel Marquez, who has never tested positive, yet has been suspected of PED use ever since he knocked out Manny Pacquiao in the fourth fight.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Main Events had in fact said okay to WADA. Maybe, they should have. Heredia in Pascal’s corner, however, guarantees that he’ll have to deal with the suspicions no matter what happens against Kovalev. He could have eliminated them had he said okay to VADA.

Then again, Duva was right. Pascal has been clueless. Pascal, of Montreal, said a victory would make him TBE in Canada. No world on how much rent he had to pay Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the right to use that acronym. Then, Pascal suggested that the fight against Kovalev would play out like the Rocky sequel that takes Balboa to Russia for a fight against Drago. He referred to a 2011 bout in Russia when Roman Simakov lost a seventh-round TKO to Kovalev. Simakov lapsed into a coma. Three days later, he died.

“This fight reminds me of Rocky IV and I think it’s going to be like a remake,” Pascal said. “You have the North American guy versus the Russian. You’ve got the East versus the West. You’ve got Drago, who killed Apollo Creed in the ring. Sergey Kovalev did the same thing, maybe a couple of years ago.

“I am a huge underdog like Rocky was in the movie. The odds I think are about 4-1, but in this movie I’m not going to be Apollo Creed. I’m going to be the Black Balboa.”

Yo, Jean. Wake up. Kovalev has already faced the best trash-talker in the business. Word-for-word, nobody rivals Hopkins. Kovalev never blinked. There’s a lesson there, but Pascal missed it, because he was too busy with talk that has turned him into a target.

Feb. 19, 2015 – HBO Boxing presents “Road to Kovalev-Pascal,” a compelling special spotlighting the upcoming light heavyweight championship bout between undefeated knockout artist Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev defending his crown against Canada’s Jean Pascal. Their highly anticipated slugfest takes place Saturday, March 14 at the Bell Centre in Montreal and televised live on HBO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®.

The “Road to Kovalev-Pascal” special will premiere Saturday, February 28 at 12:15 a.m. ET/PT on HBO. It will preview the hot 175-pound title showdown between these two ring warriors who are making their 2015 debuts in this high-stakes battle. Kovalev, one of the sport’s top attractions, enjoyed a brilliant 2014 campaign, earning ‘Fighter of the Year” honors from Bleacher Report, USA TODAY, New York Post, Sports Illustrated.com, The RING, SherDog.com and UCNLive.com.

The 15-minute special will also be available on the HBO On Demand® service, HBO GO® and at www.hbo.com/boxing as well as various other new media platforms that distribute the series.

Other HBO playdates: March 3 (11:00 a.m.), 5 (10:00 p.m.), 8 (10:45 a.m.), 9 (3:45 a.m. & 11:45 a.m.), 11 (6:00 p.m. & 10:45 p.m.), 13 (1:15 a.m.) and 14 (10:00 a.m.).

HBO2 playdates: March 1 (12:00 a.m.), 2 (3:30 p.m.), 4 (1:10 a.m. & 5:00 p.m.) 6 (11:10 a.m.), 7 (7:00 p.m.), 10 (1:00 a.m), 13 (10:45 p.m.) and 14 (7:45 p.m.).

All times are ET/PT.

Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov, 19-0-1, 12 KOs, #2 in IBF heavyweight rankings and Steve “USS” Cunningham, 28-6-0, 13 KOs, USBA Heavyweight Champion, will be the co-feature on the Saturday, March 14 Kovalev vs. Pascal light heavyweight championship from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The twelve-round heavyweight fight is for the mandatory position in the IBF and the USBA Heavyweight Title. The fight will be the co-feature on the Kovalev vs. Pascal light heavyweight championship from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The HBO World Championship Boxing live triple header telecast will begin at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

Earlier today Glazkov and Cunningham took part in an international conference call to discuss their upcoming fight.

Here are some of the quotes from that call.

Czar Glazkov, #2 in IBF Heavyweight Rankings
“It was a very busy year for me last year as a fighter and in my personal life. The most important fight from last year was the one against Tomasz Adamek. It was the first time in my career facing a fighter like Adamek. He has won so many title and he was a good fighter. It was a very big experience for me to learn something in that bout. After that I went through the training process that was very disruptive on my personal life with the war in Ukraine but I don’t want to talk in detail about that. It was a good year for me. There was gaps between my bouts but I was busy and was always training.”

On the unrest in Ukraine, which was at one of its worst points before and during Glazkov’s fight against Derric Rossy in August 2014: “It was pretty hard in the beginning. It was upsetting my concentration and interrupting my training. I lost my grandmother; she was killed in the street during one of the bombings. Of course it was always distracting to talk with my family back there. Right now I am concentrated 100% and I am here, I am training, I am ready.”

On his size: “If you are smart in the ring, you can overcome a size disadvantage.”

On reconnecting with his old trainer: “Everything is going very well. We are closer together. We understand each other. He sees a lot of my mistakes and we are working on them.”

On fighting Klitschko or Jennings: “I can’t run in front of the wagon. I am a fighter. I am a boxer. My career is in the hands of my manager and my promoter. I know I have to face Cunningham on March 14 and this is my priority right now.”

Steve Cunningham, USBA Heavyweight Champion
“I have been with Naazim [Richardson] for some years now and he is such a mad scientist when it comes to figuring guys out, so I just let him do his job. He is one of the best trainers in the world, in history, for a reason. He looks at the fighter and he tells me what we are going to do. He tells me what [my opponent] does and this is what you do, so it is still like I am in the military taking orders. Whatever commander Naazim tells me to do, if he tells me to take that hill, I am going to take that hill. That’s the faith and the trust I have in my team.”

On Glazkov’s performance against Adamek: “I thought he did a damn good job. He did very well. I was the color commentator on that fight where I stated it was like the old lion getting beat by the young lion. It was a very entertaining fight. He showed heart. He dug deep. Adamek did come on heavy in those last two rounds to show he was the champion, but before that Glazkov bagged so many rounds that Adamek just couldn’t get the nod. I thought he did a great job. Adamek was definitely getting older so you have to factor that in. Adamek has been in war after war and his defense is getting punched. He never really blocked punches or slipped punches. He ate punches, but he gave back just as much as he received. After he fought Vitali [Klitschko] he was basically beat up and it was only a matter of time. When Glazkov got to him, he was already damaged goods. I don’t want to diminish the victory that Glazkov had against Adamek because Adamek is still a formidable heavyweight. He could beat most of those heavyweights out there, so Glazkov beat a top ten heavyweight in Adamek.”

On his loss to Adamek: “I believe I won that fight every time I look at that fight. We know there is politics in this business. Adamek had a huge fan base and Steve Cunningham really didn’t. There is just a lot of other aspects. At the end of that fight I walked away very comfortable and it seemed like a victory to me. There are things I will take away from that fight. There is things I did with Adamek I won’t do with Glazkov. Naazim comes up with the game plan. If Naazim says spin backwards and flip three times and that is what is going to knock Glazkov out; that is what Steve Cunningham is going to do. I let Naazim look at the guy and analyze and break him down. He comes to the gym and tells me what we need to work on. Every fighter needs a game plan. They want a game plan and they should have a game plan. I believe I have a game plan mastermind in Naazim.”

“I think my size is going to help me get a world title. I don’t consider myself a heavyweight at all, period. I am just a fighter. I’ve gotten in there with huge monsters but performed greatly. Even with the loss to Fury, I’ve done things that people didn’t even dream I’d do. I am a fighter. You put a challenger in front of me and I am going to do what a fighter does which is try my best to kick that guy’s butt. I’m a smart fighter and I think my science is what is going to help me get to a world title. I have a great team and they emphasize different things about my strengths and my weaknesses. Throughout camp we have worked to strengthen those weaknesses. I have gotten better and better with each fight. I think my size is a plus. Being big does stop fighters from being able to do certain things but they do have that power. This is the heavyweight division and one shot can change the night or change your life. Glazkov is a small heavyweight too so this is going to be like two cruiserweights fighting.”

On Klitscko vs. Jennings: “Vladmir is a historic fighter. He does things many haven’t done. You can’t deny his pedigree. I have seen how he works. Jennings is young, hungry which could be a plus for him. So he can be ignorant to the scariness of fighting at that level. Wladimir doesn’t have the greatest chin so Jennings has a chance in there. If Jennings wins it would great to face him in Philly. After that fight we can take each other’s kids out to Dorney Park and spend all that money together. I think it would be a good fight for Philly. It would be a revitalization for Philly boxing. But I am a fighter and, if you put a challenge in front of me, that is a force that I can’t even explain. If I get to face Wladimir, if you beat the man, then you are considered the man. Going up against Wladimir would be like a dream come true. I am an old school fighter’s fighter. I want to fight the champion. I want to fight the biggest guy; the best guy. I want to be put into a challenge where people think Cunningham can’t make it out and then get in there and have people looking at me sideways when the fight is over. I want people saying, ‘This dude is crazy.’ I love challenges. I love to fight, period. It doesn’t matter who I am facing I love to fight. I love a challenge.”

On his daughter, Kennedy: “My daughter is nine years old. We have been dealing with this situation for nine years. It has just been the last year and a half that the boxing world has really heard about this. I have fought all over the world while I have been dealing with this. This is my life. I have been a two-time world champion with this in my life. I use it as energy. I use it as fuel and I press on. There’s a job that I must do. I have three children, not just Kennedy, so I have to provide for my entire family. I can’t just shut down. I have two sons and a nephew that I have to take care of. I got a job to do and a family to take care of. During this whole ordeal I have seen her face things that would make grown men shake in their bones, but she takes them on with a smug smirk on her face and says, ‘let’s go!’ I do remember that look on her face going down to the transplant and I have visited that look in my memory when times have gotten hard in training camp. If she can go in there and get a transplant with that much heart, then me going into these fights is nothing.”

On his age: “I have been in some good fights but I wouldn’t call them wars. Hunger drives me. I feel like I am getting better. I am still learning and that drives me to perfect what I am learning.”

Egis Klimas, Manager for Glazkov
“I was talking to him (Glazkov) about being too nice of a guy in the ring. He is a very nice guy outside and when he gets in the ring he keeps up the niceness. We are trying to put him where he has to be mean in the ring. No matter how good you are when you get in the ring you have to be mean. You have to be aggressive. You have to have a sportsman’s anger. That is what we have been working on with Czar in the last few months.”

“We are trying to work on his strategy. He never had a good teacher. He always had trainers. He was at one time with Don Turner, which I think is one of the best trainers but he’s always in Ukraine. He comes here and Don can’t change him in the two weeks before the fight; it’s impossible. So then we went to John David Jackson, but John David Jackson was away with Sergey preparing for Pascal so John David Jackson cannot pay attention. So this time we brought his old trainer. They know each other from Russia. Now his trainer is working with him in Oxnard getting good sparring and a longer preparation time.”

“Glazkov moved to the United States with his family, his wife for almost six months. He is not coming back and forth anymore. So right now his preparation is 100%. For Rossy and Malik Scott he was not ready mentally. Now he understands what this is all about.”

When asked how they are going to make Glazkov meaner in the ring: “I feed him raw meat!”

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events
“Both of these guys are warriors. They are both fighters. It is kind of sad in this day in age that this is considered remarkable. They are remarkable; both of them. They are going to offer the fans a great fight. I think they are part of one of the best triple-headers anyone is going to see on television anywhere.’

About Kovalev vs. Pascal
Kovalev vs. Pascal is a 12-round fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship Titles. The fight will be televised as part of a live triple header on HBO World Championship Boxing® on March 14, 2015 from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tickets are on sale now at the Bell Centre ticket office, at www.evenko.ca, by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion (514-376-0980). This event is a co-promotion of Main Events and InterBox, presented by Vidéotron in association with Mise-O-Jeu.

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Boucherville, Wednesday, February 18, 2015 – Main Events and Interbox announced today that the NABF Light Heavyweight Title fight between Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba vs. Vasily “The Professor” Lepikhin will be the opening bout of the HBO World Championship Boxing tripleheader featuring the Unified Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal in the main event and heavyweights Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov vs. Steve “USS” Cunningham in the co-feature on Saturday, March 14 live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The HBO® telecast begins at 9 :45 p.m. ET/PT.

Main Events, German Titov Promotions and Interbox are also pleased to announce they have have agreed on a partnership and will join forces together in the promotion of Vasily Lepikhin moving forward.

A top ten light heavyweight, Chilemba (23-2-2, 10 KOs), 27, is originally from Malawi but currently resides in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. He has won all of his fights and has been quietly rising through the rankings in the light heavyweight division since suffering a decision loss to Tony Bellew in London two years ago. Currently, he is ranked #2 by the WBC, #6 by the WBO, and #7 by the IBF, as well as #6 by Ring Magazine and #8 by ESPN. Chilemba is known as a skilled boxer with a history of marring the records of undefeated opponents; he’s taken on five undefeated boxers in his pro career, suffering only one draw (Thomas Oostguizen)and no losses. Unbeaten prospect and amateur standout Artur Beterbiev passed on the opportunity to fight Chilemba on March 14th, clearing the way for Lepikhin to move in and seize the opportunity. Isaac will once again train with former WBC Welterweight World Champion James “Buddy” McGirt.

According to Isaac, “I am ready for this fight and happy to step into the ring with anyone that’s put in front of me. I never underestimate my opponents and I always come prepared. I am looking forward to March 14. I have trained hard and I will get the job done.” His manager, Jodi Solomon, added, “Isaac is a hardworking, disciplined athlete. He is serious about boxing and even more serious about winning. This fight is a great opportunity for him to showcase his dedication to the sport. I believe it’s very well matched, both fighters being accomplished in their own right. It should make for a very exciting fight.”

In the other corner, Interbox, Main Events and German Titov Promotions have joined forces in the promotion of undefeated Russian blue chip prospect Vasily “The Professor” Lepikhin (17-0, 9 KOs). Lepikhin, 29, is ranked #7 by the WBO and #12 in the WBA. “The Professor” is from Gelendzhik, Russia and is trained by his father Andrey Lepikhin. Vasily made his US debut in August of last year with a fifth round stoppage against New Zealand native Robert Berridge to secure the WBO Oriental and PABA Light Heavyweight Titles. The undefeated Lepikhin returned stateside in November and defeated Jackson Junior from Brazil in November. This will be his first fight in Canada.

“I am very excited about fighting on HBO and this new opportunity with Interbox,” explained Lepikhin. “I am looking forward to showcasing my skills on this large international scale.”

Lepikhin is managed by Egis Klimas, the same manager who has steered Sergey Kovalev’s career from the very beginning. Klimas added, “This is a great opportunity for Vasily. He is ready for a great fight on March 14 in Canada.”

“It is very important for us to offer our fans a quality product on March 14th and the addition to the card of a boxer with such enormous potential such as Vasily Lepikhin in a match against a world-rated contender is as exciting as it is strategic. We are also very happy to be able to further build on our relationship with Main Events moving forward past March 14th,” said Interbox President Jean Bedard.

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, added, “We had a great opportunity with this opening bout for Isaac to be on HBO and move up in the rankings and the eyes of the boxing public. In a fortuitous turn of events, Vasily will get the same opportunity and Main Events and German Titov Promotions will grow what has become a great working relationship in Canada with Interbox.”

Tickets
Tickets are on sale now at the Bell Centre ticket office, at www.evenko.ca , by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion (514-376-0980). This event is a co-promotion of Main Events and InterBox, presented by Vidéotron in association with Mise-O-Jeu.

About Main Events
Main Events was founded in 1978 by the late Dan Duva and is now run by his widow Kathy Duva. As one of the top promotional companies in the world Main Events has promoted boxing legends Evander Holyfield, Arturo Gatti, Lennox Lewis, Pernell Whitaker and many more. Currently Main Events promotes WBO, IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev who just defeated legendary light heavyweight Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins in one of the highest-rated fights of 2014 in November in Atlantic City, NJ. Main Events is committed to promoting quality fights that boxing fans want to see.

About InterBox
InterBox, founded in Québec in 1997, and acquired by Groupe Sportscene in 2004, is recognized throughout Québec and the world as a respected boxing organization. InterBox’s goal is to promote professional boxing locally and internationally via talented boxers supported by top-drawer trainers using cutting edge techniques. InterBox regularly promotes and presents elite events in cooperation with such significant corporate sponsors as Vidéotron, the Cage aux Sports restaurant chain, Coors Light and Mise-O-jeu.

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New York, NY: Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs), the current WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion, and Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs), the former WBC and Lineal Light Heavyweight Champion and Current holder of the WBC Diamond Belt, addressed the U.S. media in New York City in advance of their March 14 fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight Championships. Kovalev has been named The Fighter of the Year by the WBO, Sports Illustrated, BleacherRepor, New York Post, USA Today and many others and today received his WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship Ring from Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events.

Also in attendance were Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov (19-0-1, 12 KOs) and Steve “USS” Cunningham (28-6, 13 KOs) who were announced as the co-feature for the Kovalev-Pascal card. The two will fight for the #1 position in the IBF.
Below are the quotes from the press conference:

Glazkov, Kovalev, Pascal & Cunningham
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events
“Welcome to the press conference where everyone is invited! One of the joys of my life is to present an interesting and big event with two fighters where the outcome is doubt. On March 14 we will present two such fights. The Kovalev-Pascal fight is a throwback fight in the truest sense of the word. A reigning World Champion who is willing to fight a worthy challenger in the challenger’s hometown. And if that wasn’t enough, in the co-feature Czar Glazkov and Steve Cunningham will face off for the #1 position in the IBF and the winner will face Wladimir Klitschko or whomever is the IBF Heavyweight Champion at the end of the year.”

Jean Bedard
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Jean Bedard, President of Interbox
“It is a privilege for Interbox to work with Kathy and Main Events because we share the same vision – to bring the best fights to the fans. Saturday is usually hockey night in Canada but, on March 14, Kovalev and Pascal will replace the Canadiens. The Bell Centre is one of the busiest sporting venues in the world and we are so proud to bring this event there. Thank you also to HBO.”

Duva
“Main Events and HBO have worked together since the 1980s probably before Peter Nelson was even born, but he has brought so much to the sweet science in a short period of time. It is a pleasure to work with again to bring another great night of boxing to the fans.”

Peter Nelson, Vice President of Programming, HBO Sports
“I wrote that for Kathy (laughing). I want to thank the media for coming today. I want to thank Kathy Duva. She has done a great job with Sergey Kovalev’s career. We were privileged to be part of his win over Bernard Hopkins and this is just the next installment in an amazing career. This fight is a signature event, it is not another check-in-the-box. This is two elite fighters looking to establish their legacies. We are privileged to be associated with events that not only have great main events but great co-features. The co-feature has an amazing story as well. Start time is 9:45 and we look forward to a great event. Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal always look to fight the best and I would like to thank the press for rewarding them for doing so.”

Duva
“In the co-feature, all of you will watch while I cover my eyes. We wanted to bring the heavyweight division back to life. Who knew that last year we would be here with two of our own facing each other for the #1 position? Then Steve Cunningham defeated Amir Mansour and Czar Glazkov defeated Tomasz Adamek and those victories have brought us here to this moment. The fans are the ones who will win when this fight ends but I won’t be able to watch. Steve’s legendary trainer, Brother Naazim Richardson is one of the best in the business. He is a member of Steve’s family and they have been living together through all the joy and all the sorrows. It is much better to be working together with Naazim on the same side this time instead of against him like with the fight against Hopkins. Steve has faced some incredible challenges in the boxing ring but he has faced even bigger challenges outside the ring. When he faced Mansour he was told his daughter Kennedy, who was born with a congenital heart defect, was going to die. Last month she proved the doctors wrong when she received a successful heart transplant. Her father shares her same fighting spirit to defy the odds and he is looking to show that on March 14.”

Steve and Cruz Cunningham
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Steve “USS” Cunningham, USBA Heavyweight Champion
“Thanks Kathy for making me tear up. I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Main Events and HBO. I am finally getting on HBO! I gave up that I would ever get here so I am excited and happy to be on HBO finally. I know everyone talks about the situation with my daughter and the strength it took for us to survive it, but we have done nothing more than what anyone else would have done in the same situation. I want to thank everyone who gave to her fund and helped us get here. I am fighting my fourth undefeated heavyweight. I am here to show. Boxing is the show business. I have to show every time I get in that ring. I want to be the heavyweight world champion. Czar is an Olympian and he is undefeated and whatever plan Naaz comes up with I am going to execute it. You have seen the heart and the skill and I am going to bring that on March 14.”

Duva
“I didn’t know that the day that I met Egis Klimas that it would be one of the luckiest days of my life. He convinced me to look at Sergey Kovalev and I am so glad he did. Egis handles three world champions and now he is looking to get his first heavyweight world champion.”

Nelson, Glazkov and Klimas
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Egis Klimas, Manager of Sergey Kovalev and Czar Glazkov
“For me March 14 is going to be a double pleasure night. Me and Czar started working together when I convinced a Russian promoter to bring him to the United States. He just moved from the Ukraine to the United States. For this fight he relocated to Oxnard, CA and he is working with a new trainer, Victor Petrochenko. He has already started camp. It is going to be a good night and hopefully he can win and be IBF champion in the heavyweight division.”

Duva
“While Czar Glazkov was here in the United States becoming the NABF heavyweight champion, his friends and family were suffering through the conflict in the Ukraine. He wants a shot at his fellow countryman Wladimir Klitschko and he is willing to take on any challenge to get there. When he was originally scheduled to fight Tomasz Adamek and Adamek had fallen out, he was so disappointed that we had to replace him with Garret Wilson. However, he only asked me one question – is he right handed or left handed? That is what makes him the type of competitor he is.”

Czar and Steve
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

“Czar” Glazkov, NABF Heavyweight Champion
“I am very sorry to speak Russian but I am still learning English. I want to thank Kathy Duva and Main Events, HBO and Peter Nelson for giving me this opportunity to fight on the biggest boxing network. Steve Cunningham is a good fighter and this is his last chance to show something in boxing but my goal is to show that I am better. Now I am training with my new trainer, Victor Petrochenko. He is showing me something new. We are getting good workout and I will show March 14. It is going to be a good show.”

Greg Leon, CEO of Jean Pascal Promotions
“I want to thank HBO, Main Events, and Interbox. Interbox is a first class organization across the board. This fight is about the best versus the best. They are the two best light heavyweights willing to fight each other. Jean Pascal has never seen anyone as strong as Sergey Kovalev and Sergey Kovalev has never seen anyone as athletic as Jean Pascal. Pascal was shocked the odds have him four to one but we welcome the challenge. We are looking forward to a great night of boxing.”

Marc Ramsay, Trainer of Jean Pascal
“Thank you everyone. I would like to thank HBO, Main Events and Interbox for giving us this opportunity. I am proud to be part of this fight. So many fighters like to escape the big challenge. Sergey Kovalev is not afraid to travel and Jean Pascal is not afraid of this challenge. The real training camp starts next Monday. There is always a way to beat every fighter and Jean Pascal has all the tools to achieve it.”

Pascal with Kovalev and Duva
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Jean Pascal, Former WBC, IBO and The Ring Light Heavyweight Champion
“I want to thank God for giving us this opportunity as well as Interbox and Main Events. This fight was an easy fight to make. Titles and money come and go but history doesn’t. We want to make history. HBO wants to make the best fight possible and that is why they made this fight. I don’t have Showtime no more. They show boring fights. Sergey Kovalev is a great champion; a solid champion. He can punch, he has good speed, he is good with his distance, he does everything well, he has good technique and I love to be the underdog. I loved watching when Balboa fought the crushing Russian in Rocky IV and now this is my real life and I am going to be the black Balboa.”

Duva
“I want to recognize the best training staff in the business John David Jackson and Derik Santos, Sergey’s training team. They could not be here but they prepared him for his stellar appearance against Bernard Hopkins and they will have him ready for Pascal.”

Klimas
“It is a pleasure to represent a fighter who is USA Today, Sports Illustrated, and New York Post Fighter of the Year (to name a few). I believe truly he has proved that. Everyone thought that he could only knock people out but he outboxed Bernard Hopkins. Jean Pascal is a good fighter. He is the best challenger in the division for Sergey Kovalev. The two good men are going to meet. In the end talk is cheap let’s bring these guys in the ring and let that speak for itself. Nobody believed me when I brought Sergey Kovalev through 18 fights with my own money without a promoter. Thank you Kathy for bringing us to this level.”

Duva
“So many recognize why Sergey Kovalev should be the Fighter of the Year is not because he defeats everyone he faces but the way he does it. He outboxed a legendary fighter. It takes more than talent to make a champion, add drive, ambition and a work ethic that is second to none. He is charming and one of the nicest people in the world. He is the most electrifying fighter I have ever worked with (and I have worked with some electrifying fighters!) and he is just beginning. Before I ask him to speak I have a little surprise for him. Main Events has a tradition of creating rings when our fighters win a world championship. Joel McFadden is the artist who created your WBO ring. The good news is they created a wonderful new ring, that bad news is because you won two belts at once there is only one ring. Everything was designed by hand.”

Klimas and Kovalev with World Championship Ring
Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion
“Hello everybody. Thanks for this great ring, it is very complimentary from jewel masters. I always wear my WBO ring. I sleep with it and now I will have to sleep with both together. Next, I know I was named Fighter of the Year but I didn’t know how many media chose me. I am happy and this push me more to show what I am a real Fighter of the Year. This year will be more big fights. I am starting with a very big fight with Jean Pascal. Thank you for taking this fight. For me it doesn’t matter where I fight. If I am true champion, I am fighting anyone anywhere. I want to thank HBO and Peter Nelson personally for this opportunity to give me big chance in my life. Where I am it is because of my team: Kathy Duva and Main Events, Egis Klimas and HBO. That is my team I love you and bless you. Everybody say before the fight was made that I will win. I never say never; this is boxing. This isn’t sprinting or bicycling. I never say never. You can go to Big Bear and repeat my preparations but no one can repeat my style. It is my thinking in me that gave me all victories and will give more.”

Duva
“I want to thank Le Parker Meridien, HBO and Hortitsia vodka, our sponsor. We look forward to a great night of boxing on March 14. Thank you.”

About Kovalev vs. Pascal
Kovalev vs. Pascal is a 12-round fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship Titles. The fight will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® on March 14, 2015 from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tickets are on sale now at the Bell Centre ticket office, at www.evenko.ca, by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion (514-376-0980). This event is a co-promotion of Main Events and InterBox, presented by Vidéotron in association with Mise-O-Jeu.

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BOUCHERVILLE, Quebec, Canada, Dec. 22, 2014 – In the first face-off between the triple light heavyweight champion and the former holder of several belts in the same weight division, there was nothing but respect all around at a press conference that was held Monday to officially kick off the unified Light Heavyweight World Championship fight that will take place between Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KO) and Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KO). The bout is to be televised on HBO on March 14, 2015 at the Bell Center.

Even though he holds the unified WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion title belts, Kovalev praised Pascal highly at Monday’s press conference. “He’s the best possible opponent I could face in the weight division,” said Kovalev, who was named Sports Illustrated’s 2014 Fighter of the Year Monday.

“I respect Sergey Kovalev because he is the king of the light heavyweight division,” said Pascal, the former WBC, IBO and The Ring Light Heavyweight champion. “This will be the greatest challenge ever faced by a Quebec-based boxer, but with discipline and hard work, as well as the support of local boxing fans, nothing is impossible.”

The champ vs the local favourite
Kovalev said he won’t be bothered by the fact that the fight will take place in Montreal, where Pascal is one of the most popular boxers on the local scene.

“The ring is the same everywhere”, he said. “I plan to show who I am to Canadian boxing fans, and I aim to do the things they like to see in a ring.” Pascal also promised this will be a fight not to be missed. “If you’re a boxing fan, this is the perfect Christmas gift to give to someone you love, because it will be one of the greatest fights ever – and the greatest ever held in Canada.”

“This is not my first time in Canada, but each time I come here I’m greatly impressed to see to what extent boxing is a major sport in the Quebec province,” said Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, Kovalev’s promoter. “This will be a high-quality event, and I’m delighted to be working with a first-rate promoter in InterBox and a great network in HBO for this fight that will bring together two great boxers.”

“What a great way to end 2014 with this announcement of a such a great fight for the New Year,” said InterBox President Jean Bédard. “Sergey Kovalev is the holder of three world titles, but he is first and foremost the boxer that no one wants to face. But it is with great enthusiasm that Jean Pascal has accepted this challenge.”
“Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal are first-rate competitors who always look to fight against the best and, on March 14, that’s exactly what they will do against one another in a World Championship bout,” said Peter Nelson, Vice President of Programming at HBO Sports. “Following a key win for his career against Bernard Hopkins, Kovalev will put his three unified titles on the line, which Jean Pascal will try to take away. And let’s not forget that the winner will be able to proclaim himself king of the light heavyweight division. This event is absolutely not to be missed!”

Kovalev back in North America
The unified WBO/IBF/WBA Light Heavyweight champion is back from a small vacation in Russia and spending quality time with his wife and infant son, who was born right in the middle of his last training camp. After a short rest, Sergey is now ready to start training for his fight against Jean Pascal. Kovalev is anxious to defend his WBO title for the fifth time, as well as the IBF and WBA titles he wrestled from Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) in a wide unanimous decision win on November 8th.

Pascal’s sole objective: To become World Champ again
Following the unfortunate turn of events during his December 6th fight, Jean Pascal is hungrier than ever to attain his ultimate objective of becoming world champion again. Marc Ramsey, who accompanied David Lemieux to Brooklyn last December 6th for his bout against Gabriel Rosado will be back in Pascal’s corner for the March 14th bout. Roy Jones Jr. and Russ Anber will be assisting Pascal during camp and during the bout.

Tickets on sale
Tickets for the unified Light Heavyweight World Championship fight between Kovalev and Pascal are on sale at the Bell Centre ticket office, at www.evenko.ca, by telephone at 1-855-310-2525 or through Club de Boxe Champion (514-376-0980).

About Main Events
Main Events was founded in 1978 by the late Dan Duva and is now run by his widow Kathy Duva. As one of the top promotional companies in the world Main Events has promoted boxing legends Evander Holyfield, Arturo Gatti, Lennox Lewis, Pernell Whitaker and many more. Currently Main Events promotes WBO, IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey « Krusher » Kovalev who just defeated legendary light heavyweight Bernard « The Alien » Hopkins in one of the highest rated fights of the year last month in Atlantic City, NJ. Main Events is committed to promoting quality fights that boxing fans want to see.

About InterBox
InterBox, founded in Québec in 1997, and acquired by Groupe Sportscene in 2004, is recognized throughout Québec and the world as a respected boxing organization. InterBox’s goal is to promote professional boxing locally and internationally via talented boxers supported by top-drawer trainers using cutting edge techniques. InterBox regularly promotes and presents elite events in cooperation with such significant corporate sponsors as Vidéotron, the Cage aux Sports restaurant chain, Coors Light and Mise-O-jeu.

Boucherville, Wednesday December 17th 2014 – Main-Events and InterBox announced that the Montréal Bell Centre will host the March 14th 2015 boxing Gala that will feature the reigning unified WBO, IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) vs. former WBC, IBO and The Ring Light Heavyweight Champion, Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs). Tickets to this megafight, which will also be broadcast on HBO World Championship Boxing throughout the United States, go on sale Saturday, December 20th 2014 as of 10 AM. A press conference is scheduled to take place early next week.

Three of the 4 major titles on the line
Kathy Duva, CEO of Main-Events, received the exception from the IBF that she and Sergey requested. Therefore, the IBF title will be on the line on March 14th when Kovalev faces Pascal. Mandatory IBF contender Najib Mohammedi is happy with the outcome because it will give him more time to work with his new trainer. Mohammedi will appear on the undercard of Kovalev-Pascal. Therefore, three of the four major world title belts will be on the line: The IBF and WBO World Light Heavyweight titles, as well as the WBA Super Light Heavyweight belt.

« After a tough 2014, we are extremely proud to bring to our fans one of the very best fights that can be made at Light Heavyweight. We all intend to start off the New Year with a bang, and Kovalev vs. Pascal will certainly deliver fireworks. Our fans deserve the very best fights, and those are the fights we will concentrate to make » states InterBox President Mr. Jean Bedard. Mr. Bedard continues by stating « The undercard is yet to be determined, but we are already at work with Main Events to match the best vs. the best. One thing is for sure, our athletes will have to be ready for some major challenges if they want to box on this card »

Kathy Duva said, « I received a very warm welcome in Montreal when I attended Pascal’s last fight at the Bell Centre. I’m excited to return with Sergey and to work with Jean Bedard and his staff at Interbox. I’m sure we will put together the best fight card of the year! »

Kovalev back in North America
The unified WBO/IBF/WBA Light Heavyweight champion is back from a small vacation in Russia and spending quality time with his wife and infant son, who was born right in the middle of his last training camp. After a short rest, Sergey is now ready to start training for his fight vs. Jean Pascal. Kovalev is anxious to defend his WBO title for the fifth time, as well as the IBF and WBA titles he wrestled from Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 K.-O.) in a wide unanimous decision win last November 8th.

Pascal’s sole objective: To become World Champ again
Following the unfortunate turn of events during his December 6th fight, Jean Pascal is hungrier than ever to attain his ultimate objective of becoming world champion again. Marc Ramsey, who accompanied David Lemieux to Brooklyn last December 6th for his bout vs. Gabriel Rosado will be back in Pascal’s corner for the March 14th bout. Roy Jones Jr. and Russ Anber will be assisting Pascal during camp and during the bout.

Exclusive pre-sale from December 18th -December 19th

For those fans who just can’t wait until December 20th to buy their tickets for the Kovalev vs. Pascal bout/Event, please note that there will be an exclusive pre-sale from December 18th at 10 AM until December 19th at 6 PM. Please communicate with InterBox at 450-645-1083, or contact Club de Boxe Champion at (514) 376-0980, or for those with a subscription, check the Evenko Info-letter.

Tickets on sale December 20th
Tickets for the general public will go on sale on Saturday, December 20th as of 10 AM. Those wishing to purchase tickets can do so via the Centre Bell ticket office, by visiting www.evenko.ca, or by dialing 1-855-310-2525.

About Main Events
Main Events was founded in 1978 by the late Dan Duva and is now run by his widow Kathy Duva. As one of the top promotional companies in the world Main Events has promoted boxing legends Evander Holyfield, Arturo Gatti, Lennox Lewis, Pernell Whitaker and many more. Currently Main Events promotes WBO, IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey « Krusher » Kovalev who just defeated legendary light heavyweight Bernard « The Alien » Hopkins in one of the highest rated fights of the year last month in Atlantic City, NJ. Main Events is committed to promoting quality fights that boxing fans want to see.

About InterBox
InterBox, founded in Québec in 1997, and acquired by Groupe Sportscene in 2004, is recognized throughout Québec and the world as a respected boxing organization. InterBox’s goal is to promote professional boxing locally and internationally via talented boxers supported by top-drawer trainers using cutting edge techniques. InterBox regularly promotes and presents elite events in cooperation with such significant corporate sponsors as Vidéotron, the Cage aux Sports restaurant chain, Coors Light and Mise-O-jeu.

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Boucherville, December 2, 2014
Main Events and InterBox are proud to announce that an agreement has been reached to present a fight between the reigning unified WBO, IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) and former WBC and The Ring Light Heavyweight Champion, Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs). The fight is to take place in Montréal or Québec City on Saturday, March 14, 2015, but it is contingent on Pascal prevailing over Bolonti on December 6 and on the IBF granting Kovalev a special exception to postpone his mandatory title defense against Nadjib Mohammedi. This mega-bout will be televised live in the United States on HBO. Further details will be announced at a later date.

Pascal’s fight at the Bell Centre December 6 was already a very important one for his career, but this possibility brings it to a whole new level. Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, will be watching the fight with Jean Bédard, as she has accepted the invitation extended by the InterBox president to join him ringside at the gala.

“The negotiation with Main Events went quickly and smoothly, so I know we’ll be able to organize a high calibre fight and a great night of boxing. After a pretty mediocre 2014 so far, we’re preparing to offer Québec boxing fans one of the best fights we could make in the entire division,” said Jean Bédard.

Kathy Duva said, “Sergey has made it very clear since the moment we signed him that he only wants to fight the best fighters. I promised after his demolition of Bernard Hopkins that the next one would be for the money. I’m thrilled to work with Interbox to bring boxing fans the Krusher versus Jean Pascal, which delivers on both fronts! The truth is that these fights are easy to make when both fighters want to be in the big fights and the promoters and managers are willing to be reasonable and work together.”

Kovalev brings it all back home
After a grueling year that included being at a United States training camp when his wife gave birth to their first child, the WBO/IBF/WBA Super Light Heavyweight World Champion is currently in Russia enjoying some well-earned downtime. On November 8, Kovalev cruised to a shutout decision against Bernard Hopkins, adding the IBF World Light Heavyweight and WBA Super World Light Heavyweight belts to his own WBO Light Heavyweight Championship.

Pascal wants it more than ever
This InterBox agreement with Main Events has already visibly given the Laval native an extra shot of motivation – as if he needed it – as he moves into the last rounds of preparation for the upcoming bout with Roberto Bolonti. Pascal is certainly looking to a bright future. As former WBC and IBO Light Heavyweight World Champion, Jean Pascal plans to demonstrate his superiority in the division against a well prepared Bolonti up as he works his way to the summit of his sport. Note that he’ll be supported by Roy Jones and Russ Anber in his corner on December 6, after a mutual decision to have coach Marc Ramsay join David Lemieux in Brooklyn.

Tickets for the Pascal vs. Bolonti gala
Tickets for the December 6, 2014 boxing gala are still available at www.evenko.ca; by phone at 855-310-2525 or at the Club de Boxe Champion 514.376.0980

About InterBox
InterBox, founded in Québec in 1997, and acquired by Groupe Sportscene in 2004, is recognized throughout Québec and the world as a respected boxing organization. InterBox’s goal is to promote professional boxing locally and internationally via talented boxers supported by top-drawer trainers using cutting edge techniques. InterBox regularly promotes and presents elite events in cooperation with such significant corporate sponsors as Vidéotron, the Cage aux Sports restaurant chain, Coors Light and Mise-o-jeu.

About Main Events
Main Events was founded in 1978 by the late Dan Duva and is now run by his widow Kathy Duva. As one of the top promotional companies in the world Main Events has promoted boxing legends Evander Holyfield, Arturo Gatti, Lennox Lewis, Pernell Whitaker and many more. Currently Main Events promotes WBO, IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev who just defeated legendary light heavyweight Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins in one of the highest rated fights of the year last month in Atlantic City, NJ. Main Events is committed to promoting quality fights that boxing fans want to see.

Information:
438-394-2775 / ccouturier@cage.ca

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Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev – WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion

“Hello everyone thank you so much for everything. I already changed diapers. I already lost track of how many diapers, maybe 15 or so. It is easy because I have experience with my nephews. My older sister has two babies so I have done this a lot. Beating Hopkins is a little bit more dangerous than changing diapers but he peed on my hand when I changed him. It is most important to be here with my family.

“My counsel for Bernard is that he needs to stop his career. He is already not young man and he lost to Kovalev not because of his age. He feels great, he feels good, he feels he is in good shape, and he feels young in his body. He can get a lot of wins against a lot of good fighters including [Adonis] Stevenson and other top ten fighters. It is not my job right now. It is his job. He is feeling very good. I think he needs to stop and give the opportunity to younger boxers to be fighting on the top stage.

[on a fight against Stevenson] “I don’t know how to answer. I am ready for everyone if it is the right fight. It is interesting fight for everyone. This is the job for my promoter and my manager. I don’t think about next fight, right now I want to spend time with my family. I am going to fly to Russia for a couple weeks to be with my parents.

[on light heavyweight division] “I making my weight. Five years ago it is was much easier and now it is a little bit harder to make 175 but it is right weight for my body. My body needs more attention. It is good for me for boxing. I can show how good I am. No for super middleweight it is not possible. It will be too much for my body. Cruiserweight is a big weight for me. I am walking 190 and cruiserweight is 200. I would be fighting against fighters much bigger than me. If it were 4-5 rounds it might be ok but 12 rounds will be much harder. I haven’t cleaned up this division yet. I have goal to get WBC title.

“Yes I would like to get WBC title. I don’t know what will be in the future. Right now it is job of my promoter and manager. For me it doesn’t matter I just need to get one more title.

“I made a lot of mistakes in this fight. I don’t open my mistakes to everyone in public. I know what they are and I will work on them in the gym for my next fight. First of all, Bernard is a professor of boxing. I had to be ready for this fight mentally. It was a lot of pressure on me and for my family. I had a lot of pressure for everything. It was more difficult.

[on dealing with the pressure] “I felt responsible for everything that happened in the fight. I am responsible in my fight and that push me.

[on trying for the knockout] “I was going into the ring for boxing. I was going to get victory from my boxing. I did not have a goal to knockout my opponent. If you try to knockout opponent you won’t do it because your opponent will see your hard punch. When I dropped Bernard first round I was not surprised. I was glad that it was the result of my workout in the gym. It is the result of my strategy. That I showed 12 rounds of boxing. I show the world how I can box. It was not fair that if I will knock him out he has a big experience and big respect from me and everyone in the boxing world. I am very happy that this fight went all 12 rounds.

[going past 8 rounds for the first time] “I felt very great. I did last 12 rounds. I wanted to beat Hopkins more effective. I punch him a couple times when I tried to give him knockdown but he has great and hard head. Very hard head. He was still on his legs. He didn’t drop on the floor and I was surprised. ”

John David Jackson – Kovalev’s Trainer

[on possible trainer of the year honor] “It will be great if I can get it but I can live without. If I get it will be a feather in my cap. I love boxing; it is my life. I am grateful for the fighters that I work with for getting me this level. Thanks to Sergey and to Egis for believing in me. Thanks Kathy for giving her blessing and for believing in me. To get it would be phenomenal.

[on Hopkins’ comments at press conference] “After the second Roy Jones’ fight I told him to retire. That was the last talk we had together. He couldn’t get into Sergey’s head so he tried to get into my head. He didn’t need to worry about me he needed to worry about Sergey. He knew that I know him very well and I was getting in his head better than anyone.

[on the game plan] “The way he wore Bernard down that was the game plan. He dissected him going to the body, the shoulder and the chest. Break Bernard down systematically was the plan.

“The more pressure Sergey brought the more he wore Bernard down. He is an old man in a young man’s sport. Sergey made him fight at a pace he didn’t want to fight at. He underestimated him. Sergey is a superior boxer. He showed the world that on Saturday night. He out-boxed a supposed master boxer. Bernard underestimated his abilities and that hurt him.

[working on next] “For me no one can fight him on the inside in the future he may meet someone who has a good inside game and he will need to work on that. That is the only thing he would need to work on.

[on getting into Bernard’s Head] “I kept reminding Sergey that Bernard is old. I told him where to hit him. It is common sense. He is an old man. You fight an old man by treating him like an old man.

“Sergey is very intelligent. He works on things on his own as well as with me. He works on all aspects to make sure he is a complete fighter. Sometimes he will retreat and make the opponent come to him. He will be here as long as he wants to be here. Anyone that sells him short is in for a rude awakening.

“Sergey’s timing is phenomenal. I asked Sergey to slow down and just keep boxing. If the knockout comes great, if not he was going to win the fight either way. The way he won was more satisfying anyway. He shut him out 12-0.

“I told Bernard to retire. He has had a great career and why cheapen it by hanging on too long. He said his comments at the press conference were for promotion. He can’t get in my head because he wasn’t fighting me. He was going after me because he couldn’t get into Sergey’s head. He was looking for a kink in the armor. He was apologetic afterwards. We are friends. This is business. He can’t be mad at me. He didn’t believe me when I said Sergey was a hell of a fighter. We are still friends. We probably won’t hang out but that’s okay.”

Kathy Duva – CEO of Main Events

“Thanks to everyone for joining us. This has been an auspicious month for Sergey Kovalev. He became a father, a unified champion and then got to meet his son for the first time. I am so proud of him. I am so proud of John David Jackson and Egis Klimas too. I am calling them the dream team now. They put together this great plan and Sergey executed it perfectly.

“He is going to fight again in March but it is too early to say who his opponent might be. I am going to sit down with Egis and then once we make the decision we will let you all know.

[on Stevenson] “At this point I just don’t know. It is too soon to say. Obviously [Nadjib] Mohammedi is in the picture at some point because he is the mandatory. All I see are stories that say they want to fight Sergey in 2015. They know how to reach me. No one has called me. It is still 2014 and no one has made any overtures towards any fights.

[on fighting in another weight class] “No one has talked to us about any fight at any other weight either. I have learned to never say never but it would not be any time soon. It is not really worth talking about. He wants to own the division. He wants to keep the belts he has and that means he will have to do the mandatories. He has to take care of them.

[on ratings for the fight against Hopkins] “We are very pleased with the numbers especially considering the late start due to football. It is about giving the fans a great show.

“John David Jackson choreographed the fight and Sergey executed the plan perfectly. Egis should be manager of the year. He finds all these great fighters. Sergey should be fighter of the year for the way he beat Hopkins and John David should be trainer of the year.

“I want to congratulate Sergey and his wife Natalia for their beautiful son Aleksandr and we will let you know as soon as we know what is next for Sergey.”

Egis Klimas – Sergey Kovalev’s Manager

“We are interested in WBC title. We will fight whoever will be holding that title. That is who we will be aiming for. If someone had told me earlier this year that Sergey would fight Bernard Hopkins and earn two more titles I would have asked them what are they were smoking. Things change every day. We are working towards becoming undisputed champion.

[on a fight with Golovkin] “Let’s not talk about the crazy stuff. Why should we go after Golovkin? I cannot see two different weight classes. I don’t see that fight happening because it is a different weight class. Of course we are looking for the big fights but in our weight class.”

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By Norm Frauenheim-

Sergey Kovalev’s victory over Bernard Hopkins was one thing. His dominance was something else. After awhile, the benefit of hindsight will make Kovalev’s win look predictable. Nobody ever whips the clock, although Hopkins did it longer than anyone ever has. The shutout on the scorecards, however, was a stunning testament to a Kovalev skill set that had been unappreciated as much as it had been unexpected. It meant something else, too.

If there was ever a time and place to say that the ex-Soviet fighter has arrived, it was there, Saturday night in Atlantic City, with Kovalev’s thorough and patient triumph over an acknowledged master. There was an underlying assumption that the clever Hopkins would force Kovalev into an adjustment that would result in a critical mistake. There was a lot of talk about how Kovalev had never been beyond eight rounds. Translation: In the end, he would fight like a Russian. Didn’t happen, mostly because that stereotype no longer exists. For years, Soviet fighters were said to be tough, well-conditioned and powerful. But they were robotic and unable to think on their feet.

Like the Berlin Wall, that stereotype has fallen onto history’s scrapheap, gone for good. By going a full 12 rounds against Hopkins, Kovalev scored a symbolic stoppage of an assumption that might still linger had he knocked out a man just two months shy of his 50th birthday.

Kovalev proved himself to be more than a power puncher. He went the distance for a thorough, light-heavyweight victory over one the smartest guys ever in the ring. Fighters from the old Soviet Union aren’t thinkers? Think again.

Wladimir Klitschko has long been a thinking man’s fighter. For some reason, however, his smarts never captured
the U.S. imagination, perhaps because all of America’s best heavyweights are middle-linebackers and defensive ends these days. But Kovalev’s victory over Hopkins might awaken new found respect for Klitschko, who hopes to extend his eight-and-half-year-long heavyweight reign Saturday against Kubrat Pulev in Germany.

In the days since beating Hopkins, Kovalev has begun to show up in the pound-for-pound debate. P4P is an overrated exercise, to be sure. But it’s noteworthy this week, simply because of who else is already in many of the mythical ratings. In the ESPN edition, Kovalev is a new addition at No. 9. He’s one of three fighters from the old Soviet empire among the top 10. Middleweight Gennady Golovkin, of Kazakhstan, is No. 6. Klitschko, of the Ukraine is No. 8. Three fighters from old the Soviet bloc amount to more than from any other region in the world on a list hat includes two Americans, Floyd Mayweather Jr. at No. 1 and Timothy Bradley at No. 4.

There’s a theory that fighters from the discarded Soviet system are emerging because they now are forced to be creative. Dmitriy Salita, today a promoter and a former welterweight from the Ukraine, once told me that under the Soviet style every step in a fighter’s plan was marked down, rehearsed and memorized. Even the footwork was programmed, Salita said. But with the end of Soviet control, fighters, like entrepreneurs, had to hustle, which meant thinking for themselves. Hence, we have a Kovalev, a Golovkin, a Klistchko and others who one day might be included in the pound-for-pound debate. Featherweight Vasyl Lomachenko is a good possibility.

In 2014, it mean just one thing:

The collective — no pun intended — face of the fighter from the old Soviet Union should be Fighter of the Year.

Totowa, NJ:Main Events continues to add to an already impressive light heavyweight stable with the signing of Nadjib Mohammedi, the 29-year old from Gardanne, Bouches-du-Rhône, France who earned the #1 position in the IBF earlier this year with his seventh round knockout of Anatoliy “The Gladiator” Dudchenko in his US debut. Mohammedi was announced as the mandatory challenger for IBF belt in July, but then-IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Bernard Hopkins instead elected to fight a title unification bout against Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, which took place last weekend. Kovalev defeated Hopkins in a wide decision to become the IBF, WBO and WBA Unified Light Heavyweight Champion.

While waiting for his chance at the IBF belt, Mohammedi knocked out Demetrius Walker at 2:16 in the first round on Saturday as part of the Hopkins-Kovalev undercard. With Kovalev’s unanimous decision defeat of Hopkins, Kovalev inherited Mohammedi as his mandatory challenger for the IBF belt.

Mohammedi vs. Walker
Photo Credits: Mike Gladysz/Main Events

“Signing with Main Events was one of my dreams come true,” explained Mohammedi. “I finally have the opportunity to show the world that Nadjib Mohammedi is the best light heavyweight in boxing today. I was unknown before, but now with Kathy and her staff’s work everyone will know my name.” He added, “It is an honor to now be part of an organization that has the top fighters in my division and now everyone will now know the name Nadjib ‘Irondjib’ Mohammedi. The only trajectory is the victory!”

Main Events’ CEO Kathy Duva said, “When Sergey Kovalev won the WBO Light Heavyweight Title from Nathan Cleverly in August of 2013, we began investing heavily in the light heavyweight division. Nadjib is a very welcome addition to our roster and there are big things for him right around the corner in 2015.”

Los Angeles, CA:
Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) returned home late Monday evening to his family after he added the WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship belts to his collection, which already included the WBO Light Heavyweight World Championship belt, when he held his newborn son, Aleksandr Kovalev, for the first time.

Because the Baby Krusher was born on October 20 in Los Angeles after Sergey had already left California for training camp in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on October 12, this was the first time father and son got to meet face-to-face. Sergey was able to Skype with his wife, Natalia, and the baby just after she gave birth but Krusher could not take time away from training camp with John David Jackson to fly back to Los Angeles. Doctors had told the Kovalevs that the baby was due on October 18 so they were hoping Natalia would give birth before Sergey left Big Bear Lake to go to Florida; unfortunately, the baby arrived two days late.

Krusher Models Custom-Made
Baby Krusher Robe & Trunks
When he was finally able to hold his son in his arms he said, “I was waiting for this moment for such a long time. The first night I met my son was sleepless but I didn’t think about that because I am just finally enjoying time with my family. My newborn son is healthy and that is most important thing to me. I am with my family now for the very first time.”

These last several weeks have been action-packed for the 31-year old champ from Chelyabinsk, Russia. In addition to his three title unification and the birth of his first child, he was also named the WBO Fighter of the Year. Sergey explained, “I didn’t know at the beginning of the year that I would get three belts by the end of the year. I would have been happy with the two and I am so happy I got three belts.”

After his win on Saturday night Kovalev said, “I was too excited to sleep.” He left the press conference a little after 2:00 AM ET to call his wife and son as the newly crowned unified champ. He spent all day Sunday wandering alone on the boardwalk just basking in his win.

Monday morning, however, before catching a late flight back home to his family, he travelled to Connecticut to visit his dear friend Magomed Abdusalamov. Mago suffered grave neurological injuries following his fight with Mike Perez earlier this year. After his last title defense against Blake Caparello in August, Sergey auctioned off memorabilia from the fight on eBay and donated the proceeds to help the Abdusalamov family with his medical bills.

Krusher and Mago Pose with WBO Belt
Along with Amin Suleymanov
His manager, Egis Klimas, travelled back with Sergey to Los Angeles and said, “Now Sergey is the happiest person on earth. Finally he met his son, finally he has three belts but he is not done yet. He is looking forward for more sons and more belts.”

Sergey’s wife, Natalia, has been patiently waiting for her husband to return home to her and her son. “I was waiting for my husband to come home whether with victory or no victory but of course knowing him he brought his newborn son a victory,” explained Natalia. “Now we work together to raise our son and we are very, very happy.”

Sergey & Natalia Kovalev
Photo Credits:
Rich Graessle/Main Events

Donations can be made to the Abdusalamov family at:

Ring10NY

NEW YORK (Nov. 10, 2014) – Undefeated welterweight and newly crowned WBO Intercontinental Welterweight Champion Sadam “World Kid” Ali made a statement Saturday night with a remarkable ninth-round technical knockout victory over Argentine slugger Luis Carlos Abregu. Ali, a hot prospect in the welterweight division, may have broken into the boxing mainstream Saturday night with his dominating performance as the co-featured event on the “Bernard Hopkins vs. Sergey Kovalev” undercard. It was his first fight on HBO World Championship Boxing® and a major step up in competition for the fighter who upped his record to 21-0 with 13 knockouts.

While Ali has much to be proud of as he enjoys his recent victory, he will take time to honor our nation’s military veterans as he participates in the annual New York City Veteran’s Day Parade also known as “America’s Parade.” As a native of Brooklyn and a 2008 U.S. Olympian, Ali is a great addition to the day’s festivities.

He will ride on a float as a guest of Wounded Warrior Project® amidst 1,000 soldiers and 600,000 spectators.

“It’s an honor to be able to pay homage to the great men and women who support our country,” said Ali. “They fight for our freedom and are true champions. I’m thrilled to be included and I hope New Yorkers come to the parade and show their support.”

“We can take for granted the veterans who risk their lives to protect the things that make this country so great and I’m happy to be able to give back,” said Ali.

Ali (21-0, 13 KOs) took a slow and steady approach to his professional career, but since signing with Golden Boy Promotions in 2013, Ali has been fighting in the fast lane and continues to impress including his major win on Saturday night. Other wins include recent bouts over Jay Krupp, Jesus Selig, Michael Clark and Jeremy Bryan, the dynamic Ali heads into 2015 with open options in one of the most divisions in boxing.

For more information follow www.twitter.com/realworldkidali, www.twitter.com/goldenboyboxing, @theworldkidali and @goldenboyboxing on Instagram or go to www.goldenboypromotions.com

By Bart Barry-

The most unexpected thing shared by guys who hit hardest is rarely how hard they hit or the speed of their attack. No, what surprises most about those guys is the nimbleness with which they take a backwards step the first three or four times you try to attack and smother them, their balletic willingness to move away from you in a tactical retreat and geometric adjustment that puts you at the end point of their punches. Where it hurts the most.

It was that willingness and ability with a backwards step or two, Saturday night in Atlantic City, that allowed Russian light heavyweight titlist Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev to toss a shutout at American titlist Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins, in a unification match official scorekeepers had 120-106, 120-107 and 120-107.

Kovalev-Hopkins was, is, our sport’s fight of the year. Not its best fight, no, much nearer its worst, in fact, but the fight that best represented the state of our sport in 2014, the year a man nearing his 50th birthday challenged and imperiled himself more than any of our standard bearers in their primes. Sergey Kovalev, an elite-level fighter, was unable to knock-out Bernard Hopkins, despite trying to do so sporadically in the fight and sustainedly in its closing minutes. Hopkins is extraordinary, yes, but any path to alien extraordinariness is eased when one’s era is so fantastically ordinary.

There is a heaviness and a dullness, an ache more than a pang, about treating Saturday’s light heavyweight unification match. Postfight, the highest tribute paid its winner, a 31-year-old known as “Krusher,” was that he was disciplined in his pursuit of a 49-year-old man, that he did not do anything rash like throw a hundred punches every round or run his fellow titlist into retirement, that he demonstrated prudence in becoming the unified world champion of a storied division. So it goes this year: Prudence against a man Hopkins’ age is a blazon of excellence.

Is that revisionist? Yes, but only slightly. There was a healthy percentage of knowledgeable boxing folks, myself included, who thought Hopkins might beat Kovalev, when Saturday’s opening bell rang. But those ideas disappeared, went wanting in full, fewer than 60 seconds later. Following something like the strategy he followed against Kelly Pavlik, flying at a younger man with an unexpected aggressiveness he expected to have a disruptive effect, Hopkins wheeled and crossed-over, trying to hit Kovalev on his second or third step. But Kovalev was three steps out of Hopkins’ range before Hopkins’ back foot completed its odyssey to front. Hopkins moved – in Larry Merchant’s memorable phrase – like a man “in amber.”

It was a moment of instant sadness. That quickly, the air became full of worry those viewing the match were about to see a man well past his physical prime assaulted to unconsciousness or worse by someone 18 years his junior. Nearly worse still was the possibility a man so exaggeratedly beyond his physical prime might somehow become a unified world champion, through force of wiles, yes, but even more through opponent incompetence.

“I feel bad for watching this, jeez” – that was the first comment I heard after the opening bell, Saturday, in a roomful of knowledgeable boxing people, the majority of whom still attend boxing gyms regularly, and it was said by an astute observer who gave Hopkins a chance to win the match only a minute before.

It was that sort of start for Hopkins. He got dropped by a counter righthand thrown by Kovalev as the Russian hopped backwards in round 1. Hopkins rose and looked at the canvas, a tick of embarrassment more than a try at fooling referee David Fields, a man unknown to viewers as what three judges got assigned to the main event, and concluded the round, and the round after that, with a look that was more frightened than concentrated or studious.

Under John David Jackson’s tutelage, Kovalev took Hopkins’ strategy away from him, by quickly giving Hopkins a thought he’d not seriously had before – I could get hurt very badly tonight – and then using that disruption to keep Hopkins from ever executing anything the way he wished to. There were 10 or 15 seconds, in a fight comprising 2,160 of them, when Hopkins made an offensive maneuver that went according to plan, catching Kovalev with a left hook here and counter right there, but those punches had no effect on Kovalev, save provocation.

When Hopkins got Kovalev with a punch that stung, the Russian went after Hopkins, making him fight at a pace, and with a series of consequences, Hopkins wanted no part of. Kovalev succeeded, mostly, by taking Hopkins more seriously than any opponent Kovalev faced before, by giving Hopkins’ power considerably more leeway than it merited, and by mixing his flurries with enough inactivity that Hopkins never recognized a rhythmic pattern enough to do anything disruptive himself.

The fight’s final round was almost good enough to make folks forget how dreadful its 11 predecessors were, as Hopkins fought to win something much more important to him, by then, than his fight with Kovalev; Hopkins fought the final round to win a right to choose his retirement date. Had Hopkins, whose head got snapped in a bunch of directions by Kovalev’s fists in round 12, been dropped awkwardly or severed from his consciousness long enough to get a doctor in the ring, nothing about Hopkins’ pending retirement would have been voluntary.

Athletic commissions, even those representing poleis desperate for revenue as Atlantic City’s, would have banded together and helped Hopkins out of the sport, on terms other than his own. Journalists, too, might have followed Carlos Acevedo’s admonishment and asked how a PED-free athlete could improve after his 35th birthday in an era dominated by PED-using athletes.

Instead, by fighting fully the most-feared prizefighter in his division, and absorbing dramatically that man’s best punches, Hopkins won for himself a chance to announce his retirement at a leisurely pace. One hopes that pace nevertheless ends before 2014 does.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry