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(Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events) By Jim Dower:   IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) stayed unbeaten tonight in destroying an overmatched No.1 IBF Nadjib Mohammedi (37-4, 23 KOs) by a 3rd round knockout on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Kovalev knocked Mohammedi down twice in the fight in dropping him in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Kovalev finished Mohammedi off with a big right hand followed by a left to the head that sent him down. Mohammedi clutched at his left eye while he was on the canvas, and failed to beat the canvas.

In the 2nd round, Kovalev nailed Mohammedi with a big right hand that hurt him, causing him to back up. Kovalev then narrowed the gap and dropped Mohammedi with a short right hand to the head. After the knockdown, Mohammedi constantly held to make it out of the round. He slid to the canvas once after losing his footing. Mohammedi’s legs were totally gone after the knockdown.

“I’m ready for anyone,” Kovalev said after the fight. “If the promoters want to make this fight [against Andre Ward], I’d be happy.”

HBO’s Max Kellerman even asked Kovalev if he’d be interested in facing Yunieski Gonzalez, who lost a controversial 10 round decision to Jean Pascal tonight in the co-feature, and Kovalev repeated that he’s ready for anyone if the people want to see the fight and if his promoters want to make the fight.

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2015/07/kovalev-vs-mohammedi-early-results/

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By Miguel Maravilla at ringside –
Photos: David Spagnolo / Main Events – John Locher, AP

Unbeaten WBO, WBA and IBF light heavyweight world champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) destroyed IBF mandatory challenger Nadjib “Irondjib” Mohammedi (37-4, 23 KOs) on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. 150:1 favorite Kovalev dropped Mohammedi with a series of right hands in round two and finished him with right/left combination in round three. Time was 2:38.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/kovalev-krushes-mohammedi-299355

Date:   Saturday,  July 25, 2015

WBO/WBA/IBF LT. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE BOUT

Location:  Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Promoter:  Main Events / Kathy Duva

Supervisor:  Francisco Valcarcel

Referee:  Kenny Bayless

Judges:  Adalaide Byrd, Robert Hoyle, Steve Weisfeld

Results:   WBO/WBA/IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey Kovalev retained his belts against Nadjib Mohammedi by knockout in the third round.

TV:  USA HBO

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By Miguel Maravilla at the scale
Photos: David Spagnolo/Main Events –

Sergey Kovalev 174.5 vs. Nadjib Mohammedi 173
(WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight title)

Jean Pascal 178 vs. Yunieski Gonzalez 177
Sullivan Barrera 174.5 vs. Hakim Zoulikha 175
Cassius Chaney 238.5 vs. Edward Ramirez 233
Rodney Hernandez 239 vs. Brice Ritani-Coe 252.5
Joel Diaz 140.5 vs. Alejandro Rodriguez 140.5

Venue: Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas
Promoter: Main Events
TV: HBO

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/kovalev-mohammadi-make-weight-299163

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By Brian Campbell –

Despite being a heavy underdog, Nadjib Mohammedi is undaunted by the challenge ahead of him on Saturday.

Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) challenges unified light heavyweight titlist and knockout sensation Sergey Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas (HBO, 10 p.m. ET/PT).

The native of France, who enters his third fight under the tutelage of trainer Abel Sanchez, has steadily improved in recent years.

Mohammedi, 30, has won 13 straight fights since his last defeat in 2011 against Dmitry Sukhotsky. He upset Anatoliy Dudchenko by seventh-round TKO in June 2014 to become the mandatory challenger for the IBF title.

Speaking through a translator, Mohammedi recently talked with ESPN.com about his mindset entering the Kovalev fight.

It has been more than a year since you became the mandatory title challenger. Why was now the right time for you to challenge Kovalev?

I took my time because I needed to change my team. It was time for a change and now I have an American team with Abel Sanchez as my trainer. I needed to become more famous in America to make my name here. That’s why I waited.

In what ways has Sanchez helped you improve your fighting style? 

Abel Sanchez did not change my style but he upgraded it. With Abel Sanchez’s experiences, he brought to me a lot of things from his own style.

How would you describe your fighting style and the balance between being a boxer and puncher? 

I have made changes and am more powerful now. Also with the way I move in the ring, I am more of a target.

Sanchez has experience as Kovalev’s former trainer. How much of an advantage will that be for you in this fight? 

Abel Sanchez knows the style of Kovalev. He knows his talent and his mistakes. But for now, we can say that the style of Kovalev has changed a bit [since joining new trainer John David Jackson]. He has always been a straight boxer — jab, right, left, jab. But at the end, we never know.

Considering the platform available to you with this fight, what do you hope to teach American fans about who you are as a fighter?

I can bring to American boxing fans a new story and a new generation of light heavyweight champions. I can really show them that everything is possible if you work hard because I came from a hard and mighty long way. I want to show them that everything is possible, a little bit like “Rocky.” It’s not the same story, but I will be Rocky against [Ivan] Drago.

Kovalev is an extremely large betting favorite in this fight. What does that do to motivate you? 

It is normal that everybody thinks that Kovalev will beat me. He is No. 1 and a favorite. But it motivates me a lot because at the end I will show them that because Kovalev is No. 1, I want to beat him. I want to show to the boxing fans that, once again, anything is possible. You never know what can happen, even if it’s against the No. 1. You never know.

In his last fight in March, Kovalev was hurt at times before going on to score a stoppage against Jean Pascal in Montreal. What was your opinion of his performance in that fight?

I was at this fight and I saw the same thing that you saw: Kovalev was hurt, and I saw a lot of possibilities against his boxing style.

What it is about your childhood or upbringing that has prepared you to take on the kind of challenge that you’ll face against Kovalev? 

My life prepared me to fight because I have had to fight for a living and work hard since I was very young. My life prepared me to fight for everything. This is my shot and I’m ready.

Outside of the ring, what do you like best about being in America? 

First of all, I love the weather in California. I love the women in California and I love the American style of living. I feel free here. Because in some way in France, a lot of people look at you because of your origin or ethnicity. I don’t feel the same way here in America. No matter what my origin is, I am a champion of the people. I like the American style and I love California.

Kovalev is currently ranked among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Do you believe he is worthy of all the hype he has received? 

Kovalev deserves his place in the ring as No. 1 and light heavyweight champion. But at the end, he’s just a man.

Above all else, what needs to go right in order for you to pull the upset against Kovalev?

There are many factors. One of the most important factors for us to stay close in this fight and keep good distance. That will be the key.

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/13307904/nadjib-mohammedi-undaunted-underdog-status

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Welcome to SportsNation! On Thursday, we’re going inside the boxing ring when Sergey Kovalev stops by to chat about his light heavyweight title fight this weekend.

Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KO) takes on Nadjib Mohammedi (37-2, 23 KO) and puts up his WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight belts. The fight will be live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas Saturday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

Kovalev has won 11 straight fights since recording a draw against Grover Young in 2011. Only one of the 11 wins has come via decision, the other 10 have been by knockout. Kovalev is ESPN.com’s No. 7 pound-for-pound fighter.

Buzzmaster
  (3:06 PM)

Sergey is here!

Mr PPV (Manhattan Beach, CA)

Who is the hardest puncher you have ever faced?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:07 PM)

I don’t remember because I didn’t get too many hard punches from my opponents. My hardest punch is definitely my right hand.

Dil (Uk)

Sergey, where do you see yourself in the P4P rankings?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:08 PM)

I don’t think about it because I can only think about myself. I think this opinion should be made from the side and from people and boxing fans.

rocky (Beardsville)

Why did you move your training camp to California?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:08 PM)

For this fight, I moved to California because my fight is in Las Vegas and is at a different time of day.

ZACK (MISSISSIPPI)

Is there any chance you would fight Pascal again?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:09 PM)

You would have to talk to my promoter. If my promoter says Pascal is ready to fight again, I’m ready to also.

Daniel Moreno Waco Texas [via mobile]

who’s your favorite fighter of all time ???

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:09 PM)

When I was a child, I watched Roy Jones and Oscar De La Hoya. These were the boxers I watched a lot of times. But right now, I like to watch Gennady Golovkin. I also like to watch all of the fights of my friends.

Juan houston, tx. [via mobile]

How do you usually celebrate a win?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:11 PM)

Usually, I have my phone and I put it to my ear with the gloves on and speak to it to get congrats for my last fight with my family and friends. After this, we spend time with my family. This time we are going to be in my home with all of my friends. Then I will be leaving for Russia for a long time.

Dil (Uk)

Sergey you are a very popular fighter in the UK, do you wish to fight there again in the future?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:11 PM)

No problem. If the fight is a good reason to make England, it should be in England.

R Truth (What’s up?)

Which of your fights was your best performance so far and why?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:13 PM)

I think that my best fight was … I don’t know? I like my strategy and my work against Bernard Hopkins. We fought all 12 rounds and it was very interesting to box the whole fight and to go to a decision. It was very interesting for me.

River Boy (Cleveland)

What happened between you and former trainer Abel Sanchez that led to your falling out?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:13 PM)

I already talked an answer to this question. I don’t care if Abel is the coach of Mohammedi. I don’t think about it at all.

Steven (Charlotte)

It’s so much fun watching you fight. How often do you get recognized where you live by boxing fans?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:15 PM)

Right now it’s more often than last year. Much more often outside and at the boxing shows. Definitely in my country, too.

Mr PPV (Manhattan Beach, CA)

Hypothetical question here, do you think you could’ve knocked out Ivan Drago?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:16 PM)

No, I am not an actor right now. I am a boxer. Movie is just a fiction. Of course I saw “Rocky IV,” but I’m not trying to be Rocky IV. I’m Sergey Kovalev.

Dil (Uk)

Who is the toughest opponent you have faced, amateur or professional?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:17 PM)

That would be Bernard Hopkins and I’m talking to him right now. Right now. He is in front of me.

Dom (Rhode island) [via mobile]

Are you going to move up to heavyweight after you unify the titles and finally knock out Adonis?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:17 PM)

No, right now I’m concentrating on the light heavyweight division and that’s where I am going to stay. I see no reason leaving my weight division.

Sith (Huntington Beach, CA) [via mobile]

Thank you Sergey for your time!! A lot of top guys from The East (GGG, Ruslan, Beterbiev, you) have similar traits in that you punch incredibly hard and have iron chins. Is this a new style of training happening over there? Or is there some other reason for the similarities?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:18 PM)

Right now we have a lot of fighters from Eastern European countries like Gennady Golovkin, Provodnikov and myself. Yes, we are trying to come in and make an Eastern European boxing era. Yes, we are coming in.

Gary Shaw [via mobile]

You are now father. Has that changed any aspects of how you prepare for fights and interact with the media?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:19 PM)

Doesn’t change my preparation, but of course it has changed my life. It means everything to me and has changed me. But not my preparation.

Laser (Long Island) [via mobile]

Now that you are a big star do you feel more pressure to continue to dominate?

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:19 PM)

I never come into the ring to knock people out. I just come into the ring to box and knockouts will come if they come. I never come for the knockout.

Bill M (Fairfax, VA)

Do you think Mohammedi deserves to be a mandatory contender? I’m not sure what he has done to deserve that distinction.

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:20 PM)

He made it to this point. It’s not my thing to say he deserves what. Sanction bodies assign him. I can tell that after the fight.

Sergey Kovalev
  (3:21 PM)

Thank you everybody. Thank you very much for watching me. Thank you for following me. Stay tuned for July 25 and we are going to put on a great show.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/51903/boxer-sergey-kovalev

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Credit:  Photo: David Spagnolo/Main Events –

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

On coming off big fights against Pascal and Hopkins but now facing a lesser known fighter:

“For me, any fight means a lot because it is the next step. Who I am and how I do my job means a lot. He is the #1 IBF contender. He deserves this fight. I very excited that I have three titles and I have the opportunity to defend it against Mohammedi. He deserves this fight. He is #1. He is very motivated. When a boxer is motivated or any man is motivated it makes him very dangerous.”

On training in Oxnard:

“Oxnard is different place compared to my last training camp. I am very happy here and everything is comfortable. Everything is good. Big Bear training camp is conditioning and physical training camp. Now training camp in Oxnard is boxing camp with sparring and heavy bags. For the boxing, I feel very comfortable here. My sparring partners help me. I feel good.”

On his last fight against Pascal:

“I had some problems in my training camp for Pascal. I made some mistakes. I started to make my weight very late. I was very happy after Hopkins fight. It was a lot of things. I celebrated New Year and Christmas in Russia. Christmas is biggest holiday in Russia. I got a lot of overfull. It made for me big trouble to make the weight for the fight. I didn’t have a good sparring partner for the fight. It was a lot of things. Right now everything is clean and going very well.”

On the possibility of a Pascal Rematch:

“I don’t want to speak about Pascal because he does not deserve to get attention. He lost my respect for him even before the fight. I cannot respect even his team. He is piece of shit. Same as Stevenson. I think all fighters make terrible fighters in Canada. I don’t respect and I want to kick his ass again and much, much bigger this time. If it will happen rematch, he will sleep in four rounds because he is a piece of shit.”

On the added pressure of headlining a fight in Las Vegas:

“No for me it doesn’t matter where I am fighting. I don’t have any problems. I feel very comfortable and happy that my fight is in Las Vegas. I wait a long time for my fight. I wanted LA or Las Vegas and it will happen July 25. I am very happy and excited because I wanted to give to my fans who long time waited to watch my fight live and now it will happen. Las Vegas is biggest place for the fight and Las Vegas is terrific place a lot of people from everywhere come to Las Vegas to get more fun. July 25 they will be very happy and very fun day.”

On Nadjib working with Abel Sanchez, Kovalev’s former trainer:

“Who is this Abel? I don’t know any Abel.”

On Adonis Stevenson:

“He is a piece of shit.”

On where he stands among all current boxers:

“I don’t think about this at all. I don’t care where I am. It is most important what I have, not where I am.”

On his opponent, Nadjib Mohammedi:

“I can say that I will kick his ass.”

On the added pressure to impress:

“I want to be better and want to be improved for every fight because a boxer can never to be perfect. 100% everything is good, no. Every boxer wants to be better, better, better. My goal in my preparations is to get better and remove all my mistakes from last fight. To show to people I can not only to punch, I can do boxing. I am disappointed people couldn’t see in my first 14 or 15 fights. I can do boxing. I just started to get good opponents when I signed contract with Kathy Duva. Very big respect with Kathy Duva and her team that they got attention on my boxing. I am very happy that I signed contract Main Events and right now my career is going up. It will continue be going up because we are together right now. We are a team – Egis Klimas, Kathy Duva, Main Events and Krusher Promotions. We are going up. We give to boxing fans good boxing fight because right now it is very seldom in real fights. Because a lot of fighters are making business but not making boxing. I can count on my left hand who are the real fighters in boxing: Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto and Keith Thurman and I don’t remember more. And maybe me. I don’t want to push me that I am the best, but if people are thinking it I am very happy. I wake every morning and get running and working hard. I happy that people are thinking that I am good boxer.”

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events

“We are very pleased to be working with HBO and Mandalay Bay where we have had such a great history here at Main Events. Sergey Kovalev is a throwback fighter who wants to take on every challenge. He has fought the #2 and #3 guys in his division in Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. Now he is fighting his mandatory against Nadjib Mohammedi. It will be a great fight. It always is when Sergey gets in the ring.”

On why fans just want to see Sergey Kovalev fight no matter who he is fighting:

“It is the same thing that makes fans wants to watch Mike Tyson or Gennady Golovkin. Fans want to see knockouts. This is a blood sport. Sergey brings all of that. Sergey is a bad, bad man. He’s got that edge and that danger to him. My barometer has always been when I get excited myself to watch a fighter after the thousands of fights I have seen. I still get excited when Sergey fights. Every fighter when he becomes accomplished enough will have to get themselves up for absolutely everybody. He needs to prove this too. He is still on the way up, but he is a lot further along the way. He has had two difficult and challenging fights and there is a natural tendency to taper off in that situation. He needs to stay focused on Nadjib.”

On Mohammedi’s hunger:

“He has nothing to lose and everything to gain. He has had a year to focus on nothing else but this fight. Sergey has had to face two huge challenges. He also had a child and moved across the country. Nadjib has had nothing to do except focus on this fight. He is working with Abel Sanchez, who used to work with Sergey, and they don’t like each other very much.”

On Sullivan Barrera and Isaac Chilemba fighting on the undercard:

“Jolene [Mizzone, Main Events’ matchmaker] was still working to find opponents for them. I believe they are still on the card. Jolene is the best and she will figure it out. If Chilemba can’t fight on this card, he will be ordered to fight as mandatory for the WBC title soon.”

On the current status of ticket sales for this fight:

“There has been a tendency in boxing lately to give all the tickets away. Tickets are in no way sold out. It will take a lot of time before the damage to this market can be undone. We are hoping for a big walk up. I have no thoughts at all on the show down the street. Giving tickets away on the same night that people are charging for a fight down this street is another example of anti-competitive behavior. Our prices are reasonable, tickets start at $25. Sergey is well worth the price of admission and you get what you pay for.”

On why Main Events signed Mohammedi:

“When we met Nadjib, he fought on one of our NBC cards against Anatoliy Dudchenko and became the #1 challenger. As Sergey’s promoter I became interested in him. We struck a good relationship with him and his team. It made sense for us to work with him. When he came here for his fight on the Hopkins’ undercard, his trainer couldn’t make it so he ended up working with Abel [Sanchez]. He decided to wait very patiently for Sergey’s other fights. He is exciting and aggressive and that is what we like to see.”

On the odds for this fight:

“We don’t set the odds. The odds don’t reflect the competitiveness of the fight but certain people’s willingness to bet on the fight.”

On the possibility of a rematch with Pascal:

“I think Sergey just made it a lot more interesting with his comments about Pascal. From a business perspective, it is a great fight. We are keeping Pascal close. He is fighting in the co-feature but first Pascal has to defeat Gonzalez.”

On the possibility of a fight against Andre Ward:

“We have been talking to Andrew Ward’s people all week. We all agree the fight is going to happen; it is just a matter of when. Sergey’s schedule for his next few fights is planned. That fight should happen by the end of next year. Sergey wants to fight the best. The best fighting the best is what people want to see. We want to complete that deal in the foreseeable future.”

On the other potential opponents for Kovalev in the light heavyweight division:

“There are plenty of opponents. There are always new fighters coming along. The landscape of boxing changed six months ago and I am willing to bet that in another six months it will change again. I think between the fighters in the light heavyweight division and guys at 168 that are going to moving up there will be no shortage of opponents for Sergey. When you have that kind of star power in the division, they are going to draw together like magnets. Sergey has a contract with HBO and his career is mapped out for the next three years.”

On Nadjib Mohammedi:

“He has had an education with Abel that he didn’t have before. He came in as the opponent and he showed up on his own and did the job. You have to respect a guy that can do that. He has had a year to focus on this while Sergey has been focused on 1,000 other things over that same year.”

On Mohammedi working with Abel Sanchez:

“He fought on the undercard of the Hopkins-Kovalev fight and worked with Abel on that fight as well. He has been in the gym with other tremendous other fighters. I give Nadjib a lot of credit.”

On Sergey’s improving English:

“I don’t have to tell him that it is important. He came to me about it. Every time I talk to him it gets better. He finds ways to express himself. That is just part of the fun of Sergey Kovalev. He is working with a teacher. I had a similar situation with Tomasz Adamek and now he can express himself as well as anybody. The perfectionist part of Sergey will drive him to continually improve. What you don’t see is when he is in a relaxed setting he is much better. You will see more of that as time goes on.”

John David Jackson, Sergey Kovalev’s Trainer

On Nadjib Mohammedi:

“He is unconventional. He has his own style. He’s wild with some of his shots. Getting ready for him isn’t an easy task. We have to prepare correctly. Now that Abel is working with him they may have a formidable fight plan to combat what Sergey is brings to the table. However, once he gets hit we will see what he is made of. We know they are going to prepare the best they can and so are we.”

Egis Klimas, Sergey Kovalev’s Manager

“Welcome to conference call and we are looking forward to the fight.”

Vince Caruso, Nadjib Mohammedi’s Co-Manager

On Nadjib’s ethnicity:

“Nadjib is of Algerian descent but he was raised in France.”

On the odds for this fight:

“HBO told me that they were up to 45-to-1 and that is about as high as Buster Douglas was. I think we are about 100-to-1 shot. We are in with a guy who doesn’t make mistakes. Odds are against us but this will be the last time he will be overlooked.”

On how Mohammedi started boxing:

“His older brother took him to a boxing gym and he fell in love with it. He was 14 years old and was working in the markets. He’s been in love with it ever since.”

On Nadjib’s preparation for this fight:

“This is the first training camp where I know nothing. Nadjib is secluded with Abel. They are going to do it their way. He is up there doing their thing. I am down here dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. I can tell you this, his weight is on target and he is in tip top shape.”

About Kovalev vs. Mohammedi

WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) will compete in his first mandatory title defense against Nadjib “Irondjib” Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) on Saturday, July 25 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. The co-feature will include a ten-round light heavyweight match-up between Jean Pascal (29-3-1, 17 KOs) and Yunieski Gonzalez (16-0, 12 KOs). Tickets are on sale now and start at $25. Tickets can be purchased through TicketMaster and all MGM Resorts Properties Ticket Offices. The HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

http://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/sergey-kovalev-quotes/43609

Mar 14, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Sergey Kovalev reacts after defeating Jean Pascal (not pictured) in their light heavyweight championship bout at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports ORG XMIT: USATSI-221882 ORIG FILE ID:  20150314_jla_bb5_689.jpg

Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports ORG XMIT: USATSI-221882 ORIG FILE ID: 20150314_jla_bb5_689.jpg

Light Heavyweights

Sergey Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) vs. Nadjib Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs)

It’s not the Sergey Kovalev fight the masses want, but for now, it’s the fight they’re going to get. The Russian knockout artist will defend his IBF, WBA and WBO belts against mandatory challenger Nadjib Mohammedi at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday night. The card airs on HBO beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

The relatively unknown Mohammedi is something of a letdown opponent for Kovalev, who is coming off significant triumphs over Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins in his last two outings. It’s no secret that Kovalev eventually wants a title unification bout against Adonis Stevenson, but Stevenson’s current alliance with Showtime makes that matchup unrealistic at the moment. In the meantime, the bout with Mohammedi could serve as another addition to Kovalev’s highlight reel.

The Matchup: Kovalev is a devastating power puncher who has knocked out 10 of his last 11 foes. Only Bernard Hopkins was able to make it to the final bell against “Krusher” during that time, and even he was knocked down twice en route to losing a lopsided decision. In March, Pascal displayed admirable toughness after being dropped for the first time in his career in the third round, but he eventually succumbed to a pair of Kovalev right hands in the eighth round. While Pascal was able to find success at times with unorthodox defensive movement and counters, he was ultimately overwhelmed, as Kovalev outlanded him 122 to 68.

The Los Angeles-based Kovalev possesses knockout power in both hands and is most dangerous when he is allowed to establish a rhythm with consistent forward movement. If he can get an opponent to retreat, he is more likely to connect with a fight-altering blow than if that foe elects to stand in the pocket. Once he gets rolling, Kovalev’s combination punching, while not especially diverse, is a sight to behold as he moves forward against a fighter on the defensive. Kovalev is capable of landing punches even if he can’t get his adversary moving backward, but without the proper distance they lack the impact they might otherwise have had.

Kovalev sets everything up with a fundamentally sound jab, and he is effective landing it to both the head and body. He will often start with probing lefts until he senses an opening, and then he will double up on his jab and follow with a hard straight right. If his opponent reacts the way Kovalev wants and gets on his bicycle, Kovalev can quickly transform into a whirlwind of destruction. However, he does have a tendency to get off balance and out of position when he throws his combinations, which could potentially leave him open to counters. Kovalev showed improvement in this area against Hopkins, as he fought with more patience when he was unable to secure a finish.

One of the most popular storylines surrounding Mohammedi is that he will have Abel Sanchez in his corner. Sanchez used to train Kovalev and currently works with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. While Sanchez might be able to provide Mohammedi with some useful insight regarding his former charge, the fact remains that the 30-year-old Frenchman is a middle-tier light heavyweight at best. He become the No. 1 contender with a mild upset of Anatloliy Dudchenko in June 2014 and enters the bout on a 13-fight winning streak, but his resume is not as strong as Kovalev’s.

In two of his three losses, Mohammedi was stopped inside of two rounds, and he hasn’t faced anyone with the KO power of Kovalev. When one is accustomed to being the harder puncher, it can be a shock when someone as dangerous as Kovalev connects. To remain competitive, Mohammedi needs to return fire immediately when Kovalev attacks, because the Russian can falter when his rhythm is disrupted. That said, while Kovalev prefers to lead, he is improving as a counterpuncher and will capitalize if Mohammedi becomes careless.

The Pick: This sets up as a showcase fight for Kovalev, who is bigger, faster and more skilled. Heart, tenacity and a sound game plan will help Mohammedi’s cause, but in the end he will meet a fate familiar to many a Kovalev foe. Kovalev by KO/TKO within five rounds.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Boxing-Preview-Kovalev-vs-Mohammedi-89441

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Credit:  Photo by Bret Newton/Main Events –

By Allan Fox: IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) will be defending his titles this Saturday night on July 25th against #1 IBF Nadjib Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) on HBO Championship Boxing from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kovalev will be looking to get this fight over with as fast as possible to show that Mohammedi doesn’t belong in the same ring with him.

Mohammedi, 30, has one of the better records that Kovalev has faced during his career, but there’s really very little substance to his resume. Most of Mohammedi’s wins have come against poor opposition with limited talent.

When Mohammedi did step up a level four years ago in his fight against Nathan Cleverly, he was beaten easily by a 12 round decision.

Mohammedi has won 13 straight fights since the loss to Cleverly, but the opposition has been woeful. It’s been nothing but easy fights against a combination of journeyman, inexperienced fighters, and guys with just no talent to begin with.

Kovalev’s promoter Kathy Duva is looking to match him against WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward next year at some point. It would be a fight at 175 if they can negotiate it. That would be Kovalev’s best chance of a big fight in 2016. Getting the other top light heavyweights like Juergen Braehmer and Adonis Stevenson could ultimately prove to be an impossible task. There’s no interest from either of those fighters in facing Kovalev, and that’s not expected to change in the near future.

Kovalev has knocked out 10 out of his last 11 opponents dating back to 2011. During that time, he’s beaten Pascal, Bernard Hopkins and Cleverly, knocking out two out of those three opponents. If Kovalev can add Ward’s name to his KO record, it would be an impressive accomplishment because many boxing fans see Ward as unbeatable.

Scoring a knockout over Ward would likely increase Kovalev’s popularity I a huge way, because it would give him an opponent record and a lot of respect in the boxing community. Kovalev’s wins over Hopkins and Pascal weren’t that big of a deal because both guys had been beaten before.

Kovalev’s victory over Cleverly was impressive because he was unbeaten at the time when Kovalev destroyed him in the 4th round in their fight in 2013, and there were some boxing fans who thought Cleverly would beat him.

Also on the card will be former WBC 175lb champion fighting Yunieski Gonzalez, and light heavyweight Sullivan Barrera facing Hakim Zoulikha.

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2015/07/sergey-kovalev-vs-nadjib-mohammedi-this-saturday-july-25th-on-hbo/

 

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Sergey Kovalev and his team held a conference call this week in advance of his upcoming fight against Nadjib Mohammedi. Right here, find all the quotes from Krusher.

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

On coming off big fights against Pascal and Hopkins but now facing a lesser known fighter:

“For me, any fight means a lot because it is the next step. Who I am and how I do my job means a lot. He is the #1 IBF contender. He deserves this fight. I very excited that I have three titles and I have the opportunity to defend it against Mohammedi. He deserves this fight. He is #1. He is very motivated. When a boxer is motivated or any man is motivated it makes him very dangerous.”

On training in Oxnard:

“Oxnard is different place compared to my last training camp. I am very happy here and everything is comfortable. Everything is good. Big Bear training camp is conditioning and physical training camp. Now training camp in Oxnard is boxing camp with sparring and heavy bags. For the boxing, I feel very comfortable here. My sparring partners help me. I feel good.”

On his last fight against Pascal:

“I had some problems in my training camp for Pascal. I made some mistakes. I started to make my weight very late. I was very happy after Hopkins fight. It was a lot of things. I celebrated New Year and Christmas in Russia. Christmas is biggest holiday in Russia. I got a lot of overfull. It made for me big trouble to make the weight for the fight. I didn’t have a good sparring partner for the fight. It was a lot of things. Right now everything is clean and going very well.”

On the possibility of a Pascal Rematch:

“I don’t want to speak about Pascal because he does not deserve to get attention. He lost my respect for him even before the fight. I cannot respect even his team. He is piece of shit. Same as Stevenson. I think all fighters make terrible fighters in Canada. I don’t respect and I want to kick his ass again and much, much bigger this time. If it will happen rematch, he will sleep in four rounds because he is a piece of shit.”

On the added pressure of headlining a fight in Las Vegas:

“No for me it doesn’t matter where I am fighting. I don’t have any problems. I feel very comfortable and happy that my fight is in Las Vegas. I wait a long time for my fight. I wanted LA or Las Vegas and it will happen July 25. I am very happy and excited because I wanted to give to my fans who long time waited to watch my fight live and now it will happen. Las Vegas is biggest place for the fight and Las Vegas is terrific place a lot of people from everywhere come to Las Vegas to get more fun. July 25 they will be very happy and very fun day.”

On Nadjib working with Abel Sanchez, Kovalev’s former trainer:

“Who is this Abel? I don’t know any Abel.”

On Adonis Stevenson:

“He is a piece of shit.”

On where he stands among all current boxers:

“I don’t think about this at all. I don’t care where I am. It is most important what I have, not where I am.”

On his opponent, Nadjib Mohammedi:

“I can say that I will kick his ass.”

On the added pressure to impress:

“I want to be better and want to be improved for every fight because a boxer can never to be perfect. 100% everything is good, no. Every boxer wants to be better, better, better. My goal in my preparations is to get better and remove all my mistakes from last fight. To show to people I can not only to punch, I can do boxing. I am disappointed people couldn’t see in my first 14 or 15 fights. I can do boxing. I just started to get good opponents when I signed contract with Kathy Duva. Very big respect with Kathy Duva and her team that they got attention on my boxing. I am very happy that I signed contract Main Events and right now my career is going up. It will continue be going up because we are together right now. We are a team – Egis Klimas, Kathy Duva, Main Events and Krusher Promotions. We are going up. We give to boxing fans good boxing fight because right now it is very seldom in real fights. Because a lot of fighters are making business but not making boxing. I can count on my left hand who are the real fighters in boxing: Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto and Keith Thurman and I don’t remember more. And maybe me. I don’t want to push me that I am the best, but if people are thinking it I am very happy. I wake every morning and get running and working hard. I happy that people are thinking that I am good boxer.”

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events

“We are very pleased to be working with HBO and Mandalay Bay where we have had such a great history here at Main Events. Sergey Kovalev is a throwback fighter who wants to take on every challenge. He has fought the #2 and #3 guys in his division in Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. Now he is fighting his mandatory against Nadjib Mohammedi. It will be a great fight. It always is when Sergey gets in the ring.”

On why fans just want to see Sergey Kovalev fight no matter who he is fighting:

“It is the same thing that makes fans wants to watch Mike Tyson or Gennady Golovkin. Fans want to see knockouts. This is a blood sport. Sergey brings all of that. Sergey is a bad, bad man. He’s got that edge and that danger to him. My barometer has always been when I get excited myself to watch a fighter after the thousands of fights I have seen. I still get excited when Sergey fights. Every fighter when he becomes accomplished enough will have to get themselves up for absolutely everybody. He needs to prove this too. He is still on the way up, but he is a lot further along the way. He has had two difficult and challenging fights and there is a natural tendency to taper off in that situation. He needs to stay focused on Nadjib.”

On Mohammedi’s hunger:

“He has nothing to lose and everything to gain. He has had a year to focus on nothing else but this fight. Sergey has had to face two huge challenges. He also had a child and moved across the country. Nadjib has had nothing to do except focus on this fight. He is working with Abel Sanchez, who used to work with Sergey, and they don’t like each other very much.”

On Sullivan Barrera and Isaac Chilemba fighting on the undercard:

“Jolene [Mizzone, Main Events’ matchmaker] was still working to find opponents for them. I believe they are still on the card. Jolene is the best and she will figure it out. If Chilemba can’t fight on this card, he will be ordered to fight as mandatory for the WBC title soon.”

On the current status of ticket sales for this fight:

“There has been a tendency in boxing lately to give all the tickets away. Tickets are in no way sold out. It will take a lot of time before the damage to this market can be undone. We are hoping for a big walk up. I have no thoughts at all on the show down the street. Giving tickets away on the same night that people are charging for a fight down this street is another example of anti-competitive behavior. Our prices are reasonable, tickets start at $25. Sergey is well worth the price of admission and you get what you pay for.”

On why Main Events signed Mohammedi:

“When we met Nadjib, he fought on one of our NBC cards against Anatoliy Dudchenko and became the #1 challenger. As Sergey’s promoter I became interested in him. We struck a good relationship with him and his team. It made sense for us to work with him. When he came here for his fight on the Hopkins’ undercard, his trainer couldn’t make it so he ended up working with Abel [Sanchez]. He decided to wait very patiently for Sergey’s other fights. He is exciting and aggressive and that is what we like to see.”

On the odds for this fight:

“We don’t set the odds. The odds don’t reflect the competitiveness of the fight but certain people’s willingness to bet on the fight.”

On the possibility of a rematch with Pascal:

“I think Sergey just made it a lot more interesting with his comments about Pascal. From a business perspective, it is a great fight. We are keeping Pascal close. He is fighting in the co-feature but first Pascal has to defeat Gonzalez.”

On the possibility of a fight against Andre Ward:

“We have been talking to Andrew Ward’s people all week. We all agree the fight is going to happen; it is just a matter of when. Sergey’s schedule for his next few fights is planned. That fight should happen by the end of next year. Sergey wants to fight the best. The best fighting the best is what people want to see. We want to complete that deal in the foreseeable future.”

On the other potential opponents for Kovalev in the light heavyweight division:

“There are plenty of opponents. There are always new fighters coming along. The landscape of boxing changed six months ago and I am willing to bet that in another six months it will change again. I think between the fighters in the light heavyweight division and guys at 168 that are going to moving up there will be no shortage of opponents for Sergey. When you have that kind of star power in the division, they are going to draw together like magnets. Sergey has a contract with HBO and his career is mapped out for the next three years.”

On Nadjib Mohammedi:

“He has had an education with Abel that he didn’t have before. He came in as the opponent and he showed up on his own and did the job. You have to respect a guy that can do that. He has had a year to focus on this while Sergey has been focused on 1,000 other things over that same year.”

On Mohammedi working with Abel Sanchez:

“He fought on the undercard of the Hopkins-Kovalev fight and worked with Abel on that fight as well. He has been in the gym with other tremendous other fighters. I give Nadjib a lot of credit.”

On Sergey’s improving English:

“I don’t have to tell him that it is important. He came to me about it. Every time I talk to him it gets better. He finds ways to express himself. That is just part of the fun of Sergey Kovalev. He is working with a teacher. I had a similar situation with Tomasz Adamek and now he can express himself as well as anybody. The perfectionist part of Sergey will drive him to continually improve. What you don’t see is when he is in a relaxed setting he is much better. You will see more of that as time goes on.”

http://www.proboxing-fans.com/sergey-kovalev-pre-fight-quotes-in-action-vs-mohammedi_071515/