Last week Canelo Alvarez met with the media to discuss his upcoming bout against Sergey Kovalev for Kovalev’s WBO Light Heavyweight title. As noted prior, this bout isn’t a bum of the week title defense. It’s unique because we’ve got the case of good small man, against good big man. In this instance, the smaller Canelo will be jumping up two weight divisions to challenge the best fighter in the light heavyweight division in the form of Sergey Kovalev. This go around Sergey Kovalev, his trainer Buddy McGirt and promoter Kathy Duva took time to discuss Canelo, fighting in Las Vegas and being in a strange position in his career – the underdog.
Kovalev on Being Selected by Canelo
“I respect Canelo because he goes right now up two divisions, and this is a huge goal for him and also for myself. Canelo wants to try get title in light heavyweight division, and if he will not get the title nobody will say, ‘Eh you lose.’ He has nothing to lose. He is just trying.
But I should defend my title. I will defend my title. If I lose, I lose more than Canelo lose. Canelo, he is trying to make his history but I’m here. I’m in my position.”
Kovalev on Needing a Knockout
On this, Krusher did not mince words. Straight to the point, stating, “yes – but that’s not my goal. My goal to get the victory, by any costs. By knockout is very well, yes, of course.”
Kathy Duva on Fighting in Hostile Territory
“As a dynamic of this negotiation, just made that impossible. We got the fight we wanted; we got the money we wanted. The way to get that money is to go to a place where you can generate it. We’re realists. We asked, as always, for judges who will be fair. We hope that the commission recognizes that we don’t want the names of the judges or the referee to be the story.
We’re going to be where the crowd is going to be very much pro-Canelo. We know that happens. We know judges are influenced by those crowds, and I can talk a lot simply to that.
But what Sergey needs to do is fight like the veteran that he is. He needs to win and dominate round by round. He needs to not go in their head hunting trying to get a knockout. He knows that now.”
Buddy McGirt on a Kovalev Victory
“Well, the camp is great because everybody gets along. Everybody trusts everybody. We have a relaxed mood and we know what we have to do, so it makes for a good camp.
As far as if we win, the statement should be when we win, because I believe in my heart that Sergey is going to win this. It’s not going to be as hard as people think.
As far as myself, it’s not about me right now. It’s about Sergey making history. It’s not about me. It’s about Sergey.”
Kovalev on Being an Underdog
“I don’t worry about if I’m the underdog or not. I just feel like we will be in the same ring, and everybody will be in the same position one-on-one, one against one.
The end will show who’s the best. Canelo is a very talented boxer and really experienced. And believe me, I’m right now getting really good instruction from my team and very good training camp. Everything goes very well.
We will show to the boxing world that Krusher is here. Krusher is back.”