Kovalev promises to kick Mohammedi’s ^$% on the 25th

WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) will be defending his titles against “Irondjib” Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) on Saturday, July 25 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. The card will be televised on HBO starting at 10 PM ET/PT and will have as a co-feature attraction a ten-round light heavyweight match-up between Jean Pascal (29-3-1, 17 KOs) and Yunieski Gonzalez (16-0, 12 KOs).

Kovalev will be coming into this bout with wins over Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins in his last two bouts. The fight against Hopkins saw Kovalev drop the future Hall of Famer in the first round and then go on to win virtually every round. In his fight against Pascal, Kovalev would come away with a thrilling victory by virtue of a technical knockout in the 8^th round. The bout with Pascal was an exciting brawl, where both combatants landed hard shots with Kovalev landing more of them and getting the stoppage in Pascal’s backyard. These two wins gave credibility to Kovalev’s impressive 27-0 resume and placed him in the top 10 pound for pound lists of most boxing fans and experts.

After these two important victories there were expectation of a fight with WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson to unify all the titles, unfortunately, at it is too often the case, boxing politics kept that bout from materializing, and so Kovalev will be making the mandatory defense of his IBF title instead.  Kovalev, however, wants to make it clear that he is not looking past Mohammedi, and feels that he is a worthy opponent that cannot be taken lightly.

“For me, any fight means a lot because it is the next step,” Kovalev would say during a conference call with the press. “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.”

For Kovalev this will be the first time he will be fighting in Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world, and the city where most super fights currently take place. However, he feels no added pressure in performing under the bright lights of the Mandalay Bay.

“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.”

As to what Mohammedi and fans can expect on fight night, Kovalev kept it short and to the point, “I can say that I will kick his ass.”