Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) is being warned that he will receive a stiff challenge when he gets in the ring with WBO light heavyweight world champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs).
The fight takes place on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
“I feel great. I’m here for my glory. For my story. For my history. A couple fights ago, when I started to work with my new team Buddy McGirt and Teddy Cruz, they gave me back my belief in myself. With this team I can do more. You can see, with my last fights, a little bit of change to my technique and style. I’m ready to fight 12 rounds,” Kovalev said.
Canelo, who holds the WBA middleweight title, is moving up by two weight divisions to challenge Kovalev.
Kovalev, a career light heavyweight, has the advantage in size and power.
“You know, I respect his steps and his risks. This is boxing, but in boxing, only real men try to prove themselves, that they’re a real fighter, and Canelo is that. But this is my division, I have been in this division since my first fight, and I want to make my history, my story. He’s just trying. Right now, 175 has a lot of good fights right now, a lot of good fighters right now, even Canelo has come to 175,” Kovalev said.
The arena will be packed with Canelo fans, who will cheer on his every move – but that scenario will only motivate the Russian fighter.
While he usually puts his opponents down, Kovalev is planning to take things one round at a time.
“It’s not the goal to knock someone out, I just need to follow my instructions from the corner, from my coach, and everything will be fine,” Kovalev said.
“I want to disappoint a lot of people on Saturday. In England, everybody was going against me, but after the fight, everyone was asking for my autograph. Your boo is good!”
