Former world champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev talks about Saturday’s rematch with WBO light heavyweight champion Eleider “Storm” Alvarez on Saturday night at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys practice facility.
“First, I am very excited to get the opportunity to get back my belt,” said Kovalev. “Thanks to God for this opportunity and thanks to my promoter and my manager to make this fight happen. Right now I must prove that I am the best in this division by this victory on Saturday night
“I didn’t have enough gas, enough power. You saw my condition. I was lazy it was like something was wrong with my body.
“Proving again that I always push myself more than needed and that was my biggest mistake in my boxing career. Always push further than needed. Right now Buddy has taught me a lot – saving energy for the fight and I listen to him 100% on his recommendations and I follow his instructions. I like this training camp but we’ll see Saturday what the boxing side will show.
“Right now at this time before the fight I am used to dieting. This time I wanted to be better for everything – in life and in the boxing gym and in life and my team change. I am happy working with Teddy Cruz my strength coach and Buddy McGirt my boxing coach. They are really a great team and they are great persons. We have a great understanding with each other and I like the team very much.
“When I became pro I got three belts just by using my amateur experience be cause my fights went often my first two years as a pro I fought 5 or 6 times a year. Then later I fought two or three times a year and one year I fought only once. That’s crazy. Between the fight it was long rest and I didn’t work out. I was busy with my life. I was famous in my small group, in my circle. I was busy with my family and with my friends. Every fight I started my training from zero. No one was there to work on or remind me of my style. I fought every fight just on my memory from the amateurs. I had coaches but they didn’t help me both my boxing or my conditioning or anything. Everything I did myself. Everybody has seen the result. I am happy that I started working with Buddy and he has reminded me of my amateur style and using a lot of boxing – not the goal to knock somebody out, but boxing. It’s a good idea to not have to win by knockout, but by boxing. The will be, at one time, a punch that will catch him. If you can punch, you will.
“This time we have been working on defense too and with the shape I am in on Saturday it will be very interesting. I am excited in my last day of camp and I am excited for the fight to see what I can show. Right now I am really motivated because I know that I can beat this guy.
“The last fight he got lucky. He got lucky, of course. I lost concentration for just a couple of seconds – a lack of attention just for one second. Then I couldn’t get focused after the knockdown.
“Maybe I wasn’t ready enough. I don’t want to use it as excuses but on Saturday I will prove that I am better than Alvarez. And that is my goal to get my belts back. That’s my goal right now and it is a big motivation.”
(So, you are going to be a boxer on Saturday night?)
“You never know what will happen tomorrow. I don’t even know what will happen when I go around this corner of the wall when I get up. I do have motivation and I should use it to get my belt back.
“I like belts. Right now I have a co-promotion with Top Rank and I am on ESPN and I can get to the highest level in boxing again. I am in Dallas, and Texas is a state that has a lot of boxing fans – a lot of Mexican fans and a lot of American fans. The site is very bog and it looks great. And I am a Cowboys fan.
“My prediction is that I will get back my belt. I don’t know how, but I will get it back at any price or any cost.”