Unbeaten Kovalev defends crown against Pascal

Russia's undefeated Sergey Kovalev risks three world light-heavyweight crowns Saturday against Haitian-born Canadian Jean Pascal in a rematch of a bout Kovalev won last year with an eighth-round stoppage.

Kovalev, 28-0 with one drawn and 25 knockouts, has won 12 fights in a row over the past four years and all but one of those ended early. Only Bernard Hopkins, the oldest champion in boxing history, took Kovalev the distance before losing a unification showdown by unanimous decision 14 months ago.

That sets up Kovalev to defend his International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization titles against Pascal, 30-3 with one drawn and 17 knockouts.

Pascal will have the support of the crowd in Montreal, having fought only three times outside the province of Quebec in his 11-year career. But home-region cheers were not enough for Pascal, 33, to conquer Kovalev, 32, last March at Montreal.

Kovalev then knocked out Nadjib Mohammedi in the third round last July at Las Vegas in his most recent outing with Pascal taking a unanimous decision over Cuabn Yunieski Gonzalez on the same card.

Pascal has switched trainers since his prior meeting with Kovalev, working with Freddie Roach ahead of the rematch.

"I've changed things. I've improved in ways that Kovalev cannot even imagine," Pascal said. "This time around, preventing Kovalev from going ahead with combinations will be key. That will be part of my game plan.

"I promise you Kovalev is going to have a full plate."

Kovalev was focused on his challenge in the ring.

"I'm not a talker. I'm a fighter," Kovalev said. "I will give it my all. I will apply all the skills I have and put them into this fight."

Canadian Adonis Stevenson, 27-1 with 22 knockouts, owns the World Boxing Council crown in the division but talks have been fruitless for an undisputed title showdown and US unbeaten Andre Ward, 28-0 and set for a light-heavyweight debut in March, has been mentioned as a future Kovalev foe.
Source: AFP