Light-heavyweight

Sergey Kovalev: 'Hopkins is the fight of my life'

Dan Rafael

November 7, 2014

Making The Rounds: Bernard Hopkins-Sergey Kovalev preview

WBO light-heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, the Russian wrecking machine, is nothing if not focused on the task at hand.

That is why he was in the depths of training camp on October 20 while his wife, Natalia, was in a Los Angeles hospital giving birth their first child, a son they named Aleksandr, after one of the boy's grandfathers.

"I'm very happy and very excited that I got my new name, 'Daddy.' It was for me the greatest day in my life," Kovalev said. "I cried a little bit out of happiness when I saw on Skype that the baby was born, maybe two minutes after it happened. Natalia had to do this by herself, so most of the adoration goes to her, and she is still healthy, the baby is still healthy, and I am very happy.

"This means for me everything right now. It is the most important thing in my life now and I felt it before in my head and also in my heart. And now I embrace this next big fight, which I'm going to win and give this victory to my son."

Sergey Kovalev has knocked out 23 of his 26 opponents, including Nathan Cleverly in 2013 © PA Photos

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That Kovalev missed his son's birth should show everyone just how seriously he is taking that next big fight he mentioned - a world title unification fight with the great Bernard Hopkins on Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

It is one of the most significant fights of the year and a victory would be life-changing for Kovalev and his family. It would propel him to heights he has never known.

The fight matches the 31-year-old Kovalev's devastating power - he is nicknamed "Krusher," and his 88.5% knockout ratio is second-best among active titleholders behind only middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin's 90.3% - against the guile, experience and defensive prowess of the 49-year-old Hopkins, a living legend who has shattered several age-related boxing records, turns 50 in January and remains one of the best fighters in the world.

The IBF and WBA champion, who turned pro in 1988 (when Kovalev was five years old), is a much more famous fighter than Kovalev thanks to his gift of gab and a long career that has included many major fights, including against Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright, Kelly Pavlik and Roy Jones Jr. Hopkins' age is also the dominant storyline of the fight.

Kovalev, who has never seen the ninth round and only began to become known to the boxing public over the past two years, has his own story.

After a good amateur career, he left Russia and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to turn pro in 2009. He was winning, but it was hard to get fights. He had to travel all over the United States - North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, California, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois - to fight on all sorts of small shows under the guidance of manager Egis Klimas, who could not get a promoter interested in Kovalev until Main Events chief executive Kathy Duva gave him a chance on one her NBC Sports Net cards in 2012.

Kovalev scored a knockout. And then another. And then another. With the television exposure, Kovalev was gaining fans because he was impressive and exciting. Duva was sold. She signed him and eventually manoeuvred him into a world title shot against then-undefeated Nathan Cleverly in August 2013. Kovalev went to Cleverly's home country of Wales and destroyed him in four one-sided rounds.

Three defences and a contract with HBO later, and Kovalev stands on the precipice of superstardom if he beats Hopkins, who has never been close to being knocked out in his 26-year career.

"When I was an amateur, people love to watch me fight," Kovalev said. "When I came to America, nobody watch me in the beginning. Then Egis found me good team. Kathy Duva and her team turn attention on me here, and now I am fighting against Hopkins."

Bernard Hopkins became the oldest boxer to unify light-heavyweight titles with a split decision win against Beibut Shumenov © Getty Images

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But Kovalev remembers the hard times.

"I can think back and remember everything from early in my career, but I don't want to do that. It was often very terrible and it was hard to get to this stage and this place," Kovalev said. "I was searching around for any promoter, but no one would sign me. I fought for three years for free. In 2013, Kathy Duva signed me and my career has gotten much better. Being on a big fight on TV is what I've always wanted.

"When we fought three, four years ago, me and Egis were traveling all over the country in America and fighting anyone who was ready, I didn't think that this fight would be possible. But I believed that I can to do it, and I tried to do it and some very big thanks to my promoter, Kathy Duva, and to Egis that they, from their conversations, led me to sign a contract with the promoter.

"That is when my fight began. I'll tell you why. I waited a long time [to get to this] level and waited for this fight, a huge fight. When I was a child, I had a dream. When I watched TV, I watched it and I had a dream. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be there, and I will try to be there, and I'm here. Everything from your head and everything from your heart, if you want it, you can do it."

Klimas, a self-made man and immigrant from Lithuania, who has quickly become one of boxing's most prominent managers, spent those early days doing whatever he could to get Kovalev fights. He often paid promoters out of his own pocket just to get him on a show. He just kept the faith that they'd eventually get a big break.

"We were in very hard times, we were in hard times with him during his career where I had doubts," Klimas said. "Should we go further or should we drop it? Do we belong here in this world? Do we belong here in boxing or not? We were outsiders, like many others, like people coming from Mexico and people coming from Latin America here, and it's hard to find [success]. But one time Sergey said, 'America's a country where your dreams come true.'

"So, it was a hard time, but just because he is how he is, a human being, and I have some other businesses, I have some other income in this world, so I was thinking about what he's going to do, where he's going to go if I'm going to say, OK, that's it, we're quitting. We're both not quitters, we both win. Through the long career we still have the best relationship, and because of our relationship and our nature, we're still going."

Kovalev said he never stopped believing he would make it, even when times were tough. And now that he has made it, he knows he can secure his family's future - including that little baby's - and take his career to another level by beating Hopkins. That prospect is so important to Kovalev it explains why he missed his son's birth.

"This is for me a huge fight, and this is the fight of my life. It's a very important fight," he said. "I'm focused on this. Yes, my baby was born and I remember this, and my son pushed me more and is a big motivation for me. Now I understand who I'm doing everything in my career for. I'm doing it now not for me. I'm doing this for my family.

"Egis Klimas paid for everything when I was starting out, my opponents, my clothes and my food. He invested a lot into me. This fight is a great opportunity for me to create my history for me and my family. I will do that. When my son grows up he will be able to look at this and say, 'That is my father.' He can see that I did it for him."