IBO Boxing Honesty and Integrity
We know Andre Ward vs Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev is going to be a great fight on Saturday night but the final press conference was a dud.
In Las Vegas yesterday nobody really said anything remotely interesting. These were the few semi-worthy nuggets I jotted down to share with you for this report…
James Prince: “In my opinion, the best of the Russians can’t beat the best of the United States of American in nothing… We plan on beating the head up so much he’s gonna need some intervention.”
John David Jackson: “Come fight night, we will leave the same way – as undefeated champion.”
Andre Ward: “We’re not supposed to like each other… I’m off to the side minding my own business and Kathy Duva woke me up. She’s doing a lot of talking. She can keep doing what she’s doing – I love it. His side has been doing a lot of talking… I’m not taking no mess on Saturday night. I’m gonna be there… This is a sport where one punch can change everything.”
Sergey Kovalev: “I’m here to prove that I’m better… I hope that our fight will be very clean and honest and bring out the best of us. I’m very excited, a little nervous because I was never on this level. HBO PPV is the highest level in pro boxing… you will see a very great fight.
My favorite part of the whole promotion was when I asked Kovalev in New York for his reaction to the fact that Floyd Mayweather had urged Ward to duck Kovalev. Kovalev replied with a big grin: “He’s right.”
-Scoop Malinowski
