Boxer Sergey Kovalev?s reception in Las Vegas has been so great, he almost feels like he?s back home in Russia.
The WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion spent his afternoon Tuesday at the Green Dacha Grill and Hookah Lounge on West Tropicana Avenue.
The undefeated boxer out of Kopeysk, Russia, sat with family, friends and coaches while dining on Russian cuisine and conversing in his native tongue in the dimly lit bar.
That was just one day after Kovalev (27-0-1) was greeted at McCarran International Airport by members of the Las Vegas community, was given a key to the city, and received proclamation of ?Sergey Kovalev Day? on the Strip by Clark County Commissioner Mary Beth Scow.
?I didn?t believe when they told me,? Kovalev said. ?It is an honor and has given me new motivation.?
When he faces Nadjib Mohammedi (37-3) today at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, he will be looking for a performance that could make Las Vegas his new home.
?Because he is transplanted from a foreign country, his home in this country is going to be wherever he makes it, so why not here?? said Kathy Duva, Kovalev?s promoter. ?The feeling was that if you?re going to be at the top of the boxing food chain, Las Vegas is where you want to be.?
It will be Kovalev?s first fight here, but Duva is already hoping that the knockout artist could find residency in Las Vegas the way Floyd Mayweather has made the MGM Grand his home for years.
?I see this gaping void that is coming along very soon,? Duva said. ?We wanted to start a relationship with the people at the MGM.?
But Kovalev produces something that the current king of boxing in Las Vegas does not ? knockouts.
Kovalev is riding a 28-fight unbeaten streak, with 24 coming by the way of knockout. With the negative attention the sport received after a lackluster fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, Kovalev?s aggressive style could be a much-needed breath of fresh air.
?It?s boxing,? Kovalev said. ?It?s not running. It?s not swimming and playing. It?s boxing.?
In his latest knockout win over Jean Pascal in March, Kovalev dropped Pascal for the first time in Pascal’s career and finished him off with two brutal rights in the eighth round.
?I am not a trash talker, so I won?t make predictions,? Kovalev said, ?but I will say that any punch can end the fight.?
That has been true throughout his career, and if he ends Mohammedi?s 13-fight win streak tonight, Kovalev could become the next star in the fight capital of the world.
But things haven?t always come this easy for Kovalev. He failed as an amateur fighter in Russia and never reached the Olympics, which is the primary goal for boxers in Russia.
?Amateur boxing is very corrupt. I could never get a Russian (amateur) championship,? Kovalev said. ?I knocked and knocked and knocked, but nobody opened the door. So I used the window by going professional.?
With no promoter, his early professional career was not easy either, but his manager, Egis Klimas, stuck with him.
?He covered all of my expenses,? Kovalev said. ?My food, my rent and a roof for me, and I didn?t even have a car. It was terrible for the first three years.?
That was when Kovalev caught the eye of Duva at Main Events boxing promotions.
?He gets in the ring and I see daggers coming out of his eyes,? Duva said. ?That reminded me of a look that I saw in Ray Leonard?s eyes when he got in the ring. I saw Leonard transform from this sweet affable guy into this guy who got into the ring and turned into somebody else. After the fight, I found myself running around the ring yelling, ?Give him a contract!??
Since then, Kovalev has defeated Nathan Cleverly in his home country of Wales, Bernard Hopkins just miles away from his hometown of Philadelphia in Atlantic City, N.J., and Pascal in his home country of Canada.
Now Duva says it?s time for Kovalev to find a home of his own and have fighters meet him there.
?At some point, you have to find a place where we can plant him,? Duva said. ?Now that he has moved himself to this side of the country, and he has three titles, and he?s the man, it?s time to establish him here in Las Vegas.?
If he can flourish in Las Vegas, his fighting style makes his possibilities of stardom limitless.
?I told him that if you are going to be fighting aggressively and if you are interesting in the ring, people are going to come to see you and people are going to turn their TVs on,? Klimas said. ?That?s where you are going to make your money.?
