NEW YORK ? Sergey Kovalev won?t take kindly to Andre Ward clinching him Saturday night.
The unbeaten Russian half-joked about reacting forcefully when Ward attempts to tie him up on the inside when they meet in a highly anticipated light heavyweight championship match at T-Mobile Arena. The highly skilled Ward figures to try to neutralize Kovalev?s vaunted power at least some of the time by holding his strong opponent in their HBO Pay-Per-View main event ($64.95-$69.95 in HD).
?I saw that he can feel comfortable, very good inside, in a close fight,? Kovalev said. ?But I?m not Alexander Brand. I?ll break his hands if he will try to hug me or something. I will do everything within the rules of boxing, not [outside] of the rules. I never broke the rules in the fights. Everything follows the rules of boxing.?
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Referee Robert Byrd?s job could become increasingly difficult if clinches cause conflict during their 12-round fight for Kovalev?s IBF, WBA and WBO 175-pound titles.
Ward (30-0, 15 KOs), a 32-year-old former super middleweight champion from Hayward, California, is a slight favorite over Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs), a 33-year-old champion who has made eight defenses of the WBO light heavyweight title he won from Wales? Nathan Cleverly in August 2013.
