Today’s heavyweight showdown between former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion Tomasz “Goral” Adamek (50-4, 30 KOs) of Poland and Eric “Drummer Boy” Molina (24-3, 18 KOs) Raymondville, Texas in Kraków at the Kraków Arena for the IBF Intercontinental Heavyweight Title will be distributed in North America by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 2 pm ET/11 am PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view.
Main Events
Sanchez believes Sullivan Barrera will beat Andre Ward
(Photo Credit: Craig Bennett/Main Events) Big Bear Lake, CA: As IBF number one light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) prepares for the biggest fight of his career against one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters, Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs), at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California which will be televised live on HBO, the 34-year old from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is calm, confident and ready for anything.
Barrera trains in Big Bear Lake, California with legendary trainer Abel Sanchez. Sanchez is best known for working with IBF, WBA and WBC Interim Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Sullivan has taken advantage of working with his prestigious coach and being surrounded by other elite boxers like Golovkin. He said, “Camp has been great. I feel great. I am ready to make history on March 26. The best advice I have received was from Gennady Golovkin who told me to work my speed and to fight intelligently. Abel Sanchez told me not lose my cool and to stay focused at all times.”
Tomasz Adamek vs. Eric Molina on 4/2
Kraków, Poland: Former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion Tomasz “Goral” Adamek (50-4, 30 KOs) returns to native Poland to face Eric “Drummer Boy” Molina (24-3, 18 KOs) in Kraków on Apr. 2 at the Kraków Arena for the IBF International Heavyweight Title. The fight will be telecast live in Poland on pay-per-view as part of Polsat’s Boxing Night series and presented by Polsat, Main Events and Don King Productions.
Kovalev makes easy work of Pascal
(Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events) Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Undefeated Unified WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) retains all three of his titles as he makes short work of former light heavyweight world champion, Jean Pascal (30-4-1, 17 KOs), again.
The crowd was deafening as Michael Buffer announced Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev and Jean Pascal and everyone at Centre Bell was on their feet. Through the first five rounds Pascal weathered the flurry of punches handed out by The Krusher. However, by the fifth round Pascal seemed to be barely able to stay on his feet. Pascal’s trainer Freddie Roach stopped the fight just prior to the start of the eighth round.
Weights: Sergey Kovalev: 174.6 lbs. Jean Pascal: 174.3 lbs.
Saturday’s HBO World Championship Boxing doubleheader telecast begins at 9:45 p.m. (ET/PT). Opening up the telecast from the Bell Centre in Montreal is a 10-round welterweight matchup between Dmitry Mikhaylenko and Karim Mayfield. The main event of the evening, a 12-round light heavyweight championship rematch, features knockout artist Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev defending his titles against Jean Pascal in his back yard.
Official Weights from Montreal:
Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev: 174.6 lbs.
Jean Pascal: 174.3 lbs.
Jean Pascal / Sergey Kovalev Q & A
Q: How is everything going in preparation for your upcoming bout with Sergey Kovalev What’s it like working with Freddie Roach for the first time?
JP: It’s been fantastic. Freddie is somebody that I’ve greatly admired from a distance for a very long time now. I’ve been following his work since the James Toney days, so I’m well aware of the difference he can make for boxers who buy into his way of doing things. Right now I’m all in and ready to once again become the light heavyweight champion of the world on January 30.
Doctor Assesses Glazkov’s Knee Injury
The radiology report is in and it appears that heavyweight contender Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov suffered a more severe knee injury than originally believed in his bout with Charles Martin on Saturday night.
Dr. Steven Stoller, a, New Jersey Orthopedic Surgeon and who specializes in sports medicine, watched the Glazkov fight live last Saturday night. The doctor said that in the third round, while avoiding a punch, Glazkov’s right knee “pivot shifted,” which in layman’s terms is a partial dislocation of the knee (and is indicative of an ACL injury), when he went down the first time, which the referee ruled a slip. Glazkov continued fighting until presumably injuring his knee further when the bout was called off with 30 seconds remaining in the third round.
Karim Mayfield vs. Dmitry Mikhaylenko on January 30
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Last week, Ray Robinson suffered injuries in a car accident which caused him to withdraw from his scheduled fight against undefeated welterweight Dmitry “The Mechanic” Mikhaylenko (20-0, 9 KOs). Today Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield (19-2-1, 11 KOs) agreed to step in and replace Robinson in the ten-round welterweight co-feature on the Saturday, Jan. 30 HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast which features the much-anticipated rematch between Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) and Jean Pascal (30-3-1, 17 KOs) for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship. The Mikhaylenko-Mayfield bout will be for the vacant USBA Welterweight Title. The HBO telecast begins at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
Kovalev vs. Pascal II Conference Call Quotes
Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev – WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion
On Pascal changing his training camp:
“What he says and what he will do in the ring is two different things.”
On his game plan for this fight:
“I don’t have any plans for the fight. We will go to the ring. A boxing fight is a street fight. No rules. It doesn’t matter what he will bring. I must be ready for anything. I don’t think about Pascal. I don’t think about what he will be. He has good motivation and he has a new coach, but I just should be ready for anything. If he will bring something better, it doesn’t matter.”
Jean Pascal Media Workout Quotes and Photos
Jean Pascal – Former World Champion
On working with Freddie Roach
“I like Freddie. Freddie is a good man. He is a great boxing coach. One thing that I like about Freddie is he is a coach who like to listen. He is gonna ask me question. He is going to try to see my point of view. He gonna explain to me his point of view.