Bernard "The Alien" Hopkins and Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev held a press conference in New York City and a media roundtable in Philadelphia Tuesday to officially announce their light heavyweight unification bout on Saturday, Nov. 8 taking place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City live on HBO World Championship Boxing®. Check out what Kovalev and his promoter, Kathy Duva, had to say.
SERGEY KOVALEV, WBO Light Heavyweight World Champion
"It is not easy to overlook Hopkins. I think when he's 60 years old he'll be in the same condition. He's an alien, but I have to send him to the moon and maybe from there he'll go by himself to Mars.
"I want to say that one day in Big Bear when I trained, I met Oscar De La Hoya and asked him to sign me and he turned me down, but now here we are on different sides.
"I am not a talker, I am a fighter and I am sure Bernard will promote the fight for both of us.
"I don't really understand what Bernard is saying. It doesn't matter what he says. Even if I understood, I wouldn't care. I don't worry about him. I'll go into the ring and do my job.
"Bernard talks and fights. I just fight.
"I can't say what the fight will be like. This is boxing and anything can happen.
"It is my secret what I will do on fight night. I will give it my all and come out with the win."
KATHY DUVA, CEO of Main Events
"This fight is going to be the most anticipated fight of 2014. It's so much fun putting together a fight like this that everyone wants to see. Its great to see the excitement level and the anticipation, you can feel it in the air.
"This is going to be a tremendous event. It's one of those fights that when the bell rings you really won't know what is going to happen. It's not about finding out who's best, its about who is going to win the fight, because both are great.
"This is what boxing is supposed to be and we look forward to November 8.
"The first person I thought of when I saw Sergey Kovalev in the ring was Ray Leonard. I saw the look in his eye and I could tell he was different. I believe he is the most electrifying boxer in the world of boxing and he will prove it on November 8."
KEN CONDON, Caesar's Entertainment Consultant
"This is an Atlantic City fight, it's in Bernard's backyard and this is where the fight belongs.
"Sergey has also developed a great following from his last two fights in Atlantic City.
"Caesar's stepped up to the plate and continued its tradition of great championship boxing in Atlantic City. We believe in the future of Atlantic City and we believe in boxing. We expect a sellout on November 8."
AARON DAVIS, NJSAC Director
"November 8 is going to be a nice fight with premier fighters and premier promoters. We want to keep on the legacy that we have created in New Jersey."
# # #
Hopkins vs. Kovalev, a 12-round unification bout for the IBF, WBA and WBO Light Heavyweight World titles, taking place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday, November 8 is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Main Events in association with Caesars Atlantic City, Corona Extra, AT&T and Hortitsia Vodka.
Tickets priced at $300, $200, $150, $100 and $50, plus applicable fees and service charges, go on sale on Friday, Sept. 5 at noon ET and will be available for purchase at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.mainevents.com, www.hbo.com/boxing or http://www.boardwalkhall.com/.
Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/main_events, www.twitter.com/hboboxing,www.twitter.com/THEREALBHOP, www.twitter.com/krusherkovalev and www.twitter.com/BoardwalkHall.
Become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/maineventsboxing, www.facebook.com/hboboxing and https://www.facebook.com/BoardwalkHall.