On November 8 in Atlantic City on HBO, Bernard "The Alien" Hopkins will step in the ring with Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev, one of boxing's most prolific knockout artists. The bout is a light heavyweight unification fight, and despite the high stakes, Kovalev said he doesn't have a strategy for beating Hopkins.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I am just going for the win at any costs. If I need to fight, I will fight. If I need to box, I will box. I don't have any strategy for this fight," Kovalev said on a conference call.
"Yes, I'm going to kick his a** because he's my opponent. If I'm not going to beat him, he will beat me."
During Hopkins' portion of the conference call, he was unsurprised by Kovalev's admission of having no game plan. "Well, that is a strategy. He gave it to you already. Having no strategy is a strategy," Hopkins said.
"He feeds off what you do and how you react to him. If your scared he's going to be brave. If not, he's got to sharpen up. Your reaction is how he reacts."
Typically, Kovalev has been brave. He will enter the ring with an 88 percent knockout rate, nine-fight streak of knockout victories. Those stats don't mean Kovalev is one-dimensional, however, according to Hopkins.
"To me hes not one-dimensional. He only had to be one-dimensional because the guys he fought he knocked out," Hopkins said. "It's a unique situation and a challenge to me. I always am willing to take on the toughest, most dangerous. What else is new? I've taken on some bada**es that I didn't have to fight, but I did."
While Hopkins doesn't believe Kovalev is a one-trick pony, he did say nothing Kovalev can do in the ring will surprise him.
"I dug up amateur fights of this guy. I know how he thinks. I know everything about him. I want to know my enemy."
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