:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51167757/GettyImages-508432600.0.jpg)
We're now just a little over a month away from the big showdown between light heavyweights Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward which will take place on Nov. 19th. And leading into the fight Kovalev is showing that he's not going to succumb to any potential Jedi mind tricks in the pre-fight promotion.
After Ward said that he took the fight against Kovalev after only having watched him fight once in person, Kovalev responded by intimating that he's not going to take any bait from Ward, telling Sky Sports:
"I don't think at all what Ward is doing, I don't think," Kovalev exclusively told Sky Sports. "I'm thinking only about me, what I'm going to do. I don't care about what Andre Ward thinks.
"I don't know what he's watching or I don't care what he's watching. My goal is to get victory and not to think about what Andre Ward is watching or not watching, what he's doing. I'm just working now on my body, on my shape."
Kovalev himself mentions that even he isn't putting much stock into Ward's past fights, including Ward getting dropped by Darnell Boone back in 2005. In fact, Kovalev says that before Ward's fights against Alexander Brand and Sullivan Barrera, he's never even watched a Ward fight.
So are these claims about hardly scouting one another supposed to downplay their concerns heading into their biggest fight, or could they just be the simple truth? It seems to me that neither fighter is going to have much success getting into the head of their opponent before the opening bell rings. Luckily for us, they'll be enough drama to unfold in between the ropes on fight night.