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Sergey Kovalev takes tune up bout ahead of Andre Ward fight

Before signing up for what could be this year’s biggest light heavyweight fight, both fighters agreed to take tune-up fights with Kovalev going ahead with his own against Chilemba on July 11 at DIVS Sports Palace, Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Kovalev is fresh off a seventh round TKO win against Jean Pascal to retain his unified light-heavyweight titles last January at Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

It was a one-sided fight, with Kovalev piling up points over the 33-year-old Canadian-Haitian, who failed to live up to his promise to deliver a good fight for the fans.

Between the two, Ward needs more ring exposure before finally signing up to face Kovalev, who is unbeaten in 30 pro fights with 26 fights coming by way of knockout.

Ward, who is the former lineal, The Ring magazine, WBA (Super), and WBC super middleweight champion wants an interim fight before the Kovalev showdown because of his long layoff from the sport due to injury aside from the long-running feud with his former promoter.

While Ward has more justifiable reasons to do another low-key fight, Kovalev will be doing it possibly to create more excitement to their most anticipated fight which could happen later this year.

Ward is coming off a unanimous decision win over Cuban Sullivan Barrera last March at the Oracle Arena, Oakland, California.

Abel Sanchez, who trains unbeaten middleweight Gennady Golovkin, is apprehensive about Andre Ward’s readiness to face Kovalev without adequate preparation.

“I would love to see Andre have a couple more fights like the Barrera fight, where a fighter makes Andre think and try to get back those great attributes that he had in the past. If he gets a couple more fights, or even one good one like this, I think that it’s a competitive fight. If he fights him now with no other tune up fights, then I think Kovalev will be a little too much for him,” Sanchez said.

Ward, who is working on a deal to face Nathan Clevery in a tune up fight, has fought twice only since 2013 due mainly to injuries and his long-running feud with his former promoter.

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