Timing Is Everything for Light Heavyweight Boxer Sergey Kovalev

They say timing is everything in boxing. Whether it’s the precise moment a punch is thrown, the era in which a fighter is born or the circumstances in his life that lead to the important relationships he fosters with his trainer, manager and promoter.

Light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev seems to have all of it working for him. The unified WBA, WBO and IBF 175-pound champion was named the 2014 Fighter of the Year by Bleacher Report, Ring Magazine and The Sweet Science after a stellar campaign that saw him handle legendary boxer Bernard Hopkins like no one had ever done before.

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Kovalev, one of boxing’s premier knockout artists, couldn’t be happier.

“I am really happy to be blessed,” said Kovalev. “The opinion means a lot to me and pushes me to do more and better in my career. [I’m] trying to be best this year, too. My goal is to repeat my result from the last year.”

Kovalev’s first crack this year at repeating 2014 glory comes Saturday, March 14. Kovalev will defend his three alphabet titles, as well as that of being the scariest light heavyweight in the world, against former titleholder Jean Pascal in a scheduled 12-rounder on HBO World Championship Boxing. The bout will take place in front of Pascal’s home crowd in Montreal, Quebec.

According to a recent press release, John David Jackson, Kovalev’s trainer, expects a completely different kind of fight than the 12-round decision Kovalev took over Hopkins last year:

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Pascal is more of a herky-jerky type of fighter. Bernard was smoother in his approach. He was also more calculating in his risk. Pascal takes his chances because he punches without really looking at his target. He presents a different problem in the ring but it really isn't a big problem as long as Sergey sticks to the task at hand. He needs to box him and set traps for Pascal to get caught in. Pascal throws punches with his head down and he is not even looking at his opponent. He is a little more surprising than Bernard; he can throw punches from any angle in hopes of landing that shot to hurt you.

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Kovalev added that Pascal’s “power and crazy style of boxing” would be an interesting style to face on fight night. However, he would not say how he intends to attack Pascal, a fighter who relies on sheer athleticism more than the traditional boxing methods employed by Hopkins.

“I don’t know how,” Kovalev laughed. “I don’t know what I can answer for this question. For me, it doesn’t matter what the people do. I know my plan. I know what is my style. I know what is mine. I think that he will have problems when he faces me.”

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It’s hard to see how Pascal will be able to do any better than Hopkins. Pascal finished 0-1-1 against the master boxer over 2010 and 2011, and Kovalev proved himself to be the superior boxer to Hopkins last year, winning virtually every minute of every round. It wasn’t just that he defeated Hopkins. It’s that he easily outboxed him.

That was hard to imagine going into the fight. Well, hard to imagine for just about everyone except Kovalev.

“I was not surprised. I was happy," he said. "I had control of the fight. I kept my plan, and I kept my mind in the fight because how I felt that Bernard had a plan to pull me into the late rounds. I am really happy for my victory and for my fans and boxing fans, that they liked the victory. It’s a result of my training in the gym.”

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Maybe it was just good timing. While Hopkins had never been bested so easily in a professional prizefight, the future Hall of Famer was also 49 years old when the two tussled. Maybe things would have been different had Hopkins had a crack at Kovalev nearer to his prime. But he didn’t, and Kovalev wrecked him.

Kovalev, of course, is used to great timing.

If he had come along at any other time in the sport’s history, he might not have had boxing’s premier television network, HBO, behind him. Main Events CEO Kathy Duva told Bleacher Report last year that Eastern European fighters such as Gennady Golovkin helped open doors to Kovalev that would have otherwise been closed, and Golovkin’s manager, Tom Loeffler, told The Sweet Science similar things about Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko doing the same for his fighter.

According to Duva for an article I wrote for The Sweet Science, Kovalev may have never made it out of the local club show circuit had his manager, Egis Klimas, not begged his way into a meeting with Duva and matchmaker Jolene Mizzone at a Manhattan restaurant in January 2012 after being turned down by virtually every other major boxing promoter in the country.

Main Events gave Kovalev one fight to impress, a rematch with Darnell Boone, and Kovalev delivered. Duva had the wherewithal to sprint over to Klimas immediately after the Round 2 knockout to promise Kovalev a contract by Monday morning.

Now that Kovalev is in position to become one of boxing’s biggest stars, he doesn’t seem intent on squandering it either. Duva, Klimas, Kovalev and HBO know fans want to see him against the very best light heavyweights available, and all parties obliged in signing the fight against exactly that: Pascal.

“What we were offered by TV network, and then between me and the promoters talking about the fight, who else could we fight?” explained Klimas. “Who else would it be? Where would it be? Well, people could say he beat another taxi driver or another guy on the street; you know how critics are. But he wants to fight the best. He wants to be the best in the division. He needs to prove he’s the best. So basically, it wasn’t a big decision to make.”

Kovalev said he has the easy job: He fights whoever they put in front of him, something fight fans are not accustomed to seeing this day and age.

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“You know? I don’t ever choose my opponent," he noted. "It’s the job of my promoter and my manager. When they say that my next opponent is Jean Pascal, I said ‘okay,’ [and I ask] ‘when and where.’ Then I get into shape for the fight.”

And then, of course, there are Kovalev’s impressive performances in the ring. Kovalev is the type of fighter who is always on balance. His punches inevitably shake his opponent to the core, and he’s one of the few fighters in boxing capable of knocking out anyone he fights at any given moment.

For his part, Kovalev seems keenly aware of where he sits today. He knows it isn’t always about talent or ability, and he knows that timing is more important than anything in the sport of boxing, even on fight night.

“I don’t think I have a lot of power in my punches,” Kovalev confided to me as the call neared its conclusion.

“Just the timing.”

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes and information were obtained firsthand.