Sergey Kovalev, Eleider Alvarez, Main Events CEO Kathy Duva, Dmitry Bivol and the Manager of Dmitry Bivol (Vadim Kornilov) and Isaac Chilemba all participated in a conference call ahead of the "Super Men" card on August 4. You can see highlights below:
Kathy Duva, CEO Main Events:
"Thanks so much for joining in on this beautiful summer day. It is terrific to be putting a show back in Atlantic City. Back in the Etess Arena. Back in a place where a lot of us started out working with our good friends Bernie Dillon, Sharon Pearce and all the other nice people from Hard Rock who we know from way back when. It is always comfortable and feels right for me whenever we end up in Atlantic City where we began. Where we had so many terrific fights. Where Sergey has had so many terrific fights, including his double-title-winning battle with Bernard Hopkins. Where all the great Gatti fights took place. It's been a while. We've been away for four years and we're really happy to see the city coming back on an upswing. That has a lot to do with the good people at Hard Rock who have hit the ground running in the last few weeks with this newly renovated - to the point of you can't recognize it anymore - property.
"The advent of sports betting in New Jersey is another big hook that is going to make Atlantic City a destination for boxing again and we're really happy that we can be part of it. Now that we're back in New Jersey, we have a truly international card and fighters from all over the world, literally fighting for light heavyweight supremacy. Two world title fights. One, of course, Sergey Kovalev versus Eleider Alvarez. Krusher versus the Storm. We also have Dmitry Bivol versus Isaac Chilemba in another terrific light heavyweight title fight. I've said all there is to say. It is a really outstanding card from top to bottom, including our undercard fights but today we're going be talking just about the fighters in the main event and the co-feature."
Dmitry Bivol, WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion:
"First thing I'd like to say is to say thank you. I'm very happy to box again. Not a long time ago I was boxing in New York City and now I get to box again in the tri-state area. I want to thank, certainly, all the people that put the fight together such as the Kathy Duva, of course, World of Boxing Promotion and Main Events promotion. And of course, my opponent's team for accepting this fight."
Vadim Kornilov, Manager of Dmitry Bivol:
"Thank you everybody. It's a pleasure to be here and I appreciate everybody who took part in putting this fight together. The is another great event and we're looking forward to a great new casino and fighting live on HBO. It is a pleasure to be part of the Kovalev card again. Definitely, we appreciate Kathy Duva and Andrey Ryabinski and World of Boxing and Main Events for having a great partnership together."
Kathy Duva:
"Thank you so much Vadim for your kind words. We've been working with World of Boxing now for a little over a year and it's been a pleasure and we look forward to having it continue."
Question:
"Dmitry, there are no shortage of fans and media who believe that right now, you are the best at 175 pounds. I wonder if you believe that, right now, are you the best at 175 pounds?"
Dmitry Bivol:
"I do not think that now I am the best light heavyweight but I am now one of the best. One of four guys but I hope in not far future, we will know who is the best."
Question:
"Dmitry, are you on a collision course with Sergey Kovalev. You're not going to look past your foe August 4th but most people expect you to win. Are you on a collision course with Sergey Kovalev?"
Dmitry Bivol:
"Most likely this fight is gonna happen since both Sergey and I are HBO boxers and as long as that's what the people want, most likely the fight will happen. Me and Sergey will make sure to give this fight to the people. And as far as it goes for winning on the 4th, of course I do believe in my victory on the 4th of August."
Question:
"Dmitry as one of the best light heavyweights in the world, do you feel that it's time that you headline your own HBO telecast before you fight Sergey Kovalev?"
Dmitry Bivol:
"It would be great, of course, to be a headliner. It's a great status thing but honestly, I don't really think about that. I'm not really worried about being the headliner. What I want to do is show good fights to the fans and make sure that they like my fights."
Question:
"What do you think about Isaac Chilemba as a fighter? Do you believe that he could pose any difficulties that you haven't seen yet as a professional?
Dmitry Bivol:
"I respect Isaac Chilemba because he took many fights against the best fighters like Sergey Kovalev. He fought for three belts with Sergey Kovalev and this fight was 12 rounds. I know he has good experience. He can move backward and he can move forward. He can fight all 12 rounds. Of course, he is serious opponent for me. But I believe in my victory because I have a good team and I have a good training camp. I win my belt and want to keep it long. I don't want to give my belt to someone."
Question:
"Kathy, how important is it for Main Events to possibly hold all four of the light heavyweight titles at the same time? Is that a goal of Main Events?"
Kathy Duva:
"That's certainly a goal of Sergey's and he's made it very clear to me that that's what he wants to do. He wants to do unification fights if he is successful with Eleider Alvarez. That's what he wants to do next; he's been very clear about that. That's what he's wanted to do ever since he won the first title and I don't think he's lost his desire to achieve that goal."
