By Carlos Boogs

Michael Yormark, who is Roc Nation's President & Chief of Branding and Strategy, had some choice words for Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) during their media tour.

At the Oakland Marriott in Oakland, Yormark's fighter, Andre “SOG” Ward (31-0, 15 KOs), went face to face with Kovalev for the second time this week.

Last November, Ward survived a second round knockdown to win a close twelve round unanimous decision over Kovalev to capture the IBF, WBA, WBO light heavyweight titles at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

A rematch is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 17 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Yormark responded to some of Kovalev's recent statements, including his claim that Ward has no punching power and the former champion's fear that Ward will claim an injury to withdraw from their HBO Pay-Per-View rematch.

"After Andre’s win, there was a lot of talk, a lot of debate, a lot of speculation, a lot of excuses. But Oakland doesn’t make excuses, Oakland doesn’t talk, Oakland acts," Yormark said.

“In one of his latest posts, Sergey said Andre ‘slaps like woman’. Grammatical issues aside, on behalf of all the strong Oakland women in the audience today I’d like to say ‘thank you Sergey for the compliment’. As someone who has spent the better part of the past three decades promoting sports and entertainment events, I’ll give Sergey a lot of credit – he had some great soundbites in New York yesterday. He said ‘Andre wears a crown’. Actually Sergey, they are belts, you should know, I think a couple of them used to be yours."

" He said he dislikes Andre – which brings the number of people here in Oakland today that dislike Andre up to a total of two: you and Kathy [Duva]. But in all seriousness, the stakes could not be higher for this rematch and when Sergey says Andre ‘will not show up for this fight,’ that tells me he hasn’t done his research. Andre has built his career on shining brightest in the biggest moments. June 17 is the biggest of moments - more than just wins and championship belts, this fight will ultimately dictate the fate of each fighter’s legacy."