By Konstantin Ustyantsev (Championat.com) and Alexey Sukachev

This past Saturday night, WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) crushed his IBF mandatory challenger Nadjib Mohammedi (37-4, 23 KOs) of France within three painful (for the Frenchman) rounds. After the fight he talked to Konstantin Ustyantsev of the Championat about his latest ring appearance.

- Was your opponent much easier than you had thought before?

- I expected a lot more from him. I was prepared for a difficult, awkward opponent. I missed a lot. Usually I land right on point, but this time I felt that I was missing a lot. The Frenchman was unorthodox, and that why he was so uncomfortable. I tried to outbox him but I lacked a bit sharpness and abruptness. I was lacking to a certain degree – not because of psychology but more of the lack of sleep. It doesn’t matter at all – just subtle details. In fact I was as good as I could probably be. I was carrying 184 pounds when usually I weigh around 190 lbs.

I got the rid of all inconsistencies and blemishes in my preparation, and I even had a breakfast and a dinner on the weigh-in day, and I drank water. Before the Pascal fight I had not been eating or drinking for two days, trying my best to make the weight limit. With the help of correct nutrition, which I have taken up recently, I tipped the scales with ease.

- Mohammedi, which you had seen beforehand, was different to the one you had actually fought or not?

- I don’t study my opponents precisely. I need just a couple of rounds to understand my rival’s style, movements, manner of fighting and also his faults. It takes five minutes to understand this. In the fight it was all the same. Though they have studied me, they were unable to surprise me, to offer me something to be concerned about. I thought (Abel) Sanchez, who is pretending to have coached me, would tell them something useful but he doesn’t know me at all so he was unable to tell him anything about me. I can find a proper exit in every moment. So much time has passed [since I worked under Sanchez], I have changed, got better.

- You hit him with a really nasty punch when you scored the first knockdown?

- I rocked him with the first shot, then landed two less meaningful punches, and then dropped him with the right to the ear. I told him: “C’mon, get up! You are the world champion, aren’t you?!”. I was emotional. I wished I could box more but I was overplaying a bit. My main goal was to break his nose but instead I damaged his eye, though his manager told afterwards that he was thumbed [in the eye]. How in the world could I thumb him into the left eye with my left hand?

- Why were you unable to finish him off in the second? From this side it appeared as if he was desperately looking for the fifth corner.

- He was somehow approaching me but not with punches, only trying to give himself a break, to find shelter, to survive. I was unable to break the clinch and get out at a distance, so I was forced to work with him in close quarters. He was wobbling throughout the entire round. I was issued a warning but I didn’t notice it, I was anxious to continue beating him. Surely I wished the fight to be longer, but on the other hand I was willing to make him eat his words, to punish him because he had crowned himself a champ before the fight. He already wrapped himself in “belts”, “titles”. But it’s not that easy to become a champion. I walked a long path to get those titles.

- You called this fight a sparring session. Was it that easy?

- Yes, it was. It was just another short sparring session only to rest a bit after it and to go back home.

- Did Mohammedi tell you anything afterwards?

- He wasn’t been even present at the presser after the fight. When I came to Max Kellerman for a brief ringside interview, Mohammedi shook my hand and told me I was a strong opponent. I told him never to cackle till his egg is laid. I hope it would be a good lesson for him. I don’t like those wannabes, who pretend to be champs before the fight. I understand he was trying to sell the fight but he shouldn’t have behaved that way with me. One should always be ready to back up his words once he is asked about them.

I never looked into his eyes, in his face during those face-offs at the weigh-in or at the pressers. When the referee told us to shake hands before the fight I was still glancing to the side. Then I took a second to look right into his eyes, just a second. I destroyed him with just a glance, and that was it.