By Keith Idec

Sergey Kovalev obviously wants Andre Ward to win Saturday night.

It’s the only outcome that’ll enable Kovalev and Ward to proceed with their lucrative HBO Pay-Per-View fight for Kovalev’s IBF, WBA and WBO light heavyweight titles November 19 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Just don’t ask the Russian knockout artist for a prediction on the Ward-Alexander Brand bout. The 32-year-old Ward (29-0, 15 KOs), of Hayward, California, is heavily favored to beat Brand (25-1, 19 KOs), of Bogota, Colombia, in their HBO “World Championship Boxing” main event at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

“I do not make predictions,” Kovalev told BoxingScene.com. “Anything can happen in boxing. I expect this fight to be very interesting.”

This scheduled 12-round bout between the 39-year-old Brand and Ward, a 100-1 favorite according to several Internet sports books, clearly will test Kovalev’s “anything can happen in boxing” theory.

The 2004 Olympic gold medalist and former undisputed super middleweight champion has fought just twice in the past 32½ months, yet remains one of the three top boxers, pound-for-pound, in the world. The unknown Brand, six months shy of his 40th birthday, has a 25-1 record and 19 knockouts, but hasn’t fought a high level of opposition since making his pro debut in August 2009.

“I do not know anything about Brand,” said Kovalev, 33. “It is up to Ward to know about him. … Of course I want Ward to win, so we can fight in November. But I’m not nervous. I am much interested to watch this.”

Assuming Ward wins, Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) can truly start looking forward to the biggest fight of his seven-year pro career.

“Andre Ward will be the most tough opponent in my career,” Kovalev said. “He’s a very good boxer, [an] Olympic champion. I have respect for him, but I leave respect [behind] when I get in the ring.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.