By Ryan Burton

Unified light heavyweight title holder Sergey Kovalev and former world champion Jean Pascal will clash for a second time on January 30th at the Bell Centre for the Unified WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship. The event will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

While Pascal (30-3-1, 17 K.-O.), the former WBC, IBO and The Ring light heavyweight world champion, vowed to surprise Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 K.-O.), who is the current WBO and IBF light heavyweight world title holder, as well as the WBA Super World light heavyweight champ, the Canadian boxer also said that he would “teach him respect, and to respect Canadian boxing fans”.

Earlier this year, on March 14 at Montreal’s Bell Centre, Kovalev beat Pascal by TKO in the 8th round. But Pascal’s side said the 35-year-old Quebec-based boxer would make amends this time around.

Since the first Kovalev-Pascal fight, Kovalev beat Nadjib Mohammedi (37-4-0, 23 KO) by knockout in the third round on July 25 in Las Vegas, while Pascal beat Yunieski Gonzalez (16-1-0, 12 KO) by unanimous decision in 10 rounds while fighting on the same card.

Pascal said he will leave home for the next two months to prepare in the United States for the January 30 fight. He will spend part of his camp south of the border with Freddie Roach, his new trainer.