Thursday 1 June 2017 17:44, UK
Sergey Kovalev says he wants to "destroy" Andre Ward and branded his American opponent a "fake champion" ahead of this month's rematch.
The Russian can avenge his razor thin points defeat to Ward when they meet again in Las Vegas on June 18, live on Sky Sports.
Kovalev has continued to dispute the decision angrily after losing his unbeaten record and three world light-heavyweight titles.
"I don't like this guy [Ward] and I want to punish him because he puts his nose really up right now. He knows that he lost," said Kovalev at a media workout.
For me he is not a champion, he's a fake champion.
"I want to destroy him. I want to destroy this guy as a boxer, as a champion.
"For me, he is not a champion, he's a fake champion. He lives right now with this status; he's a fake champion. He believes in his victory over me and right now he's trying to get belief of people of this victory. It's wrong, for me, it's wrong."
The 34-year-old insists he "over-trained" for the first fight and did not have the energy to pursue a stoppage after flooring Ward in the second round.
"I thought that if knockdown can happen [once], it can happen again," he said.
"I tried not to rush, but I didn't know that my energy will finish in the fifth round. In the fifth round, I lost the speed, I lost the energy and I was empty, 100 per cent empty.
"Andre Ward got, like, four rounds of victory with empty Kovalev, we'll see what happens on June 17."
