Wednesday 14 June 2017 22:40, UK
Sergey Kovalev says he is the rightful owner of the light-heavyweight world championship belts which he lost to Andre Ward after a contentious fight last November.
And the Russian fighter is adamant the belts will be restored to him when he takes on Ward again in Saturday night's eagerly-anticipated Las Vegas rematch, live on Sky Sports.
Kovalev put his WBA, IBF and WBO titles on the line last November against the unbeaten Ward but looked likely to retain them when he knocked his opponent down in the second.
But the American recovered to claim victory via a unanimous points decision, a verdict which Kovalev has bitterly criticised.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ ahead of the rematch, he said: "He (Ward) is for me a paper champion, because he didn't deserve any belts in the light heavyweight division.
"I hope it was not my last knockdown. I will try to repeat it much more often in the rematch."
Kovalev agreed that there is now some bad blood between the fighters, adding: "We don't like each other, of course, because we are fighters and right now we are fighting for the belts.
"I want to get my belts back and he wants to defend them. But he is a paper champion, he will not defend these titles because they are really my belts."
Asked why he had been unable to finish Ward off in their first meeting, Kovalev explained: "Andre Ward is a good fighter.
"He was best at super-middleweight and it is not easy to stop him when you want.
"I tried to finish him in the second round after knocking him down but I didn't rush it and thought I could do it later but, in the fifth round, I lost my energy."
However, the 34-year-old is not planning to fall short on Saturday night, when he will get his second chance to hand Ward a first ever loss.
"Last time, I lost my belts by a wrong decision," said Kovalev.
"But I don't think it will be a wrong decision (on Saturday) because there will be other judges who don't make mistakes... I hope!"
Watch Ward v Kovalev II live from Las Vegas on Sky Sports 1 HD from 2am on Sunday.
