Maybe the most interesting portion of Jim Lampley’s sit down with 175-pound ace Sergey Kovalev on Wednesday night’s new episode The Fight Game was the portion which touches on the fighter-trainer dynamic.

Kovalev has for most of his career been tutored by ex-154-pound standout John David Jackson. Of late, chatter hangs over the head of that relationship. In fact, getting wind of supposed ill will between coach and student, Team Ward not long ago asked if JDJ might like to jump ship and hop aboard Team Ward.

Kovalev addresses that development on the HBO magazine show. Lampley also asks him who was giving him direction in the first Ward-Kovalev bout.

Sergey Kovalev: “Uh, this guy, yeah he’s still around. He is my friend. He very good see from the side, what you should to do. He said me some tactics before the fight and I did it and I knock him down. But John don’t say me something like the right things between the rounds. Therefore, I don’t listen to John. John is just working on the mitts. I do everything in my training camp myself. Everything.”

Jim Lampley: “So whatever decisions are made in this fight are made by Sergey Kovalev.”

Hmmm…

Doesnt SOUND like the ideal state of relations between Kovalev and Jackson, does it?

Your thoughts, readers, as we are two days away from the sequel to the even Steven November face off?