International Boxing Hall of Famer Buddy McGirt says his charge, Sergey Kovalev, is as good as ever as the 36-year-old prepares to face the challenge of London’s Anthony Yarde on Saturday.

The pair meet in Russia, with Kovalev’s critics saying he has not been living the life and that he’s a declining fighter.

McGirt, who landed in Russia on Tuesday, begs to differ.

“I look at him in the gym and when a fighter starts to slide you look for certain things,” McGirt explained. “If you don’t see those things then you say, ‘Okay, we keep on moving.’

“You’ve just got to know not to go overboard at this stage of his career.”

Yarde is the underdog. He’s not boxed anywhere near Kovalev’s level but the WBO light heavyweight champion’s coach is paying him plenty of respect.

“We know we’ve got our work cut out for us on Saturday, it’s no secret,” McGirt added.

“We know we’ve got a tough fight ahead of us and we’re prepared, and he’s going to do what he has to do to retain his championship.”

While many have raved over Kovalev’s power, with 28 early wins in his 33 victories, McGirt contends there is one punch in particular that will unsettle the challenger.

“It’s not even the power, it’s the jab,” he continued. “When he gets hit with the jab, the jab is unbelievable.”

McGirt admits that he’s not done a great deal of homework on Yarde. However, he insists that Kovalev is not looking a fight ahead given that he’s been linked to a money-spinning showdown with Canelo Alvarez should he come through.

“I haven’t really studied [Yarde] if you want the honest to God truth, I’m not going to lie to you,” said McGirt.

“I told [Kovalev], ‘Listen, Canelo is not on our radar right now. There’s only one person on our radar and that’s Yarde’. And he said, ‘Buddy, no problem’. And since then, we never talked about Canelo.”

The bout will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the U.S. and BT Sport in the U.K.

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