Former light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) will move up to the cruiserweight division to face Sullivan Barrera (22-3, 14 KOs) in a 12-round fight that will be held at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino on Saturday April 25th. This will be a pivotal battle in both fighters careers as the winner could be in position to be a contender for a world title later this year.

Kovalev will have his first fight since his battle against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez last November, where he lost by knockout for the WBO light heavyweight title. He had won it back from Eleider Alvarez last February and defended it against Anthony Yarde before losing the belt to Canelo. It was a definitive loss that Kovalev suffered in November, but he feels that he is ready to get back in the ring.

“I am happy to get back in the ring and to be on my way back to world championship bouts,” said Kovalev. “Barrera is a Cuban fighter, and even though I never faced any Cuban fighters as a professional, back in amateur days it was always Russian boxers competing with Cuban boxers, so I’m looking forward to remembering my amateur boxing. I’m very glad to be back and to bring my boxing to my fans on April 25th.”

Barrera is also looking to rebound from a loss in his last fight. He was defeated by Jesse Hart by unanimous decision in Las Vegas last June. Barrera is a former world title contender in the light heavyweight division but was unsuccessful against WBA champion Dmitry Bivol. He hopes to have a better campaign in the cruiserweight division, and a win over Kovalev would definitely be a great start.

“This will be the most important fight of my career because I have always pursued a fight with Sergey Kovalev,” Barrera said. “I know that he has to win this fight in order to continue with his career, but the case is the same with me. It is very important to win this fight, which for me would be like becoming a world champion. That’s what it means for me to finally face Kovalev. I also want to thank Golden Boy for believing in me and my team, and for giving us the opportunity that we have always wanted, which is to fight Kovalev.”

Kathy Duva, who is the CEO of Main Events, has anticipated this fight happening for a while. “Because Sullivan Barrera spent most of his professional career with Main Events, a fight between Kovalev and Barrera is something that we naturally anticipated would happen for a very long time,” Duva said. “This is a really solid fight between two action fighters who have never turned down a challenge.”

This definitely will be a fight full of action, and with so much on the line both Kovalev and Barrera will do what it takes to come out victorious.