By Jake Donovan, Photos by Rich Graessle/Main Events

 

Sergei Kovalev and Gabriel Campillo both successfully made weight for Saturday's light heavyweight showdown at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

 

Both fighters came in right at the divisional limit of 175 lb. for their scheduled 10-round bout, which headlines the 2013 season premiere of NBC Sports Network Fight Night series.

 

Kovalez (19-0-1, 17KO) makes his second straight appearance on the series. The transplanted Russian - who now calls Ft. Lauderdale, FL home - was supposed to fight Campillo (21-4-1, 8KO) in September, but was forced to settle for a replacement opponent when the former light heavyweight champ suffered an injury. Kovalev made the most of the opportunity, taking out Lionel Thompson inside of three rounds at Sands Resort in Bethlehem, PA.

 

Campillo hasn't fought since last year's highly controversial points loss to Tavoris Cloud, the second time he was robbed blind in a title fight. The Spanish southpaw lost his title status in Jan. 2010, landing on the wrong end of a horribly scored split decision in his rematch with Beibut Shumenov.

 

In the co-feature, Elvin Ayala faces Curtis Stevens in a scheduled 10-round regional middleweigh title fight. Both fighters weighed 159 lb.

 

Ayala (26-5-2, 12KO) has won six straight and enjoys home court advantage of sorts, as he is a regular at Mohegan Sun as well as Foxwoods Casino. The New Haven, Conn. native enters the fight just days after celebrating his 32nd birthday.

 

Stevens (22-3, 16KO) made his ring return last March, signing with Main Events after a contractual dispute with his previous promoter put the Brooklynite on the shelf for two years. He has only fought one total round since then, scoring a 1st round knockout of Romaro Johnson in his home borough of Brooklyn.

 

The show marks the one-year anniversary of the NBC Sports Network series.

 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox