By Jake Donovan

There was a game plan in place for Sergey Kovalev when 2014 began. Win a tune-up fight, and then roll on to a highly anticipated showdown with lineal light heavyweight king Adonis Stevenson.

Those plans were shot to sunshine when Stevenson decided to team up with Al Haymon, and head across the street from HBO to Showtime.

Kovalev’s promoter, Main Events hasn’t taken kindly to the news as a lawsuit is ongoing with pretty much everyone involved in Stevenson’s career.

As for Kovalev himself? The Russian knockout artist–who now trains out of Florida and fights predominantly in the U.S.–continues on with business as usual. His 2014 debut came in March, tearing through unbeaten but overmatched Cedric Agnew in seven rounds, marking his third straight appearance on HBO but first as a headliner on the network.

Kovalev returns to HBO, as he faces another unbeaten-yet-unheralded challenger in Australia’s Blake Caparello (19-0-1, 6KOs). The bout takes place at Revel Resort in Atlantic City, his second straight appearance along the Jersey boardwalk as he finds ways to remain active while waiting for some of the best of the rest in the division to look his way.

When the day comes for stiffer challenges to step to him, Kovalev and his team will be ready.

“Whoever I put in the ring, Sergey will fight,” insists Egis Klimas, Kovalev’s manager. “He never asks about the opponent, he never turns down a fight.

“For any fight, Sergey only asks two questions: When is the fight and what should my weight be?”

There were no questions asked for this fight, as Kovalev–grateful to remain active–went straight to the gym to prepare for what he hopes to be another in a growing stretch of spectacular performances. The unbeaten light heavyweight titlist has scored eight straight knockouts, and has every intention of taking the fight out of the judges’ hands once again this weekend.

“I want to show everyone the results of my preparation this Saturday,” Kovalev (24-0-1, 22KOs) simply states. “I'm not a talker; I'm a fighter. I look forward to my next win on Saturday.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America.

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox