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If this is the one you've been waiting for, you're not alone.

The Saturday night light heavyweight title match between three-belt champion Sergey Kovalev and former 168-pound boss Andre Ward is widely considered the year's most compelling fight.

It pits two men in the primes of their careers - Kovalev turned 33 in April, Ward is 32 for another month -- who have a 60-0-1 record with 41 knockouts in a combined run that spans 19 years and has yielded five sanctioning body crowns across two weight classes.

They'll be competing at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the Russian's IBF, WBA and WBO belts at 175 pounds, a collection he started with a four-round erasure of Nathan Cleverly in 2013 and augmented a year later with a 12-round scorecard shutout of future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins.

A Kovalev win Saturday night would mean a ninth successful defense of the WBO title and a fifth of each of the IBF and WBA belts, and he's not been shy about declaring his intentions.

"I am making a great training camp to kick his ass, this is my goal," he said. "A lot of people around the world will watch this fight and I understand this, and I'm going to prove who I am."

Ward, meanwhile, enters the fray just 17 months after making a full-time move to light heavyweight following a long, distinguished run at super middleweight, where he won the WBA and WBC championships as part of the Showtime Super Six tournament from 2009 to 2011.

He defeated a then-reigning 175-pound champion -- Chad Dawson -- in a match at 168 pounds in 2012, then whipped unbeaten challenger Edwin Rodriguez over 12 rounds in his final super middleweight bout in 2013. The subsequent run at light heavyweight has included a ninth-round stoppage of Paul Smith and consecutive unanimous decisions over Sullivan Barrera and Alexander Brand.

Saturday's fight is Ward's first in Las Vegas after previous pit stops in California, Tennessee, Florida, Oregon, Connecticut and New Jersey -- not to mention Saint Lucia and the Cayman Islands.

"It's a beautiful thing to be fighting in Vegas," he said.

"I'm excited. What better time than now in this stage in my career? I'm just excited to continue to prepare so I can do my part to give the fans their money's worth, those that pay to be there and those paying to watch it. That's what I'm focused on, and I'm extremely happy to be a part of it. T-Mobile is a new arena, and a new chapter, and to be a part of it is a beautiful thing."

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Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward are ready to slug it out. Getty Images

The Kovalev-Ward fight will highlight a four-bout HBO PPV card airing Saturday at 9 p.m.

The 175-pount title match is preceded first by a 10-round middleweight encounter between failed IBO/WBA challenger Curtis Stevens and skidding fringe contender James De La Rosa, who's dropped four of seven fights since beginning his career at 20-0.

Second on the bill is a 10-rounder at 140 pounds matching unbeaten regional champion Maurice Hooker and former lightweight title claimant Darleys Perez, while the final appetizer before the main course pits summertime Kovalev victim Isaac Chilemba against streaking Ukrainian slugger Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

Gvozdyk, a bronze medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics, is ranked No. 8 by the WBO and No. 10 by the IBF. He's worked as a Kovalev sparring partner during the Russian's pre-Ward training camp and has been chatted up as a possible opponent for Saturday's winner.

"It is (a) very great experience for me," Gvozdyk said.

"He is a great fighter. When you train with a strong fighter, you (get) stronger."

Ward is a narrow favorite according to the numbers guys at sports.Bovada.lv. It'll take a $150 wager to return $100 on him, while a $100 outlay on Kovalev would return $120 for an upset.

The challenger is labeled third in the world at 175 pounds by the Independent World Boxing Rankings, which list all fighters in a weight class regardless of what title belts they hold. Kovalev is No. 2 in the same rankings, trailing only WBC claimant Adonis Stevenson.

Kovalev is 13-0 in fights against the top 50 in the weight class, while Ward's three opponents since a jump from super middleweight were ranked No. 69, 22 and 26, respectively.

Ring Magazine lists Kovalev as the world's No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter, while Ward is No. 4.

"I don't have any different strategy, my strategy is just the one, any cost to get the victory over him," Kovalev said. "He's right now in my way to my goals and to my dreams and I should to do my job and fight for my goals and for my dreams. I want to destroy him."

How does Kovalev win? Simply put, the 33-year-old Kovalev is unbeaten for a reason. He's big, strong, punches like a monster and has a subtle set of skills that bely his ominous nickname. Bernard Hopkins, to whom Ward is often compared, was expected by some to expose the Russian as a one-dimensional slugger, but came away impressed with his boxing acumen, his ability to control space and enhance pressure by cutting off the ring. If Kovalev wins the territorial war, he'll win the fight convincingly.

How does Ward win? Of course, Ward has been perpetually among top 10 pound-for-pound lists for a reason, too. He is quicker with his hands and more fluid with his feet than Kovalev, and he plays superb defense while showing zero hesitation to resort to borderline tactics -- elbows, forearms, head butts, etc. -- to further his cause. He's also been in with a consistently higher grade of opponent and should have no stage-fright issues in his first pay-per-view. If he survives or avoids Kovalev's power shots, he can out-skill him.

Prediction: Ward by decision. Saturday's winner will be the man who imposes his competitive will.

If Kovalev lands big punches and turns the fight into a slugfest, he'll retain his belts in dominant fashion. But if Ward manages to get to the halfway mark and is dictating both space and punch volume, his chances surge dramatically. The guess here is that Ward's more likely to enact his plan, frustrate Kovalev and keep away from prolonged damaging volleys. It won't be a wipeout, but look for a new champ -- perhaps in the 115-113, 116-112 range.