ave been among the best in boxing for the past several years, but when they fight each other in a bout that could crown a new pound-for-pound king on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, it will be the first appearance for both of them on pay-per-view, where the true riches a

LAS VEGAS -- Unified light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev and former super middleweight world champion Andre Ward have been among the best in boxing for the past several years, but when they fight each other in a bout that could crown a new pound-for-pound king on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, it will be the first appearance for both of them on pay-per-view, where the true riches are for fighters -- if they can sell themselves and their event.Both boxers have contracts with HBO, which has been building up to this fight for the past 18 months with each fighting two interim bouts this year. Kovalev had title defenses against Jean Pascal in January and Isaac Chilemba in July. Ward routed Sullivan Barrera in March and Alexander Brand in August as he got used to fighting at 175 pounds after moving up in weight.None of those interim bouts were must-see TV. Kovalev and Ward were enormous favorites and wound up winning easily and with no drama and little excitement.But now Kovalev and Ward will have a chance to see if fans are willing to shell out an extra $60 or so to see them ply their trade against each other in an A-plus matchup with Kovalevs three world title belts on the line. Its viewed by many as a 50-50 fight with the winner potentially garnering support to take over boxings No. 1 pound-for-pound ranking.Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs), who will be making his ninth title defense, said he is excited to perform on pay-per-view for the first time and that while he trained the way he always does, there was a lot more promotional work for this bout than a non-PPV fight -- not that he is complaining.Sure, HBO Pay-Per-View is very important to me; this is big deal, Kovalev said. This is my first pay-per-view fight. I think all fighters goal is to be a pay-per-view fighter, but it takes hard work and not everybody can do this. For this fight I did more interviews than before because we want to get more fans, but this is part of my job.The additional media demands made it a bit more difficult because Kovalev, 33, is from Russia and although he has lived for several years in the United States -- first in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and now in Los Angeles -- English does not come easily to him, although it has improved dramatically over time.I am still learning English. I try to learn more all the time. I am more used to this now, so it becomes little more easy speaking English for interviews, Kovalev said. I know its important because I wan