As confirmed in a previous interview, a date of November 19 has been pencilled in for the eagerly-awaited contest, which hinges on WBO, WBA and IBF champion Kovalev coming through Isaac Chilemba next month and pound for pound star Ward winning his next outing.
Speculation over the venue has been rife for weeks, with New York and Las Vegas the frontrunners, although the latter has now been set aside for what many believe will be the biggest night of boxing in 2016.
“We have reserved the T-Mobile Arena in anticipation of the fight happening on November 19th,” Duva exclusively told World Boxing News on Friday.
“Of course, Kovalev and Ward must win their interim fights, but we are now making plans in the hope that it will all work out.
“This is boxing, of course. So we always knock on wood and cross our fingers when we say that!”
Ward is still searching for his warm-up fight, which should take place by August at the latest in order to allow the American plenty of recovery and training time for Kovalev, as the 32 year-old bids to conquer a second weight class.
Russian Kovalev, 33, has a homecoming date with tough challenger Chilemba to deal with first, but once manoeuvred, the boxing fraternity can look forward to a massive collision of two modern day greats – which will surely light up the famous Nevada strip in the late fall.
