American boxing wizard Andre Ward issues a warning to Sergey Kovalev and his team as he makes his grand arrival in Vegas.

Fight week buzz is well and truly underway in Las Vegas now – as both Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev have made their arrivals at the fight venue, Mandalay Bay.

Both seem very relaxed so far and in confident mood ahead of a real grudge match come Saturday.

One of the more strange story lines in the build-up to this rematch in recent times surrounded a story that alleged Ward’s team had approached Kovalev’s head coach to work with him ahead of the part two.

Something Ward laughed off and denied as simply a garbage story.

Mind games have always been part of boxing and with this being a big fight this week, expect some more subtle jabs leading up to the contest.

Speaking to the media and fans in attendance at Mandalay Bay today in Las Vegas, Ward had a simple, to the point message for Kovalev and his team on Saturday night:

“Just be there, make sure you show up June 17th. Leave you’re excuses in the hotel room. Don’t bring them.”

The tension between the two teams has been an ongoing theme for months now but it will be down to the two fighters to do the talking in the ring come Saturday.

Bookmakers seem to lean with Andre Ward at the moment, in terms of making him a slight favorite, but in our mind at least it’s a fifty-fifty matchup.

In case you didn’t see their first fight, here’s a quick look back (hat tip HBO YouTube):