Beterbiev turns down Kovalev offer (per Rafael)

[Ham Porter]

Haymon sussed that Duva made this offer so that they could have made a voluntary defence on HBO instead of an inevitable mandatory defence where the fight would have been up for grabs via a purse bid.

It's pretty obvious what's going on here. Big Gay Al's going after Duva and is looking for Kovalev to give up his titles to avoid further purse bids in future.

[Jc8804]

Per Kathy Duva, Beterbiev/@yvonmichel rejected ***39;very fair***39; offer for Sept. Kovalev fight. Prefer to fight IBF elim rather than for 3 titles.

— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) August 5, 2015

Not at all surprised Beterbiev turned down Kovalev fight. But why go for IBF elimination 1st when u can go straight for IBF belt & 2 others?

— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) August 5, 2015

Disappointing but not unexpected, wonder if B-Hop will take the Beterbiev fight

Haymon Got his guys swerving everyone. Wont work with anyone.

Trying to be boxings ufc. Pbc will have their own titles by next summer ..

[kafkod]

Guessing Haymon wants a purse bid to show this fight on pbc.

I'll wait to hear Michel's & Beterbiev's side as I tend to think Duva is a twit so I wouldn't be shocked if there was something nutty that came up.

I'd also just assume there is more money in it for all parties to get HBO & PBC both bidding on this fight once Beterbiev is the mandatory & for Michel & Beterbiev that could end up with Kov just dropping a title to avoid fighting off of HBO which helps them get paid more for less risk.

Plus the Bhop fight could enhance Beterbiev's rep so he'd get paid more for a Kov fight later too. And then there is just the general consensus that believes Beterbiev's chances only get better vs Kov if this fight happens a year from now instead of now.

All in all I'd rather have seen that fight now, but I understand there is like 3 levels of politricks involved (HBO vs PBC, Michel & Haymon vs Duva, Promoters & HBO/PBC vs Alphabet groups) + the money + the risk/reward for Beterbiev now vs a year from now.

Haymon sussed that Duva made this offer so that they could have made a voluntary defence on HBO instead of an inevitable mandatory defence where the fight would have been up for grabs via a purse bid.

It's pretty obvious what's going on here. Big Gay Al's going after Duva and is looking for Kovalev to give up his titles to avoid further purse bids in future.

Kovalev's next fight will still be in Russia. If he's a hit over there - and I think he will be - Duva can get some of that Russian money behind him and she won't have to worry about losing purse bids to Haymon any more.

[Eff Pandas]

Kovalev's next fight will still be in Russia. If he's a hit over there - and I think he will be - Duva can get some of that Russian money behind him and she won't have to worry about losing purse bids to Haymon any more.

Isn't that Russian billionaire guy just a Povetkin fanboy basically? Who else has he swooped in outta the blue & scored the purse bid for besides Povetkin? I'm not recalling off the top of my head if he has, but I see that guy as more an anomaly then a mainstay in boxing & I'd be surprised if he got involved widely in the sport. Maybe some **** idk about him too idk.

[SlySlickSmooth]

Beterbiev's management is better off letting him get more seasoned. Kovalev has bigger fish to fry.

[NEETzsche]

on the one hand, it's probably better for beterbiev's career to stay away from kovalev for now, but on the other hand, that might have been the only opportunity there will ever be to get this fight made...

[Chrismart]

Could see that coming really.

Probably a good thing from Beterbiev's point of view. He's good, but there is another tier of fighters at 175 he should face before stepping it up against the real top guys. IMO.

[kafkod]

Isn't that Russian billionaire guy just a Povetkin fanboy basically? Who else has he swooped in outta the blue & scored the purse bid for besides Povetkin? I'm not recalling off the top of my head if he has, but I see that guy as more an anomaly then a mainstay in boxing & I'd be surprised if he got involved widely in the sport. Maybe some **** idk about him too idk.

I'm not an expert on the Russian scene, but I read up about Andrey Ryabinski after he won the Wlad/Povetkin purse bid, and he is more than just a Povetkin fanboy.

He is an ex boxer who is passionate about the sport as a whole and on a mission to make pro boxing as big as possible in Russia. He's promoted many other shows over there.

Another Russian promoter, Wlad Hrunov, teamed up with Frank Warren and was ready to put in a $19 million bid to stage Wlad/Fury in Russia. This was the reason K2 and Mick Hennessy decided to negotiate a deal at the last minute instead of letting the purse bid go ahead.

Hrunov has lodge a protest with the WBA over that because he says the deadline had already expired before the deal was finalized.

[The Big Dunn]

Per Kathy Duva, Beterbiev/@yvonmichel rejected ***39;very fair***39; offer for Sept. Kovalev fight. Prefer to fight IBF elim rather than for 3 titles.

— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) August 5, 2015

Not at all surprised Beterbiev turned down Kovalev fight. But why go for IBF elimination 1st when u can go straight for IBF belt & 2 others?

— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) August 5, 2015

Disappointing but not unexpected, wonder if B-Hop will take the Beterbiev fight

Good move by Bieterbiev. Kov should not be rewarded after shamefully asking out of the purse bid and cowardly calling out someone other than Stevenson.

[.:: JSFD26 ::.]

Lol if Beterbiev was anyone else it'd be called a duck. But since he's becoming a hype job himself.... "it's ok" I guess.