Comments Thread For: Kovalev: If Ward Retires - Everyone Will Realize He is a Coward!

[Nomadic]

Interesting how fighters like Floyd, Ward, and Marquez are being called cowards by guys they already stepped into a ring with and beat🤔

I'm clueless also, just don't get it.

[truefan]

Kovalev lost! Work on your stamina and make sure you do not gas out next time.

Sergey Kovalev (30-1, 26 KOs) has heard the recent rumblings regarding IBF, WBA, WBO light heavyweight champion Andre Ward (31-0, 15KOs). Last month, Ward won a close and controversial twelve round unanimous decision over Kovalev at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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[Motorcity Cobra]

The Russian boxer posted videos to his personal social media accounts, and he says the videos clearly show Ward behaving like a defeated fighter - until he was announced as the winner.

"I can show you the videos on my Instragram account. He was shocked that he was awarded the victory. You can clearly see, the man was walking around like he lost, and then when the official made his announcement [his entire demeanor changed]."

Now that I know he has instagram video proof this changes everything!!!!!!

[Illmatic94]

slappin' soggy don't have to retire to be marked as a coward he has had the style of a coward since day 1 of his " career"

if fighting like a coward means you get to be undefeated, make millions and be recognized as #1 pound for pound by most of your peers..then where do i sign up?

[Bronx2245]

Main Events doesn't have no money to win purse bids against Al Haymon, so if Kovalev tied with HBO contract and the fight is supposed to be on Showtime (because of Al Haymon's terms), they'd gift all these belts to Stevenson even without Kovalev/Stevenson fight. Main Events is too poor to dictate their own terms and they don't want to give their rivals an opportunity to take the belts without fighting. So yeah, you can call it a business move

That's basic knowledge, I was thinking everybody knows that

It's HOW Duva did it, that bothers me! She talked a lot of ****, requested to be the mandatory, tried to imply that Stevenson didn't want the fight, and then bails on the purse bid at the last minute! WBC was onboard, Haymon was onboard, Stevenson was onboard, and Main Events backed out! Therefore Duva and Kovalev are not in a position to call Ward a coward as he attempts to get more money (which is all he is doing when he talks about retirement) for a rematch! On another note, props to K2 for making a fight between GGG (HBO/K2)) and Jacobs (Showtime/Haymon)! Main Events, take notes!

[g27region]

It's HOW Duva did it, that bothers me! She talked a lot of ****, requested to be the mandatory, tried to imply that Stevenson didn't want the fight, and then bails on the purse bid at the last minute! WBC was onboard, Haymon was onboard, Stevenson was onboard, and Main Events backed out! Therefore Duva and Kovalev are not in a position to call Ward a coward as he attempts to get more money (which is all he is doing when he talks about retirement) for a rematch! On another note, props to K2 for making a fight between GGG (HBO/K2)) and Jacobs (Showtime/Haymon)! Main Events, take notes!

I feel like a Kovalev is not likeable as a person (sounds like I'm making an excuses for defending him like "he's not likeable though"), but I'm not a hater to call him on a stuff like that because he's not responsible for **** that Duva is talking. She's probably giving him crumbles too.

But I can't blame her from backing down from purse bid, because Main Events didn't have the other option - they're poor (their champion makes way LESS money than a contender), they'd lose these belts without a fight because Kovalev is tied with HBO and that is the main reason why Stevenson/Kovalev won't happen in the near future, not because Stevenson or Kovalev are scared of each other or **** like that

It's all just business moves and that was a logical thing for Main Events to do

[Bronx2245]

I feel like a Kovalev is not likeable as a person (sounds like I'm making an excuses for defending him like "he's not likeable though"), but I'm not a hater to call him on a stuff like that because he's not responsible for **** that Duva is talking. She's probably giving him crumbles too.

But I can't blame her from backing down from purse bid, because Main Events didn't have the other option - they're poor (their champion makes way LESS money than a contender), they'd lose these belts without a fight because Kovalev is tied with HBO and that is the main reason why Stevenson/Kovalev won't happen in the near future, not because Stevenson or Kovalev are scared of each other or **** like that

It's all just business moves and that was a logical thing for Main Events to do

I totally agree with you on Main Events and the business move they made. I just think that in this case, when it's Ward trying to make a business move, Kovalev is a hypocrite to call Ward a coward! The people I am mad at most are detailed here:

July 27, 2015:

To be clear, this column isn’t a defense of Stevenson. Far from it. Since taking the WBC version of the 175-pound title from Chad Dawson in 2013, Stevenson has placed the belt in protective custody. A banner, Fighter of the Year ’13 was followed by an abysmal ’14, with a pair of title defenses against inferior opponents. His ducking of Kovalev became comical; an HBO fighter throughout all of ’13, Stevenson reneged on a handshake agreement to fight Kovalev in early ’14, signed with Al Haymon and fled to Showtime. He has long claimed he wanted the fight but his actions are those of a man who wants nothing to do with it.

Still, Stevenson isn’t blocking a light heavyweight unification fight today. Instead, that blame falls squarely on the shoulders of Kovalev, Main Events and HBO. Last March, the WBC, in a rare decision, ordered Stevenson to defend his title against Kovalev. A purse bid was ordered. The fight seemed closer than ever. Then, suddenly, Main Events backed out. Main Events CEO Kathy Duva cited Kovalev’s contract with HBO. If Main Events lost the purse bid, Kovalev would be forced to fight on another network, something, Duva said, that was contractually prohibited.

That HBO would want to broadcast Kovalev-Stevenson is understandable. The network has invested time and resources in building Kovalev into a mainstream star. Yet if the network wanted the fight badly enough it would have offered Duva the financial support to compete with a Haymon-fueled purse bid, a bid that likely would have exceeded $5 million. And if it didn’t, well, there are solid reasons why it would benefit HBO to get out of the way.

Consider: A Haymon-won purse bid would have led to Kovalev-Stevenson airing on CBS or NBC, two networks that have sold airtime to Haymon for his PBC series. Slap Kovalev-Stevenson on network TV in primetime and it would register a huge rating; conservatively, say, 2.5 million viewers, an audience that vastly exceeds any that Kovalev draws on HBO. The winner—and let’s be real, Kovalev would be a heavy favorite to pound Stevenson into submission—would emerge a far bigger star than he was coming in.

This is why HBO’s decision to block the purse bid is perplexing. And to be clear, it is HBO. Main Events is the face of this, but Duva is simply marching to HBO’s tune. With Haymon gobbling up most of the television real estate, license fees from HBO have become Main Events’s largest source of income. Think Duva fears a Haymon-won purse bid? Come on. A bigger bid puts more money in her pocket. What she fears is damaging the company’s relationship with HBO. Said Duva, “We were not going to destroy our relationship with HBO over a fight that might not even happen.”

Yet for HBO to stand between a Kovalev-Stevenson fight is remarkably shortsighted. Yes, it would lose a significant show. But it would not lose Kovalev. A mandatory fight does not include a rematch clause. Kovalev recently re-signed a long term deal with Main Events. He is fiercely loyal to his longtime manager, Egis Klimas. He isn’t joining forces with Haymon. A Stevenson fight is a one-off. Kovalev wins, and he returns to HBO a much bigger star.

Think about what HBO could do with that. The network is building towards an eventual Kovalev showdown with super middleweight kingpin Andre Ward. A rematch with Jean Pascal is appealing; the first fight drew 1.15 million viewers. Exposing Kovalev to a network audience in 2015 would result in a huge ratings boost for HBO in 2016, and beyond.

http://www.si.com/boxing/2015/07/27/...tevenson-fight

[NEETzsche]

The build-up to the rematch (if it happens) is going to be so much better than the build-up to the first fight. I don't know if that will translate to more PPV buys, but it will undoubtedly cause a ****show here on NSB

Ward should be grateful that Kovalev is promoting the fight for him

[PunchyPotorff]

To me, he has also been about legacy. But I concur that he doesn't care what fans think of him. To me, that's why he has so many detractors. In boxing, it seems to be frowned upon if you treat boxing like it's your profession and not like your lifeblood.

As much whining as Ward has done about not being respected as the winner vs Kovalev... don't tell me he doesn't let the fans get to him. He knows he lost, and he's straight up pulling a Bradley move after Pac I. Won't stop blabbering about how we should respect his win. He basically even demands it. Fek that. If he doesn't rematch Kovalev, anyone with a pulse should read that as a duck. No excuses.

[Liondw]

As I mentioned in another comment, many rounds were so difficult to score and give to either fight, but I will say that the rounds Kovalev won were probably a bit clearer than the rounds Ward won but it was so close. A 15 round fight or even if they came up with a 13 or 14 rounds maximum would help to decide these types of fights where 12 rounds are not quite enough, like the De La Hoya-Quartey fight for example, it could have done with another round.