Kovalev, Main Events Withdraw From Stevenson Purse Bid

By Jake Donovan

The biggest fight to be made in the light heavyweight division… will have to wait a little longer, it seems.

Efforts to get World light heavyweight king Adonis Stevenson and unbeaten three-belt titlist Sergey Kovalev in the ring have proven to be an uphill struggle. The latest chapter in their growing rivalry now points to the eventual cancelation of a purse bid hearing scheduled for Friday, April 17. 

“Today we have communicated with the WBC and Yvon Michel. We informed the WBC that, while Sergey Kovalev is more anxious than ever to face Adonis Stevenson in order to become the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion by the end of 2015, he will not participate in the purse bid for the unification bout that has been ordered by the WBC,” confirmed Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events. 

As a result, Kovalev will forfeit his position as mandatory challenger to Stevenson’s WBC title. However, the withdrawal from the purse bid did not come without a counter offer.

“In a letter to Yvon Michel, we proposed to make a voluntary deal for Sergey to fight Adonis Stevenson on HBO or HBO PPV on a 50/50 basis,” informed Dvua. “In this proposal we have included provisions to determine how the various aspects of the promotion would be decided and conducted. These provisions have worked successfully in the past when Main Events participated in co-promotions of bigger events than this one with Top Rank, Golden Boy and Don King, among many others.   

“Based upon Mr. Michel’s recent statements to the media, we were very happy to learn that no contractual prohibitions exist that would prevent Adonis from fighting Sergey on HBO. So let’s make the fight!”

The view from the Stevenson side sees a fight that is ready to be made. 

“It’s disappointing. The whole process was initiated by Main Events,” points out Yvon Michel, Stevenson's longtime promoter. “It was requested at the WBC Convention (last December) for Kovalev-Pascal winner to face Adonis. (Kathy Duva) went there requesting, to force Stevenson to fight the winner, without us knowing about it, as we were preparing for Adonis' fight with Dmitry Sukhostksy. We had been informed afterward by (WBC President) Mauricio Sulaiman; nobody asked our opinion. 

“But we said fine, it’s a fight that everyone wants. We ensured to get the best revenue possible with the network that will invest the most and believes that has the most value for its viewers. We agreed to go through with the fight, no matter the result of the purse bid and what network aired the fight.”

Kovalev and Stevenson both claimed wins in the span of three weeks. Kovalev returned to the ring in March following a Fighter-of-the-Year-level campaign last year. His first fight of 2015 was a nice continuation of that run, scoring an 8th round stoppage of Jean Pascal, becoming the first to stop former World light heavyweight champ in the process. 

Three weeks later, Stevenson headlined the inaugural edition of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on CBS. The bout marked the fifth defense of his lineal championship, though the second time in his past three fights in which he was extended the distance in taking a decision over faded former super middleweight titlist Sakio Bika. 

Stevenson wasn’t challenged at all during the fight, or in post-fight commentary, where Kovalev’s name wasn’t at all mentioned. However, the news had already circulated that a purse bid hearing was already in the hopper for April 17, with Stevenson and promoter Yvon Michel subsequently expressing their willingness to proceed with the right, regardless of the outcome of said hearing. 

Main Events clearly doesn’t share that same mindset, due to a lack of confidence in the process moving along in a timely fashion. 

“The WBC’s unexpected decision to call a purse bid in April for a fight that will not take place until the fourth quarter of 2015 would make an already speculative bid even more risky,” notes Duva. “The normal timeline for a purse bid bout is a maximum of 90 days. The current strength of the American dollar and fluctuating exchange rates in Russia and Canada make revenue predictions done six months in advance of this particular event even more speculative.  

“Therefore, we cannot reliably project the anticipated revenue for a fight that would take place so far in the future. Taking into account Stevenson’s alarming decline in popularity, the highly speculative nature of the bid and the fact that both Sergey and Stevenson are scheduled to take other fights this summer, the risk of guaranteeing a PPV event in the fall is prohibitive.  We simply cannot make an informed bid under these circumstances. And we cannot go to a purse bid if we cannot make a realistic bid.  Finally, HBO has contractual rights to Kovalev’s next fight that would be violated if Sergey were to fight on another network. 

“With so much time between the contemplated bout and the bid, we also cannot accept the risk that the winner of the purse bid, who could be any licensed promoter, might default due to unforeseen circumstances, leaving Sergey with nothing. It would be unwise to take such a gamble at this stage in Sergey’s career.”

The two best light heavyweights in the world were once destined to meet when both were fighting regularly on HBO. Stevenson won his championship with a one-punch 1st round knockout of Chad Dawson in his HBO debut in June ’13. The bout was the first of three consecutive appearances on the network—all ending in knockout—to cap a 2013 year that garnered Fighter of the Year honors.

Kovalev made his run at the same time, debuting on HBO that August with a 4th round knockout of Nathan Cleverly to win his first title on the road in Wales. The bout was the first of six consecutive appearances on HBO airwaves, including a shared broadcast with Stevenson in Nov. ’13 that led many to believe a head-on collision was in store.

The plan from there was one more showcase fight for each before meeting in what would have served as the centerpiece of HBO’s 2014 schedule. Instead, Stevenson threw the industry for a loop by instead signing with Haymon and joining the majority of his stable across the street on rival network Showtime.

The move came shortly after Kovalev signed an exclusive agreement with HBO, which meant the likelihood of such a fight happening in the near future ranging from slim to none.

New hope was restored late last year when—shortly after Kovalev pounded out a 12-round shutout over Bernard Hopkins—Main Events lobbied for a showdown with Jean Pascal, on one condition: a win by its fighter would replace Pascal as Stevenson’s mandatory challenger. 

The WBC agreed to the move, only to call for a purse bid hearing before Stevenson’s scheduled showdown with Bika. It also came at a time when Kovalev and his team were planning to move forward with a mandatory challenge versus Mohammedi in order to clear out room for a clash in the fall. 

Kovalev and Mohammedi are both promoted by Main Events, which makes the fight much easier to make. Mohammedi has already agreed to twice step aside to allow Kovalev to face Hopkins and Pascal, but his team is adamant about receiving the overdue title shot. 

Given the past history with Stevenson and the complications with fighting outside of his HBO contract, Kovalev will instead let this rivalry stew a little longer.

“We applaud Adonis Stevenson and Yvon Michel for their stated willingness to go through with the fight regardless of who might win a purse bid,” acknowledges Duva. “We also applaud the WBC for taking the unprecedented step of ordering this fight.  

“It is unfortunate that the timing did not work out. We are hopeful that we can all work together to make Kovalev-Stevenson a reality. It’s the fight that Sergey, Adonis and the fans all want. Let’s get it done!”

Stevenson and his team believe there's still time. 

“Unless the WBC says otherwise, we are going to Mexico City for Friday's purse bid hearing,

” insists Michel

. 

“

If they don’t show up, they lose by default. But as far as we are concerned, this is the fight that Adonis wants. He wants to fight Sergey Kovalev next.

”