By Jake Donovan
At least one of the two combatants still has a stay-busy fight to get through but the wheels continue to turn in finalizing details for the November 19 showdown between Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward.
Holds have been placed on at least two venues - T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas by both Main Events (Kovalev’s promoter) and Roc Nation Sports (RNS, Ward’s handlers) as well as Madison Square Garden in New York City by RNS – although the likelihood is the light heavyweight title fight will ultimately land in Las Vegas.
It’s common practice for promoters to place advanced holds on multiple venues in efforts to secure the best possible deal. However, Main Events CEO Kathy Duva indicated to RingTV.com’s Mitch Abramson that MSG is likely out of the mix, due to economic reasons.
The fight was discussed as early as last year, with both boxers agreeing to take on a maximum of two interim bouts before going into a battle that should determine pound-for-pound supremacy.
Each has already won separate bouts earlier this year. Kovalev – an unbeaten, unified titlist and widely regarded as the best light heavyweight in the world today - annihilated Jean Pascal in their unnecessary rematch this past January. Two months later, unbeaten former super middleweight king Ward fought at the full light heavyweight limit, outpointing previously undefeated contender Sullivan Barrera – who is also promoted by Main Events – this past March at home in Oakland.
A deal was long in place for a Kovalev-Ward clash, with HBO reserving November 19 for the scheduled Pay-Per-View event. Venues were discussed but no location in particular was chosen at the time, other than agreeing that the fight will not take place in a region advantageous to either boxer.
It ruled out allowing Ward another home game in Oakland, although Kovalev teased while in attendance for the Barrera fight how much he loves to beat an opponent in front of their own fans. He did it twice with Pascal and shut out the legendary Bernard Hopkins in their Nov. ’14 unification clash in Atlantic City, an hour or so from his Philadelphia hometown.
That said, the smart money is on this fight heading to Las Vegas. The Nevada State Athletic Commission holds its monthly hearing on June 21, with this very entry listed on the agenda of items to consider for approval.
Meanwhile, Kovalev (29-0-1, 26KOs) still has in front of him a July 11 homecoming versus Isaac Chilemba. The event will take place in Ekaterinburg, Russia, his first fight in his home country since Dec. ’11. HBO will pull off the rare move of airing boxing on a Monday evening, offering its coverage via same-day tape delay.
Both fighters were to have completed their second optional fight by late June, but permission was granted to push back the deadline for several reasons. The July 11 date worked best for this particular event in lining up sponsorship, the venue and home network coverage.
As such, HBO planned on holding July 30 for Ward’s next fight. The clock is ticking on firming up details if he is to keep the date, as the only progress that has come of the situation is eliminating names of those who won’t land the assignment.
There stands the chance that he will ultimately pass on taking a fight, although there is an outside shot at landing a date in early-to-mid August. Such an extension would have to come with Main Events’ blessing, but Duva told BoxingScene.com - through a company spokesperson – that the company can always agree to it especially if allowing Ward the fight makes sense for the success of the November event.
The issue in pushing such a bout back to August, though, is that it would run up against live coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics. As Ward is the last American male boxer to have captured a Gold medal – having done so in the 2004 Athens Olympics – surely he understands the risks of going up against the most watched event of the year.
Regardless of what takes place this summer, the good news for boxing fans is that the best matchup that can be made today continues to move forward in firming up all details.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2