by David P. Greisman
The bottom line is that the location for a potential fight between light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and unified titleholder Bernard Hopkins will be decided by the bottom line.
“If it’s going to be Stevenson next, if that’s what we want to do, it might be here [in Washington, D.C.], it might be at the Barclays Center [in Brooklyn, NY.], it might be in Canada. I mean, we’re going to go where we can make the most money,” Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions said shortly after Hopkins defeated Beibut Shumenov at the D.C. Armory on Saturday.
Said Hopkins: “I’ll go anywhere they pay the most. You know how Richard thinks. He’s an ex-banker. … I’ve been to Canada. I love Canada. They’ve got a big fan base for Bernard Hopkins up there. And let me tell you something: This fight would do well at the MGM [Grand in Las Vegas], but this is his [Schaefer’s] job.”
Hopkins has fought twice in Canada, both times against Jean Pascal — for their draw in Quebec City in 2010 and Hopkins’ rematch win in 2011. Stevenson is based out of the province of Quebec. He’s spoken before about making deals that make him the most money, though, which explains why his fight with Andrzej Fonfara on May 24 will be on Showtime instead of on HBO. Showtime reportedly made an offer of more than 40 percent than HBO’s bid, and the Showtime deal didn’t tie Stevenson to facing light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev immediately afterward.
Instead we could end up seeing Stevenson vs. Hopkins soon.
“I think it’s a terrific matchup,” Schaefer said. “I believe it’s a big fight for Bernard, a big fight for Stevenson. I’m going to talk to Al [Haymon, Stevenson’s adviser] and we’ll put it where we can make the most money. I will get it done.”
Pick up a copy of David’s new book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com
