By Steve Kim
Sergey Kovalev's new exclusive, multi-fight deal with HBO will kick off with his July 25th appointment versus Nadjib Mohemmedi but the head of Main Events (which promotes Kovalev) Kathy Duva isn't at liberty to discuss just how many fights that encompasses.
But she did say,"The deal goes well into 2017."
And it's one that will see him fighting often as Gennady Golovkin has been in recent years on the network.
"Because he'll be taking fights in the U.S. and he'll be taking fights in Europe, presumably, and HBO will show them all. If we get what we want it will be four times a year," said Duva, who was in Los Angeles this past weekend to formally announce their deal to the media.
With this deal, there is a chance that a showdown with Adonis Stevenson does not come to fruition, given that Kovalev is now locked into HBO and Stevenson is advised by Al Haymon, who is persona non grata at the network. So with that reality, is Kovalev and his manager, Egis Klimas, fully aboard with this new plan?
"Of course," answered Duva. "My job was to go out and present options to them. In the end they made the decision and yes, they made the decision that they would rather have a structure - again, it's really important to stay active and you can't stay active if you're trying to get fights one at a time.
"Look at guys who don't have that structure, great fighters like (Guillermo) Rigondeaux, like ( Andre) Ward - fighting on BET - you need that HBO contract if you want to be in that public eye and you want to be active and you want to be viewed as one of the very best in the business and that's what that deal means - and they wanted that very much.'
Starting with his bout versus Nathan Cleverly in August of 2013, Kovalev's last six bouts have been broadcast by HBO.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.