by David P. Greisman
Sergey Kovalev, in defending against one of his mandatory challengers, is giving Jean Pascal the opportunity to fight for three world titles. Pascal, who meets Kovalev in Montreal on March 14, says he’s happy to be giving Kovalev something in return.
“I’m really, really glad to give Kovalev his first real payday, because I think he got underpaid by his people, because after like 23 fights [Kovalev’s had 27], it’s his first real payday,” Pascal said on a Feb. 24 media conference call. “After his fight against Hopkins, I think he got only 100k, something like that, and that’s very, very bad for a champion of his caliber. I think Kovalev deserves way more money, a lot of money, and I’m very glad that I’m giving him this opportunity.”
Pascal is likely citing a Daily Mail report that translated an article out of Russia in which Kovalev said he was left with $125,000 out of a $500,000 payday for his win over Bernard Hopkins.
“Taxes are counted at the end of the year and I have to pay all of them,” the Daily Mail quoted Kovalev as saying to ITAR-TASS. “They told me that from my earnings I have to pay 50 percent taxes, plus deduct payments for my manager and trainer.
'What’s left is about 25 percent of my purse. There’s not a lot of money to wrestle thinking how to spend it. I have my son, Alexander — all the diapers, clothes — they cost a lot.”
Kovalev’s promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events, clarified that Kovalev got “a lot more than 100,000 to fight Hopkins.”
“But it [facing Pascal] is a good payday, and one of the reasons Sergey chose to go to Canada was because there’s a good financial opportunity there,” she said. “But he’s doing just fine. Nobody’s going to have to hold any benefits for him.”
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