HBO turned down Stevens/N'Dam for Kovalev undercard?

HBO is trying to market GGG and Quillin so they don't want two guys that got beaten by the guys that they are trying to promote to start making noise. They want to keep them off of the airwaves because that gives the impression that they don't deserve to be considered on or near the same level as GGG and Quillin. Consider that Quillin didn't look all that good in his last fight even though he did manage to get the TKO (ref) stoppage. If N'Dam comes back and smokes Stevens or if Stevens smokes N'Dam, it takes away from the quality of the victory that either GGG or Quillin had, depending on who wins the fight. They want to maximize the marketability of both Quillin and GGG at all costs. They let Rosado come back because they knew he would not have an easy time losing the weight against Charlo and that Charlo would probably beat him anyways in addition to the fact that it would mean literally nothing in terms of the MW division. Lol you're delusional

That sucks. I like that fight a lot. HBO is clearly investing a lot in Kovalev though.

That would of been a good undercard fight.

Huh? When was Quillin (or NDNJ) on HBO - or a headliner for that matter? This would be an U/C not a headliner anyway....regardless, using that kinda logic the only 'bad' result for HBO would be NDNJ wiping out Stevens quicker than GGG...which ain't happening. I'd rethink this hypothesis - ever heard of Occams razor? If the cost of the fight is likely to provide a decent reason for it not getting made, then there's really no need to look for more exotic explanations. In this case, as has been pointed out, HBO is treating this very much as a stay busy for Kovalev and is doing it's best to save money for bigger fights later in the year. Kinda sucks for Stevens tho, I think he could have won this quite handily (although N'Jikam is a highly skilled fighter) and it would have been a good scalp. So Stevens is fighting on HBO against GGG and Quillin on Showtime against N'Dam......GGG is an HBO guy, Quillin is a Showtime guy.....N'Dam and Stevens have no ties to any network? I keep forgetting about Quillin being on Showtime..who promotes N'Dam? I guess my point is that they are two network fighters but yeah, I guess if they are being "built up" by two separate networks, then my theory doesn't really make sense. I do know that a fight between those two guys would be a great deal better than some of the fights they put on, especially in an under card slot.

lol what are you talking about? HBO is trying to market GGG and Quillin so they don't want two guys that got beaten by the guys that they are trying to promote to start making noise. They want to keep them off of the airwaves because that gives the impression that they don't deserve to be considered on or near the same level as GGG and Quillin. Consider that Quillin didn't look all that good in his last fight even though he did manage to get the TKO (ref) stoppage. If N'Dam comes back and smokes Stevens or if Stevens smokes N'Dam, it takes away from the quality of the victory that either GGG or Quillin had, depending on who wins the fight. They want to maximize the marketability of both Quillin and GGG at all costs. They let Rosado come back because they knew he would not have an easy time losing the weight against Charlo and that Charlo would probably beat him anyways in addition to the fact that it would mean literally nothing in terms of the MW division.

Not a HBO level fight at all. Should be on nbc its actually a damn good fight for an undercard bout on hbo, far better than most. idk whos making the calls at hbo but he is ****ing up a lot as of late.

Not a HBO level fight at all. Should be on nbc Well it's an undercard fight

Not a HBO level fight at all. Should be on nbc

Simple....Stevens got on HBO because he was fighting and HBO hyped fighter...Quillin and N'Dam got on HBO because he was fighting another HBO hyped fighter...GGG. So, you now have two "opponents" being brought on as headliners and HBO doesn't want it. Shame because it would have been a good fight but HBO can't can't have them looking good on their airwaves now because it would detract from the images of Quillin and GGG that they want the public to have. They want people to view them as challengers, not contenders. Huh? When was Quillin (or NDNJ) on HBO - or a headliner for that matter? This would be an U/C not a headliner anyway....regardless, using that kinda logic the only 'bad' result for HBO would be NDNJ wiping out Stevens quicker than GGG...which ain't happening. I'd rethink this hypothesis - ever heard of Occams razor? If the cost of the fight is likely to provide a decent reason for it not getting made, then there's really no need to look for more exotic explanations. In this case, as has been pointed out, HBO is treating this very much as a stay busy for Kovalev and is doing it's best to save money for bigger fights later in the year. Kinda sucks for Stevens tho, I think he could have won this quite handily (although N'Jikam is a highly skilled fighter) and it would have been a good scalp.

Steve Kim ***8207;@stevemaxboxing 1h Good chance of Curtis Stevens being a part of that April 4th NBCSN card.HBO, Im told turned down Stevens-N'Dam for March 29th opener #boxing Come on HBO... They are banking on Europeans..which I don't blame them. Eastern Promises!

It's a pretty good fight, but it probably cost more than the main event. Give one to Kirkland. He wanted Garcia at MW

It's a pretty good fight, but it probably cost more than the main event.

These two guys are also a lot cheaper than Stevens/N'Dam

For an undercard fight,, this would have been perfect

Dulorme Mayfield is a good fight. HBO looking for their next star. Dulorme struck out once but many know he was overmatched too quickly. Nothing like watching top prospects go at it looking for stardom usually makes for a good fight

Simple....Stevens got on HBO because he was fighting and HBO hyped fighter...Quillin and N'Dam got on HBO because he was fighting another HBO hyped fighter...GGG. So, you now have two "opponents" being brought on as headliners and HBO doesn't want it. Shame because it would have been a good fight but HBO can't can't have them looking good on their airwaves now because it would detract from the images of Quillin and GGG that they want the public to have. They want people to view them as challengers, not contenders. lol what are you talking about?

Simple....Stevens got on HBO because he was fighting and HBO hyped fighter...Quillin and N'Dam got on HBO because he was fighting another HBO hyped fighter...GGG. So, you now have two "opponents" being brought on as headliners and HBO doesn't want it. Shame because it would have been a good fight but HBO can't can't have them looking good on their airwaves now because it would detract from the images of Quillin and GGG that they want the public to have. They want people to view them as challengers, not contenders.

I agree with this unpopular decision. What is in it for HBO? Stevens has already been fed to GGG, and he isn't getting the Martinez-Cotto winner. N'Dam has been obliterated by Quillin. It's an entertaining fight, sure, but HBO gets ZERO benefit moving forward. Stevens is a popular fight up there and N'Dam is good competition at 160. A Duva fighter and would help with the Kovalev card. If they don't want to prioritize dropping money on this.... I kind of get that

I agree with this unpopular decision. What is in it for HBO? Stevens has already been fed to GGG, and he isn't getting the Martinez-Cotto winner. N'Dam has been obliterated by Quillin. It's an entertaining fight, sure, but HBO gets ZERO benefit moving forward.

this would have been a entertaining fight ...THE REASON hbo turn it down in my opinion is because curtis stevens wants quillen .. he has been chasing that fight lately .... hbo will not pay for curtis then 6 months later go to showtime to fight quillen in a big new york fight ... hbo will have to tie stevens up but really i dont think they will want to do that If not then, he'll be back April 4th.... Quillin will either be back late April or early May