Kovalev's HBO exclusivity contract is making undisputed champions a thing of the pass

You say a fight a month like its a bad thing. It is a bad thing when HBO has been averaging 15-16 shows per year recently. And don't get me started about competitive fights in boxing. I think most reasonable minds would agree no one is doing a ton of competitive fights vs the number of fights they put on. The sport of boxing is less about competitive fights than it ever has been. Thats a boxing problem, not a HBO problem. I disagree...at least this year, right now. When I see Showtime's schedule populated with fights like Jack vs. Bute, Wilder vs. Povetkin, Charlo vs. Trout, Lara vs. Matirosyan, Thurman vs. Porter, Cuellar vs. Mares and Santa Cruz vs. Frampton - all 50/50 fights, or very close to it - I don't see it as a boxing problem. Showtime is doing their part to encourage competitive fights. But when I see Kovalev vs. Pascal, Crawford vs. Lundy, Ortiz vs. Thomson and Golovkin vs. Wade...I do see an HBO problem. On HBO's first two cards, there were 4 fights total. Add up all the judges' scorecards on all four fights, and by my count, it's 88 rounds to 4 in favor of the A-side. For the first three shows - 6 fights total - it's 121 rounds to 13 in favor of the A-side That's an HBO problem. HBO has Ward vs Kovalev penciled in for November 19. If both wins their next fights I don't see any reason that fight doesn't happen. The eternal optimist. Two words: not happening. At least not in 2016. You can take that to the bank. And I couldn't disagree more that Kov needs Stevenson as much as Stevenson needs Kov. This isn't even debatable if we are being reasonable. 2 years ago Kovalev needed Stevenson more. But now Stevenson has done zilch with his career while Kov has had some meaningful fights & has a fight with Ward lined up that could give him a whole new level of respect in boxing if he wins. And maybe most importantly Kov just turned 33 a couple days ago & Stevenson will be 39 in a few months. Plenty of great fighters have gotten old on one random night at a younger age than Stevenson is today. His opportunities are burning daylight. Really? What is Kovalev's star-making fight? The Ward fight that will probably never come? The Blake Caparello rematch? Pascall III? Agnew II? Braehmer? Without Stevenson, Kovalev has no opponents, and he'll have to play out his career against no-namers and no-hopers. Without Kovalev, Stevenson has the same fate. That's what I mean when I say they need each other equally.

In agreement with Porter. But Duva also says Sergei would undoubtedly sell out in Russia. Apparently he's a celebrity on TV in Russia. Oh, and the fight with Ward isn't happening in Oakland. Part of the deal was the fight couldn't take place in Oakland or Russia.

How many tickets did Kovalev sell in Vegas and why hasn't he been back since Duva & Main Events proclaimed Vegas as his home? You gotta be a real draw to headline Vegas. That's why you've never seen GGG headline there I'm not pretending Kovalev is a draw, but his stock is a hell of a lot higher than Stevenson's is right now. That's not even remotely debatable.

How many tickets did Kovalev sell in Vegas and why hasn't he been back since Duva & Main Events proclaimed Vegas as his home? You gotta be a real draw to headline Vegas. That's why you've never seen GGG headline there There's a reason Kovalev is already saying he'll fight Ward in Oakland.

Adonis can still do numbers in Montreal. He's still the money A-Side. Stevenson doesn't do any numbers in Montreal. He can't fill a third of the venues he's fighting at and his ratings are absolutely abysmal. Nobody wants to watch a coward that has consistently ducked the best competition available.

I agree. Mainly in that its a fight that hasn't captured the fans imagination to force it to happen. How much is Adonis making now? How much was he making with HBO in 2014? I have a hard time believing its a huge jump. I have a even harder time believing someone is dumb enough to spend big bucks on a fight that isn't THAT big. But that doesn't mean the fight shouldn't happen.

http://www.pix-host.com/allimages/98155054.jpg Doug Fischer | April 1, 2016 I'm sad to clarify the situation. Stevenson isn’t retired or in witness protection (although some fans claim that he is in order to hide from The Krusher). The lineal/WBC champ is promoted by Yvon Michel of GYM, the most prominent company in the Quebec region of Canada, and he’s advised by Al Haymon. I hate writing about the business/politics side of boxing. I view it as peripheral s__t, but the fact of matter is that it often dictates what happens or doesn’t happen in the sport these days. Kovalev’s exclusive contract with HBO is the main obstacle preventing a deal from being reached with Stevenson. I know it’s frustrating for a longtime boxing fan to have to factor in promotional conflicts and network exclusivity every time he or she talks about potential matchups. Beyond the promotional impasse, there’s Ward’s contract with HBO, which (for the time being) has an adversarial relationship with Haymon. I’d love to see Ward challenge Stevenson in his next fight. If he won then took on Kovalev in his next bout the winner of that showdown would be THE RING/undisputed/unified champion at light heavyweight. It hurts me to write this, but the age of “Cold Wars” between boxing’s power brokers is quickly making undisputed champions a thing of the past. SOURCE: R*NG This is a ridiculous post by an idiot who knows very little about boxing, even though he writes about it for a living. Jose Sulamain Sr. decided years ago (when he was alive and in charge of the WBC) that he would not allow the WBC champion to hold a championship belt from another organization. Any WBC champion who won a championship belt from another organization was forced to give up one of the belts or be stripped by Sulamain. The only exception that he made for this rule was Canelo Alvarez (surprise! surprise!) because he had a unification fight scheduled against Floyd Mayweather. We haven't had a truly undisputed champion in years (unless you count Klitshcko, and I don't), and it doesn't have a damn thing to do with Kovalev or his contract with HBO. In fact, Kovalev's contract with HBO has nothing to do with the fact that a Kovalev/Stevenson fight was not negotiatied. That has more to do with Kovalev's promoter, Kathy Duva, and her desperation to get HBO's money that led to her refusing to agree to a Kovalev/Stevenson fight even when Kovalev had no contract with HBO.

ok, lets assume that Kovalev is the piece of sh.it here (he is hiding behind HBO) But then we move on to Stevenson, he could easily go to haymon and ask him for the Kova fight on HBO ( call his "bluff"), same as Khan is doing. oh right, he didn't do sh.it! oh but he jump in the ring doe! kova ducks doe! With HBO unwilling to even consider paying the market rate for the fight, why would Stevenson go to Haymon and openly ask for conditions that would short him on the money for almost every avenue (Duva bringing up an imaginary site fee that would trump the live gate in Monteal doesn't help either). Haymon seems to be a rather straightforward guy; get his guys the best opportunities possible, and make sure that everyone understands where the money is supposed to be. Deontay Wilder is going to Russia because 1)Povetkin's promoter paid up for the right to host the fight, 2)the fight was demanded for him to keep his WBC title, and 3)winning the fight opens up a bigger fight for him to close out the year. Dominic Wade is fighting Golovkin because 1)it's a shot at winning a world title and 2)his camp sees enough of something on tape to believe that Wade can actually win the fight. Amir Khan is fighting Canelo because 1)Golden Boy likely ponied up the money, with Haymon whispering into Shah Khan's ear, 2)it's a fight that Khan wanted, and 3)to Khan, the risk/reward for this fight was beyond the same metric for the Brook or Garcia 2 fights. We need to see when the initial purses are announced, but I doubt that any of the guys heading to HBO are doing so on short money.

I think HBO might be out of boxing before 2026. I think there window is getting bricked to the shock of many boxing fans. But with how things are working out it seems like Haymon is aligning himself strongly with Showtime (I even speculate this Adonis/Showtime deal situation might actually be a Haymon/Showtime deal situation that has Adonis hemmed up). Jay Z & Haymon have some sorta beef it would seem like. Ward is with Roc Nation. Therefore my assumption is Ward is basically gonna be stuck with HBO. I don't believe there is any other game in town for Ward than HBO or Showtime. We will just have to see with all that. If my understanding of things is correct, the entire "Haymon/Jay-Z beef" came about because Beyonce sued her father (her manager) and Haymon (her concert promoter) over her father signing a bad deal on her behalf (that is rumored to have also benefitted her father). Haymon and Jay-Z are both grown men, so I don't see their beef being all that hard to settle (with both guys seeming to have their own viable boxing businesses without each other, they should be able to sit down and talk it out. It seems pretty obvious that Haymon is hitching his wagon to Showtime (the final deal may have other folks involved, but I see the PBC effort ending up with Showtime/CBS/SpikeTV/CBSSports), but it's also pretty clear that Showtime/CBS isn't giving up on boxing anytime soon.

Stevenson is a Champ linked to PBC/SHO... Kovalev is a Champ linked to HBO... Is it that hard to understand that this thing has go to a purse bid with a 50/50 payout ? HBO won't go there... They know they'll get destroyed on it by Haymon & co... Kovalev can fight all the Ward and all of the planet, he will still miss a belt... As much as Stevenson would love to unify them, he's content with the one he got and could retire happy ... Kovalev feels the pressure of the unification, Stevenson not so much...

ok, lets assume that Kovalev is the piece of sh.it here (he is hiding behind HBO) But then we move on to Stevenson, he could easily go to haymon and ask him for the Kova fight on HBO ( call his "bluff"), same as Khan is doing. oh right, he didn't do sh.it! oh but he jump in the ring doe! kova ducks doe!

This situation reminds me of Roy Jones vs Dariusz Michalczewski*

I just don't know whats changed over this fight few care about? And they only had a mill or three more last year than this year. Nothing has drastically changed so why should HBO drastically change? HBO is still the industry leader & even though Showtime has & has had nearly the same budget as HBO they do a fraction of what HBO does with it. PBC has 20x HBO's budget & what have they really done with it? I think you are selling HBO short on what they are still capable of. Are they more selective nowadays? Sure, but they still excel in boxing in a way no one else comes close to yet. Its not close to time for them to submit to lesser boxing networks & entities. I don't think you can say HBO is still the industry leader when they hardly do any fights anymore. So far this year HBO has had four boxing cards, and not one of them was competitive. Every single main event this year has been a mismatch. The first half of 2016 they will have a grand total of six cards, and only one - Vargas vs Salido - is competitive on paper. Right. But it seems like HBO is transitioning to more PPV's these days & I suspect things will fall where they may with some of these guys & their PPV aspirations. I don't think anyone would expect Kov to start selling 1M PPV's anytime soon or anything, but I think its now or never with throwing him into that PPV pond & seeing what happens & if he beats Ward I suspect he'll be PPV completely or at least partially. "HBO is transitioning to more PPV's these days" = HBO isn't committing its money to boxing and is forcing everything onto PPV, whether is worthy or not. You keep acting like Kovalev is in some dire straits now or post-Ward, but Stevenson is more behind the 8ball than Kovalev is in any point of view you rationally look at this situation from which means he'll need to play ball with HBO & not vice versa. HBO just don't work like that & they don't have to. In particular with a fight this unimportant in the grand scheme of the boxing world. Neither one of them is in a good position. Neither Kovalev nor Stevenson has a good opponent, with the sole exception of Ward - and we all know that Kovalev-Ward isn't happening anytime soon, if at all. Otherwise, Kovalev needs Stevenson just as much as Stevenson needs Kovalev. They both lack quality opponents. Can't become a star without worthy opponents.

Lmao... This is stupid... Stevenson has had multiple chances to fight anyone with a pulse and has passed them all up... Dude ko'd dawson years ago and hasn't fought hopkins, kovolev, pascal, bute, froch, Ward, etc.... Stevenson is a fvcking joke ^^^This is it in a nutshell. It's not that complicated; Stevenson has chosen to sign with Haymon and milk his career for as much money as possible, with as little risk as possible. He's too old and too limited to risk a KO loss. If he does lose, the big money fights will dry up & his career will essentially be over. It's not only about the networks or Kovalev's exclusive contract with HBO. It's also about Stevenson wanting a huge retirement check to fight Kovalev & Showtime wanting to go along for the ride. I don't blame HBO for saying hell no to that.

Yeah with Ward-Kovalev looming who gives a fk about Stevenson...let him fight Fonfara or Bieterbiev... Ward-Kovalev isn't looming. We'll be lucky if it happens in 2017.

This annoying at the very least, detrimental to the long term popularity of the sport at most. Having said that, I'm not so sure it's an issue between HBO and Haymon, because Haymon still manages/advises (or whatever the hell likes to call it) Khan. Now Khan is fighting on a HBO PPV against a GBP fighter. The main reason is that Khan was smart enough to allow a flexible contract, Kovalev was not. He allowed KD or whoever else wasi nvolved in guiding him, to put together a contract which has severely hampered his chances of fighting anybody, anywhere. I hope the contract doesn't last forever.

You bring up plenty of valid points, but HBO Boxing continues to win & be the best representation of elite level boxing. They still got the top ten P4P basically. They got the biggest name in boxing after Apr. 9, Canelo. They got a guy many are hyping as the next big name in boxing, Crawford. They got the guy many regard as the best P4P, Ward. They got GGG & Kovalev who could catch fire this year if they get the fights they need to get & win them. They got several up & coming next era type guys. How long that lasts is debatable & highly speculative, but they've kept their status for a long time with a dwindling budget for 20 or so years so I can't act like its a good bet to bet against them this year or the next or the next or the next. I do agree at some point that bet will lose you your money, but you'd probably win more money betting against them falling down in the meantime til they do fail big. LOL again brother you keep mentioning potential disruptions that can be made against HBO or Kovalev, but Stevenson is living in a disruption. His career has gone done the toilet post HBO lets just be real. He's hurt his own market value. Few people cared about this fight & fewer care now. Thats the reality we are dealing with. This isn't some HBO vs Showtime/PBC war level type thing. This is a RJJ vs Dariusz Michalczewski type thing. No one cares all that much & Kovalev/HBO has the power to control any deal that is made. Yea again the writing is on the wall I'd agree. Like I said a few posts ago I anticipate HBO getting out of the boxing business, probably within the next 5-10 years. If they stay in the sport I suspect it'll be HBO PPV only. I don't think HBO cares too much about boxing long term anymore & much of the type of stuff you are talking about. I don't think with that being the likely future why they still wouldn't ride this til the wheels fall off & not start working with others who do a worse job of promoting the sport than they do. Ward is only tied to HBO through the Kovalev fight; Ward wins that fight, heads to the open market, and likely heads elsewhere (with HBO's budget concerns being what they are and SHO already having the template for the deal that they made with Provodnikov/Banner). Terrence Crawford is a very good fighter, but even the accolades heading his way seem to only come from HBO-backed outlets to begin with. Everyone's got opinions, but I think HBO's boxing window is alot shorter than you seem to think it is.

However thin Kovalev's options are, Stevenson's are 5x thiner plus he's pushing 40. His clock is running out too. HBO doesn't need to go out of their way to make a fight few fans give a f#ck about. I'm in all these Kovalev vs Stevenson threads cuz its an interesting fight vs the top 2 guys in a division to me, but there is hardly anyone new talking about this fight & its the same guy making the first post. That tells me there is no money in this fight & in 2016 if it don't make dollars it don't make sense to a whole new degree than it ever has. This is why there are seldom fights between top 2 guys in the lower weight divisions cuz few fans care about the lower weight divisions. Boxing is more about selling tickets & PPV's than it ever has been. Its less a competitive sport than it ever has been. Stevenson has his Alvarez fight, the Fonfara rematch, and a slew of Haymon-affiliated 175lbers to work through (Rodriguez-WilliamsJr winner, Marcus Browne, Beterbiev, etc). Beyond that, Stevenson not even putting on a pair of gloves until well into his 20s makes his "almost 40" different from almost every other fighter. Kovalev has the Ward fight (a fight that I think he loses), and then literally nothing else that HBO could likely view as worth paying for. People want to write it off, but Kovalev beating Stevenson gives HBO the chance to actually make Kovalev a fighter that might actually draw some money (a Russian wrecking machine, with all of the title belts at the weight, and a sadistic mean streak could be something that a Vegas casino could be ready to put the site fee money up for).

I just don't know whats changed over this fight few care about? And they only had a mill or three more last year than this year. Nothing has drastically changed so why should HBO drastically change? HBO is still the industry leader & even though Showtime has & has had nearly the same budget as HBO they do a fraction of what HBO does with it. PBC has 20x HBO's budget & what have they really done with it? I think you are selling HBO short on what they are still capable of. Are they more selective nowadays? Sure, but they still excel in boxing in a way no one else comes close to yet. Its not close to time for them to submit to lesser boxing networks & entities. Right. But it seems like HBO is transitioning to more PPV's these days & I suspect things will fall where they may with some of these guys & their PPV aspirations. I don't think anyone would expect Kov to start selling 1M PPV's anytime soon or anything, but I think its now or never with throwing him into that PPV pond & seeing what happens & if he beats Ward I suspect he'll be PPV completely or at least partially. Not even sure what you mean by this. HBO loses fighters from time to time. It is what it is. Every relationship HBO has with its fighters isn't gonna be a career long relationship. I don't think that necessarily means HBO's so called "plan" for them worked out or didn't work out. Haymon fighters have been coming over to HBO as of late I'm sure you noticed. I don't see why Beterbiev & Fonfara couldn't do the same. And I think Beterbiev could be bigger than all these guys potentially so idk that anything you mention matters THAT much & he has history with Kov himself that HBO would do a better job than anyone else in the business in showcasing & discussing to build up that fight. Stevenson has had Beterbiev & Fonfara as options with the PBC for awhile & he's still fighting hedging his bets type fights. Fights that are lowering his value for Kovalev & just in general. Stevenson was bigger than Kovalev 2 years ago. Now Kovalev is bigger than he is. If that continues fewer will care about this fight. Stevenson hasn't fought in 7mos & has no fight even tentatively scheduled yet keeping him in the dark to many fans. He's about to turn 39 in a couple months. He hasn't had a high level win, in most fans eyes, for 2 years. I think you could argue he's fought worse & worse competition since leaving HBO. You keep acting like Kovalev is in some dire straits now or post-Ward, but Stevenson is more behind the 8ball than Kovalev is in any point of view you rationally look at this situation from which means he'll need to play ball with HBO & not vice versa. HBO just don't work like that & they don't have to. In particular with a fight this unimportant in the grand scheme of the boxing world. HBO can't stay on the same course that is the point, they can either realize it or not. The guys that PBC spun off are unimportant or Khan who is big enough to force something. If HBO wants to play like that then why would PBC help them out. Kovalev is not in dire straights, he is just a pawn in the grand scheme of things. However, his benefactors are not in good position to capitalize and if his benefactors suffer~ **** flows downhill. HBO loses Mike Tyson no biggie they have the biggest budget and a relationship with De La Hoya. HBO loses Mayweahter, they still have a nice budget, a great reputation and Pacquiao they can survive. That cycle only can go on if they have the ability to truly replace what was lost, say it works out like you say and Kovalev becomes PPV bankable who is replacing him? Do they have the resource to just make another one like in the past? Transitioning to more PPV is a problem in and of itself. PPV with a guy like Kovalev only work with opposition and what is stopping PBC from counter programming. If they play ball with Stevenson they can get a PPV free and clear and test the market with low risk. HBO ratings are lower than PBC, they spend less, their fights haven't been good (Spike had the best fights last year) so how are they industry leader really other than on reputation. The trend is not their friend it wasn't 2 years ago when I said HBO would be out in 5, and they have done nothing to arrest their issues in fact they have gotten much worse. The writing is on the wall for them if they keep going like this. Hubris is a major flaw that has brought down stronger things than HBO boxing.

the blame for the fight not happening has always been on chickenson.forget kovalev for a minute chickenson has refused to fight ANYBODY with a pulse he ducked hopkins and pascal.the coward has now become irrelevant and a joke!!! cant until the piece of sh1t gets knock the fuk out once again.