Comments Thread For: Kovalev Says Hopkins Fight Not Possible, Stevenson Is

[Russian Crushin]

Apparently reading comprehension around here is in short supply.

I did not suggest that Kovalev shouldn't have signed a deal with HBO. Kovalev has to do what he thinks is best for his career.

I did suggest that all the armchair warriors here arguing that Hopkins is ducking Kovalev are making an asinine argument. If Kovalev really wanted a Hopkins fight, signing an HBO deal wasn't the way to get it.

First of all this whole ordeal goes back before he signed with HBO. Hopkins basically said Kovalev had to go prove himself, while he fights Murat. Hopkins is stuck with GBP and has a fight upcoming, Kovalev had no other choice then to sign a contract with HBO. That last paragraph makes no sense, whats he suppose to do, not sign and sit around waiting for him? Hopkins began to talk right after he knew a fight wasnt gonna happen because of GBP

[BoxingFan82]

Kovalev had no other choice then to sign a contract with HBO.

Everybody has choices in life. Nobody forced Kovalev to get married to HBO. It may have been the least risky and most lucrative option for Kovalev, but other boxers are frequently criticized for making safer, more financially rewarding decisions so you can't have it both ways.

[chill4500]

What a total duck by Kovalev.

TV networks standing in the way of a fight... That's an excuse that Floyd Mayweather and Bob Arum would be proud of.

Did you notice who Bernard Hopkins SIGNED to fight next?

Boxing would be proud of Golden Boy if they let their 160-175 pound boxers free, since they are all facing tomato cans.

[BafanaBafana]

Cause they were taking all their top fights to Showtime, and leaving HBO mostly with a couple of showcase fights. Before that they had an output deal with HBO that was not good value (smacked of extortion at times), and squeezed out most other promoters. That all made them a bad partner.

An unpopular, disliked, and horrendously overrated fighter like Berto was gettin paid 1.6 mil for fighting bums. All Al Haymon fighters in general were getting ridiculously overpaid for showcase fights. HBO kicking out GB could very well be a blessing in disguise as subscribers are finally getting their money's worth.

[bojangles1987]

Thanks a lot, Golden Boy and HBO. I really appreciate missing out on this fight because of you petty little girls.

[IronDanHamza]

I don't want to see Hopkins-Kovalev anyway so I'm happy.

[deanrw]

Everybody has choices in life. Nobody forced Kovalev to get married to HBO. It may have been the least risky and most lucrative option for Kovalev, but other boxers are frequently criticized for making safer, more financially rewarding decisions so you can't have it both ways.

So are you saying Kovalev should have waited dormant, maybe end up marrying Showtime to possibly get one fight with B-HOP, which was not even guaranteed, and then get blocked in with Showtime/GBP?

C'mon now, you are just trying to twist all this to match whatever your agenda is. Kovalev wanted to fight for a title, he did not want to sit around and wait. Golden Boy and Showtime were basically saying they were not interested. So he was supposed to wait around to see if they changed their mind? Give me a break!

He went and grabbed a title, and he plans on taking on the actual Champion of the division soon. So how is he in a bad place? If you paid attention to the reactions after he beat white, you could tell the BHOP/Showtime/GBP mix were not interested in dealing with him at all. They were calling Murat the only fight they wanted.

[brett3154]

Why are you posting from 3 different accounts you sad ****?

Dude, I'm just a boxing fan in Vegas that happens to work out with a lot of fighters and hear things. Where do you get off calling a guy a count? You can call me a **** from behind the anonymity of your keyboard but you have no clue. It's called shared opinions which this country allows. If you don't like it, I think I have a couple tickets to Syria for you.

[yoz]

Hopkins will duck any live wire.

[BoxingFan82]

So are you saying Kovalev should have waited dormant, maybe end up marrying Showtime to possibly get one fight with B-HOP, which was not even guaranteed, and then get blocked in with Showtime/GBP?

I'm not Kovalev's manager. You aren't either. Kovalev and his team made the decision to sign with HBO, and now they're pointing out that this will preclude a fight with Hopkins. That's the end of story, for now.

If I have an agenda, it's pointing out how ridiculous it is for keyboard warriors to suggest that a fighter like Bernard Hopkins, who made a career out of beating guys that critics said he couldn't, is trying to avoid Kovalev.

This isn't middle school. We're dealing with grown men who have chosen to fight for a living. Just because the business side of things prevents a fight from being made doesn't mean that fighters are scared of each other.