Comments Thread For: Duva: Stevenson Making Excuses To Avoid Kovalev

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

After reading Adonis Stevenson’s statements regarding a potential showdown with Sergey Kovalev, the Russian knockout artist’s promoter dismissed Stevenson’s comments as inaccurate.

Even if both boxers win during HBO’s doubleheader Saturday night, Stevenson said he wouldn’t fight Kovalev in a light heavyweight championship unification fight unless Kovalev defeated former champions comparable to Chad Dawson and Tavoris Cloud, the two ex-light heavyweight title-holders Stevenson stopped earlier this year. Main Events chief executive officer Kathy Duva questioned Stevenson’s reasoning for putting off a fight HBO Sports executives obviously would love to televise if Stevenson (22-1, 19 KOs) defeats England’s Tony Bellew (20-1-1, 12 KOs) and Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KOs) overcomes Ukraine’s Ismayll Sillakh (21-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada (HBO; 10:15 ET/PT). [Click Here To Read More]

[frantic fighter]

At first I was thinking the same thing,but then I thought of Stevenson's advanced age and how lucrative a potential all Canadian fight would be between him and the Bute/Pascal winner.I'm still on the fence about whether he is ducking or not,I'll make my decision depending on how much money HBO is willing to pay for a bout against Kovalev.

[King_]

It's clear Adonis wants no part of Kovalev, even after the Cloud fight. Is it a duck? Maybe not... But it's obvious he's looking in another direction. Hopkins team said the same things..... That's why all those fools who trash Cleverly are idiots, Cleverly gets nothing but respect for not only fighting Kovalev (the best contender available) but making a voluntary title defense against Kovalev.


Similar to Golovkin, and some other boxers who just so happen to punch hard.... People love saying "who have they fought? They're overhyped bums." Well they're here and they're open for anybody, but unfortanately that's not good enough for some because the good old "high risk-low reward" always comes into effect.... What a same because it robs fans of great fights and robs fighters of potential legacy/career defining fights.

With that said, I have a strong feeling this fight will still happen and HBO will put down a nice amount of money for Adonis and we'll get this in 2014. This is THE fight at 175, we need this!



Edit: just read the article, an I missing something? Did Adonis say Kovalev needs to fight someone like Cloud? Campillo = Cloud, no?

[Weebler I]

Financially, taking on the Bute-Pascal winner makes too much sense. But, after that he needs to fight Kovalev (assuming he wins).

[boxingfeind]

It's clear Adonis wants no part of Kovalev, even after the Cloud fight. Is it a duck? Maybe not... But it's obvious he's looking in another direction. Hopkins team said the same things..... That's why all those fools who trash Cleverly are idiots, Cleverly gets nothing but respect for not only fighting Kovalev (the best contender available) but making a voluntary title defense against Kovalev.


Similar to Golovkin, and some other boxers who just so happen to punch hard.... People love saying "who have they fought? They're overhyped bums." Well they're here and they're open for anybody, but unfortanately that's not good enough for some because the good old "high risk-low reward" always comes into effect.... What a same because it robs fans of great fights and robs fighters of potential legacy/career defining fights.

With that said, I have a strong feeling this fight will still happen and HBO will put down a nice amount of money for Adonis and we'll get this in 2014. This is THE fight at 175, we need this!



Edit: an I missing something? Did Adonis say Kovalev needs to fight someone like Cloud? Campillo = Cloud, no?

Adonis Stevenson basically wants to go for the bigger money fights in Hopkins and Bute/Pascal winner.Maybe after Stevenson is finish with those guys he`ll fight Kovalev.Stevenson is 36 years old so he has a small window of opportunity,and wants to make as much money as he can before he retires.

[King_]

Financially, taking on the Bute-Pascal winner makes too much sense. But, after that he needs to fight Kovalev (assuming he wins).

You certainly can't blame them, but this is one of the reasons old timers hate this era.... 95% of boxers chasing money fights, and not legacy fights.

[King_]

Adonis Stevenson basically wants to go for the bigger money fights in Hopkins and Bute/Pascal winner.Maybe after Stevenson is finish with those guys he`ll fight Kovalev.Stevenson is 36 years old so he has a small window of opportunity,and wants to make as much money as he can before he retires.

I'm not blaming him. It is what it is. Very similar to the Martienz situation though, in which they're holding belts hostage.

[MDPopescu]

At the beginning of this week the double header Adonis Stevenson-Tony Bellew Kovalev-Sillakh scheduled for this Saturday night at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada sold about 7,000 tickets only!
Hence...

[parrish duke]

You don't look past or diminish the threat of a fighter like Sylakk. The Black Russian is by far the best guy kovalev has fought - Cleverly hadn't fought anyone to be champion for a couple of years. Sylakk should be able to answer some questions about Mr. kovalev. Like can he go some rounds ? Can HE make adjustments if he is getting out boxed? What is his chin like? Etc etc.. Sylakk is good and it really shows that a lot of people on this site are bandwagon fan boys and I love it when the guy they thought was the next coming, the big bad boogeyman who has not done a pecan in this sport loses, and loses in a way that it becomes a template on how to beat him. The only thing I see good about Kovalev is his relentless pressure and punch selection - there is more to the sweet science than that. I am not sold. yes I think he is a good fighter but I ain't about to anoint him shut.. He will have to beat some pretty decent fighters for that. Stevenson has a way better resume, he has improved drastically and his confidence is soaring - Kathy better be careful for what she wishes.

[hitking]

Clearly, Stevenson wants to go in a different direction at the moment. Likely because Kovalev is a tough out and could derail some potential paydays for for the light heavy champ. That said, Kovalev and his management need not use this an excuse to sit on their hands because of it. If Stevenson is who they genuinely want. They have two options. They ***** and moan. Or, they can force his hand. A quick peek at the WBC rankings and this should be their plan of action. Bellew is his current mandatory. Pascall and Bute are rated #2 and #3 respectively. So the winner will likely be Stevenson's new mandatory and lucrutive fight. Next in line is Isaac Chilomba. He's fought Bellew twice. Once to a draw and a decisions loss. In order to force Stevenson's hand. Kovalev should vacate his belt, target Chilomba, and get with the WBC to make that an eliminator to become Stevenson's new mandatory. If he doesn't wanna go that route. He could fight one or both of a couple Stevenson leftovers Dawson and/or Cloud and try and perform better. Although that would be nearly impossible. And hope that public pressure on Stevenson forces the fight.