Why did Kovalev's team choose Cleverly over Hopkins?

[Derranged]

LOL Really? They're flowmo's who love Al Haymon and by rights have to defend ducking in general because their hero is known for it.

What kind of fan loves a promoter/manager? For fucks sake those guys really make decent Mayweather fans look bad.

[I Love Jesus!]

Kovalev had been calling out Hopkins all year.

Schaefer was reluctant to make the fight and Hopkins was telling Kovalev to "go fight Cleverly".

Hopkins can pretend to the public he wanted to fight Kovalev if he wants, what I remember is Hopkins talking about cutting weight to fight Froch or Golovkin. He was back at it again talking about fighting Mayweather after he beat Murat. This guy had no interest in fighting Kovalev any more than Stevenson did.

Lol cut the **** Hopkins will fight anybody and he's fought everybody despite being a senior citizen. Do you honestly believe Hopkins is afraid to fight Kovalev? A guy who hasn't even beat anyone of note yet? Come on

Hopkins is dieing to fight Stevenson and he's just as hard a puncher as Kovalev. Hopkins isn't afraid of that, Jesus if he was he wouldn't even still be fighting

[Weebler I]

Lol cut the **** Hopkins will fight anybody and he's fought everybody despite being a senior citizen. Do you honestly believe Hopkins is afraid to fight Kovalev? A guy who hasn't even beat anyone of note yet? Come on

Hopkins is dieing to fight Stevenson and he's just as hard a puncher as Kovalev. Hopkins isn't afraid of that, Jesus if he was he wouldn't even still be fighting

Of course he is, and he wanted Stevenson when Kovalev was his mandatory. He was also talking Froch and Golovkin. Afraid or not (does it matter?) he didn't want to fight Kovalev.

[Chiboxing123]

They chose Nathan because they were trying to setup a fight with Adonis. If you go back to that time hopkins was still aligned with showtime. The Adonis fight was in the works since way back when.....

[Chiboxing123]

LOL Really? They're flowmo's who love Al Haymon and by rights have to defend ducking in general because their hero is known for it.

It's the biggest joke. To be fans of al Haymon. Even when he pulls bs like he did with this. Be real diss top rank and arum when they screw up and do the same with the "evil empire" ( Haymon,Richard)

[Russian Crushin]

Is there 1 Larry thread that hasn't backfired terribly?

[Accountoffline]

Because he didn't want to kill B-hop….

[ИATAS]

This is exactly what happened.

-Murat was Hopkins mandatory to the IBF belt. Fight was scheduled for a date and location.

-Murat than had visa problems and couldn't get into the US

-The IBF then elivated Kovalev as Hopkins' mandatory fight.

-Kathy Duva/Kovalev reached out to Golden Boy to make the fight

-Richard Schaefer said they'll need to reschedule, negotiate contracts, etc.

-IBF ordered threatened a purse bid if GB and Main Events wouldn't make a deal. Purse bid would be determined in later weeks/months.

-Meanwhile, Nathan Cleverly already had an HBO date, venue and time slot as well as being a belt holder.

-Frank Warren, Cleverly's manager, contacted Kathy Duva and offered immidate title shot with good money.

-Duva accepts rather than wait on Golden Boy/IBF

-Shortly after, Murat's visa issues get solved and he's cleared to fly to the US

-IBF reinstates Murat as Hopkins mandatory

[I Love Jesus!]

Of course he is, and he wanted Stevenson when Kovalev was his mandatory. He was also talking Froch and Golovkin. Afraid or not (does it matter?) he didn't want to fight Kovalev.

Hopkins will fight kovalev before stevenson does and hes 50 years old

[CTC JOHNNY]

Cleverly was the weakest link!!