Comments Thread For: “Fighting Words” — Stevenson Gives Kovalev the Business

[JDD1]

No clue. But it would certainly be more than 1.25 mil that HBO gave Steveson for Fonfara, to which he agreed on

I don't know how anyone could know for sure it would be more than that. Niether stevenson or Kovalev were big names or million dollar fighters until last year.

Herschman should've locked them up last year. when steveson balked, he definitely shouldn't agreed to give him another interim fight. He made a tactical error and SHowtime/Haymon took advantage and stole stevenson and with it, HBO's big fight.

Ouch!

[titan m]

That whole situation is bull**** and Stevenson can claim business move all he wants, everybody can see he wants no part of Kovalev.

Was number 1 of the 10 count supposed to be a joke or am I missing something? Fonfara vs Agnew in a baseball stadium?

[Russian Crushin]

I don't know how anyone could know for sure it would be more than that. Niether stevenson or Kovalev were big names or million dollar fighters until last year.

Herschman should've locked them up last year. when steveson balked, he definitely shouldn't agreed to give him another interim fight. He made a tactical error and SHowtime/Haymon took advantage and stole stevenson and with it, HBO's big fight.

Ouch!

Cmon HBO would certainly offer more for KOvaelv than a contender who never even appeared on HBO in Fonfara

They couldnt force stevenson to fight Kovalev, which is why they wanted him to sign that he'd fight Kovalev next but he wouldnt. And good for showtime, still doesnt change the fact that he took the less lucrative fight in Fonfara over Kovalev before Showtime was every involved, he's not a business man, he's a ducker

[JDD1]

Cmon HBO would certainly offer more for KOvaelv than a contender who never even appeared on HBO in Fonfara

They couldnt force stevenson to fight Kovalev, which is why they wanted him to sign that he'd fight Kovalev next but he wouldnt. And good for showtime, still doesnt change the fact that he took the less lucrative fight in Fonfara over Kovalev before Showtime was every involved, he's not a business man, he's a ducker

They coudn't force him to fight Kovalev but they didn't have to allow him to fight on the network. BlackBarty made a good point about "marinating". HBO simply blew it.

Stevenson definitely didn't want to fight Kovalev. That much is clear. I can understand not giving the network a guarantee who you will fight next because the other guy coud lose(see floyd v zab or manny v morales back in the day) and you weaken your negotiating position.

In the end, it sucks because not only do we not get the fight, Kovalev has no real opponent to fight and I don't really care about bhop/stevenson.

Hopefully, stevenson beats fonfura and bhop/shumenov winner, Kovalev wins his next 2 fights, and then they fight.

[Mr. David]

Was number 1 of the 10 count supposed to be a joke or am I missing something? Fonfara vs Agnew in a baseball stadium?

No joke. Apparently you missed the ESPN2 card held at a Chicago baseball stadium last summer:

http://boxrec.com/show_display.php?show_id=671240

-David

[Russian Crushin]

They coudn't force him to fight Kovalev but they didn't have to allow him to fight on the network. BlackBarty made a good point about "marinating". HBO simply blew it.

Stevenson definitely didn't want to fight Kovalev. That much is clear. I can understand not giving the network a guarantee who you will fight next because the other guy coud lose(see floyd v zab or manny v morales back in the day) and you weaken your negotiating position.

In the end, it sucks because not only do we not get the fight, Kovalev has no real opponent to fight and I don't really care about bhop/stevenson.

Hopefully, stevenson beats fonfura and bhop/shumenov winner, Kovalev wins his next 2 fights, and then they fight.

HBO wanted the fight right away, they just did the set up card with both stevenson and Kovalev getting KOs on the same card. They didnt want it to marinate, but stevenson did. Like i said they cant force stevenson to fight KOvalev. Stevenson could have fought Hopkins after Kovalev, but he chose Fonfara instead. But now he's all about business.

[JDD1]

HBO wanted the fight right away, they just did the set up card with both stevenson and Kovalev getting KOs on the same card. They didnt want it to marinate, but stevenson did. Like i said they cant force stevenson to fight KOvalev. Stevenson could have fought Hopkins after Kovalev, but he chose Fonfara instead. But now he's all about business.

Both Iole and rafeal, in the articles I read, both talked about HBO trying to set up a fight this year by giving them both an additional fight. Stevenson could've fought Kovalev first. He chose Fonfura and HBO was ok with that. You seem intent on blaming just stevenson when its clear Hershman/HBO is complicit in their own downfall.

If Herschman was smart right now STevenson would be tied to HBO with only 2 options-fight Kovalev or not fight and sit out while trying to get out of his HBO deal.
Instead he got more money for the same fight HBO approved, with additional lucrative options for Bhop and Pascal down the road. Kovalev got a muti fight deal and has no one really good to fight.

In the end, the only losers are people like me who really wanted to see the fight.

[Hougigo]

No joke. Apparently you missed the ESPN2 card held at a Chicago baseball stadium last summer:

http://boxrec.com/show_display.php?show_id=671240

-David

I heard that the likelihood of it happening in a baseball stadium again is slim.
UIC pavillion is always a good spot though, don't know how big it is though...


Also good stuff on the WBA/WBC B.S

That has got to be the ******est excuse I've ever heard

[Public_Enemy]

I kept saying Mayfield wasn't trying to lick Dulorme. He was sniffing him. I thought it was pretty obvious. Too bad he didn't show up on fight night. I guess Dulorme choked the life out of him.

[Russian Crushin]

Both Iole and rafeal, in the articles I read, both talked about HBO trying to set up a fight this year by giving them both an additional fight. Stevenson could've fought Kovalev first. He chose Fonfura and HBO was ok with that. You seem intent on blaming just stevenson when its clear Hershman/HBO is complicit in their own downfall.

Like i said they couldnt force Stevenson to fight Kovalev. They tried to thru contractual obligation but he declined

If Herschman was smart right now STevenson would be tied to HBO with only 2 options-fight Kovalev or not fight and sit out while trying to get out of his HBO deal.
Instead he got more money for the same fight HBO approved, with additional lucrative options for Bhop and Pascal down the road. Kovalev got a muti fight deal and has no one really good to fight.

In the end, the only losers are people like me who really wanted to see the fight.

Again with the hindsight bias, they couldnt force stevenson to fight Kovalev. Everything was on Stevenson to accept the fight, a fight which was more lucrative then the fight he chose, but he declined. Now he's all about the business but when a better fight was in his hands, he declined.

Yes its all on stevenson. The fact that HBO need to force him to fight the top guy in the division who also brings more money and a belt is ridiculous