Comments Thread For: HBO's Nelson on The New Pact With Sergey Kovalev

[Humean]

The best fights for Kov are men associated with Haymon. Kov's initial HBO deal had expired. He very easily could've made a different decision that would have put those fights into play.

He doesn't have to go with Haymon at all to get those fights.

When you make the noise he did for so long, it does become very simple-make the move that gets you the fight and the titles you claim to want.

You think Haymon will match his light-heavyweights with Kovalev on PBC without having a piece of Kovalev? Come on now. For Kovalev to fight those guys he'll need to ditch Main Events and sign with Haymon. The only situation that I can see that may change that situation is that if Haymon gets his contenders in mandatory positions for Kovalev although I imagine he won't do that but time will tell what will happen with all that.

[BattlingNelson]

Dude you seriously need to sit back and chill for a while. How in the blue hell Ward's route is "fighting bums"? He has one of the best resumes from today fighters.

Ward hasn't fought a live body in nearly 4 years dude.

[The Big Dunn]

You think Haymon will match his light-heavyweights with Kovalev on PBC without having a piece of Kovalev? Come on now. For Kovalev to fight those guys he'll need to ditch Main Events and sign with Haymon. The only situation that I can see that may change that situation is that if Haymon gets his contenders in mandatory positions for Kovalev although I imagine he won't do that but time will tell what will happen with all that.

Speculation is not fact, nor does it justify Kov not going after the fight he talked about for 18 months. I would think we can agree on that.

Haymon had no bearing on the decision Kov and his team made. He also has no input on matchmaking for KOv or any decision HBO makes. This is about Kov and his decision making.

I can understand resigning with HBO and getting guaranteed money. I think its fair to question what kinds of fights he will be in going forward, especially after 18 months of calling Adonis out.

[Achcauhtli]

HBO exec posting on Boxing Scene!

lmao, after reading what i wrote, i guess i was towing the company line! lol

HBO has every right to market their fighters, but to continuously give them easy KO wins against guys that have no real chance to win even though they have a sanctioning body ranking (we all know how those are earned in many instances) is not that compelling to watch.

Kov HAS to fight his mandatory....quit crying

True, that Bernard guy and John Pascal guys are fucking bums

exactly

[Humean]

Post Donaire, HBO seems to have a different strategy for their names. Manny, GGG, and now Canelo (the other names that they have signed to exclusive deals) are likely to be given named opponents who will look good and lose. They will not have a chance to actually win.

By signing this new deal with HBO, that looks like the same thing will happen with Kov.

I think HBO didn't do that with Ward-they didn't approve his choices for opponents for his comeback fight. They seemed to expect him to fight a better caliber opponent, which is fine.

That first paragraph makes no sense. The top fighters by virtue of being what they are usually give their opponents little chance to actually win. HBO's strategy is likely the same promotional strategy that has always been the boxing strategy, build stars up until ideally you can build two stars to meet in a big clash somewhere down the road.

Speculation is not fact, nor does it justify Kov not going after the fight he talked about for 18 months. I would think we can agree on that.

Haymon had no bearing on the decision Kov and his team made. He also has no input on matchmaking for KOv or any decision HBO makes. This is about Kov and his decision making.

I can understand resigning with HBO and getting guaranteed money. I think its fair to question what kinds of fights he will be in going forward, especially after 18 months of calling Adonis out.

Good job of ducking with this response. You know fine well what I said was likely the case (yes it it speculation but it coheres with known facts does it not?). Of course Haymon has a bearing on Kovalev's decision, neither side wants the Kovalev-Stevenson fight on the other sides network(s).

[HEND]

Ward hasn't fought a live body in nearly 4 years dude.

But that's not because he chose to fight bums but because he had promotional issues. Dawson who was a lineal champ at 175 even at 168 (he wanted to go down) doesn't count as a "bum", lol...
Edwin Rodriguez really wasn't world class but neither was he a cherry picked bum. He won the chance to face Ward on a tournament...
And now I can't blame Ward for fighting a Paul Smith after one and a half year lay off.
And let's not forget about his super six achievements. Just because it was years ago it still happened.
In other words: let's not call a guy with one of the best resumes today a cherry picker who fight bums.

[-Antonio-]

At this point Kovalev has proven himself against far better competition than Stevenon so him fighting a bum on HBO is not an issue. Keep in mind this guy has been very busy. He beat Hopkins and Pascal what 4 months apart?

[Humean]

But that's not because he chose to fight bums but because he had promotional issues. Dawson who was a lineal champ at 175 even at 168 (he wanted to go down) doesn't count as a "bum", lol...
Edwin Rodriguez really wasn't world class but neither was he a cherry picked bum. He won the chance to face Ward on a tournament...
And now I can't blame Ward for fighting a Paul Smith after one and a half year lay off.
And let's not forget about his super six achievements. Just because it was years ago it still happened.
In other words: let's not call a guy with one of the best resumes today a cherry picker who fight bums.

Ward didn't actually want to fight Rodriguez, he was pressured into that fight by HBO because they wouldn't pay him what he wanted to fight an inferior opponent to Rodriguez. I don't blame Ward for fighting Smith either considering his lay-off but his lay-off was self-inflicted so he has put himself into a position where he feels he needs tune-up fights.

[The Big Dunn]

That first paragraph makes no sense. The top fighters by virtue of being what they are usually give their opponents little chance to actually win. HBO's strategy is likely the same promotional strategy that has always been the boxing strategy, build stars up until ideally you can build two stars to meet in a big clash somewhere down the road.





Good job of ducking with this response. You know fine well what I said was likely the case (yes it it speculation but it coheres with known facts does it not?). Of course Haymon has a bearing on Kovalev's decision, neither side wants the Kovalev-Stevenson fight on the other sides network(s).

If they fight and defeat top names, I would agree. But the trend seems to be fights with lower tier opponents that can't win. Kov looks to have put himself on that track.

I didn't duck anything. Your response was speculative. Frankly, why would we discuss Haymon when the thread is about HBO and the new deal they signed with Kov?

Haymon is not so powerful that his mere existence factors into decisions made by fighters not signed to him.

SO Kov doesn't want to fight Stevenson on NBC or Showtime. I can understand why he wouldn't but I don't know if there is really a concern, unless we just assume judges are scoring based on network affiliation.

[Humean]

If they fight and defeat top names, I would agree. But the trend seems to be fights with lower tier opponents that can't win. Kov looks to have put himself on that track.

I didn't duck anything. Your response was speculative. Frankly, why would we discuss Haymon when the thread is about HBO and the new deal they signed with Kov?

Haymon is not so powerful that his mere existence factors into decisions made by fighters not signed to him.

SO Kov doesn't want to fight Stevenson on NBC or Showtime. I can understand why he wouldn't but I don't know if there is really a concern, unless we just assume judges are scoring based on network affiliation.

Which fighters is that a trend with, Golovkin?

Haymon is in the discussion because he is relevant to this whole situation that you were criticizing and also because you are a big Haymon supporter actually criticizing Kovalev for fighting weak opponents and HBO for giving their stars weak opponents.

It is not the judges that are the problem, I very much doubt they'd be needed, the concern is on the part of HBO of allowing Kovalev to fight the biggest fight in the division off their network. These are the situations that make boxing a joke of a sport but that is the reality of things.