Comments Thread For: Kovalev's HBO Deal Will Keep Him as Active as GGG

[SCEN3RY]

very good to hear. Kov is consistently entertaining against any and every style thus far.

[Achcauhtli]

If HBO can pull off a triple header

With GGG, Kovalev and Chocolatito, that would be off the hook!

[skinnystev]

what good is being "active" if you duck the best and fight only bums kovalev is hiding behind the skirts of kathy duka

[HI-TECH Boxing]

I said this before and Duva pretty much summed it up as well, Kovalev and his team took the security and the structure of HBO over a one shot type of deal with Stevenson and Haymon. This move is great for Kovalev and not so great for Stevenson. For two reasons

1. Kovalev will have better opponents lined up in the future. Keep in mind he can still fight Stevenson, if he chooses to fight on HBO, if not, Kovalev can fight Beterbiev. Beterbiev can work his way into the IBF no.1 mandatory spot and fight Kovalev on HBO. We all know GYM will never put Beterbiev and Stevenson in the same ring. Beterbiev will certainly have to fight Kovalev on HBO, which I'm sure GYM has no problem with.

Kovalev can also fight Andre Ward for a big fight in the future. Then of course there are guys like Braehmer that he can fight in Europe. Duva said they are planning to have fights in Europe So that works for him.

Now you look at Stevenson and who's he going to fight? The winner of Rodriguez-Baker or a rematch with Fonfara... Doesn't sound all that great. His options are more limited than Kovalev's.

2. The age factor. Stevenson is turning 38 years old... can he survive by the end of the year, or further? He might get dethroned soon and the winner could end up fighting Kovalev in 2016 on HBO for all the belts.

Of course Kovalev could also get dethroned, but Stevenson is 6 years older how much longer does he have? Is he going to be around for 2 more years to unify the belts?

I actually think this is true. As a Beterbiev fan (I'm a Kovalev fan as well but more so a Beterbiev fan), I know he needs way more experience in professional boxing to face a dangerous opponent like Kovalev. But like you said I think GYM would let Beterbiev fight Kovalev on HBO and that's my problem. I feel like they will use Beterbiev as Stevenson's body guard. I really don't know why Haymon and GYM would protect Adonis (who is what 38 years old), what does he have to offer to them that he is so valuable and they must protect him at all costs. If anything they should be building up Beterbiev not throw him in there with Kovalev right away.
Maybe because Stevenson is a bigger draw? But the thing is Beterbiev will only become bigger because of his style, don't forget Beterbiev just got into the scene in September of last year and people already starting to love him in Montreal. Stevenson has less and less people going to watch his fights (he is loosing popularity), he went from attracting nearly 7,000 to like 4,000. I think Beterbiev can become a big draw in Canada.

I would love to see Sullivan Barrera get a shot at a good fighter one day, I don't know if he's ready for Kovalev though. How about yourself? They have to start building up more Light-Heavyweights. Barrera, Chilemba, Gonzalez, Alvarez guys like that need to start getting opportunities so they could be matched in the future with a Kovalev or a Stevenson.

[The Hammer]

what good is being "active" if you duck the best and fight only bums kovalev is hiding behind the skirts of kathy duka

Are you saying Bernard Hopkins, Nathan Cleverly and Jean Pascal are bums?

[The Big Dunn]

If his being active means he is going to get a string of easy KO wins instead of fighting Stevenson, why should diehard boxing fans care about how often he fights?

[kiaba360]

If his being active means he is going to get a string of easy KO wins instead of fighting Stevenson, why should diehard boxing fans care about how often he fights?

....because I enjoy watching him fight? I'd rather that his opponents be proven, but I also would rather him stay busy than not fight at all. I'm more concerned with Stevenson's activity and quality of opposition. He fought twice in 2014 against Fonfara/Sukhotsky, and he's only fought Bika this year with no fight lined up. Adonis has the luxury of being able to fight Beterbiev and Alvarez with no issues, but will he? Those 2 are in the process of being built up.

[The Big Dunn]

....because I enjoy watching him fight? I'd rather that his opponents be proven, but I also would rather him stay busy than not fight at all. I'm more concerned with Stevenson's activity and quality of opposition. He fought twice in 2014 against Fonfara/Sukhotsky, and he's only fought Bika this year with no fight lined up.

ok. are you worried that watching him sends the wrong message-that you are ok with low quality opposition?

I ask because I didn't watch Stevenson's 2 fights on SHowtime because I knew it wasn't KOv. I watched the Bika fight only because I thought the Kov fight was going to be discussed.

[NEETzsche]

so that's like eight fights, right? that's a big commitment; i'm sure boxing contracts usually only last two or three fights.

[kiaba360]

ok. are you worried that watching him sends the wrong message-that you are ok with low quality opposition?

I ask because I didn't watch Stevenson's 2 fights on SHowtime because I knew it wasn't KOv. I watched the Bika fight only because I thought the Kov fight was going to be discussed.

I can't say I'm all that concerned. Yes, it is a problem that HBO would keep matching him with that sort of opposition due to the good ratings, but they would be right in their assumption that fans don't have a consistently high standard. Most times, we just want to watch boxing, regardless of how bad the match-making is. If I enjoying watching a fighter, I tend to put up with more lackluster match-ups. HBO is also correct in their plan to showcase destroyers like Kovalev/GGG/Gonzalez as much as they can. I've been watching Kovalev since the Lionell Thompson fight on NBC, haven't missed one yet. I also haven't missed any of Stevenson's fights since Alcoba; I watched Stevenson/Bika and not Dirrell/Bika, but the latter was more evenly-matched. The problem with Stevenson is that he's being matched-up in bouts that he's expected to end in spectacular fashion, but now he's failing to live up to that. If Kovalev starts going the distance with guys whom he's expected to knock out, then maybe fans will stop tuning in. The problem with my logic is that Adonis/Kovalev and other punchers will always attract viewers, regardless of their opposition quality. Kovalev's dominance in the ring is translating into solid ratings, while Adonis' ratings aren't as strong as before. Some people will tune in for the KO (i.e. Garcia-Salka), while others will tune out because they don't like the match-up. Now that Adonis is beginning to slack, it's time to match him against tougher opposition to entice the audience. The same goes for Kovalev if he runs into a similar problem.