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Comments Thread For: Fighting Words - Kovalev-Beterbiev Depends On Haymon

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  • Comments Thread For: Fighting Words - Kovalev-Beterbiev Depends On Haymon

    by David P. Greisman - Even before Sergey Kovalev stepped into the ring with his last opponent, we were thinking ahead about whom he could face next.

    Kovalev’s opponent this past Saturday, Nadjib Mohammedi, wasn’t given a chance to win (he didn’t.) It wasn’t even certain that the fight would be competitive (it wasn’t). But the fact that Kovalev was facing someone of Mohammedi’s caliber — or rather that Mohammedi was facing someone on Kovalev’s level — was because of a present problem that had presented itself in the past and was likely to present itself in the future.

    There are a handful of desirable foes at light heavyweight for Sergey Kovalev. Too few of them are viable.

    And there are a handful of viable foes at light heavyweight for Kovalev. Too few of them are desirable.

    This situation boils down to the same circumstances behind other similar conversations — the business of boxing and how the business gets in the way of the boxing.

    Many of the desirable opponents are signed with Al Haymon. For a time, the powerful adviser’s clients had largely been appearing on Golden Boy Promotions shows and Showtime broadcasts, precluding matches against fighters who were being featured on network rival HBO, who were promoted by Golden Boy’s then-rival Top Rank, or both. [Click Here To Read More]

  • #2
    The ball is in Kathy Duva's court

    Make an honest offer (straight up fight, rematch clause to Kovalev, at a better split than the mandated 75/25 ascribed by the IBF, with no calls for additional fight options on behalf of Main Events or HBO) and Main Events gets the opportunity to stage the fight as she sees fit.

    Pull shenanigans and her card gets pulled; GYM stages the mandatory fight for Beterbiev, the IBF schedules the purse bid for Kovalev-Beterbiev, and then Duva has to explain to Kovalev why he's giving up the IBF belt, not long after also having to give up the WBA belt as well (Andrzej Fonfara is currently the #3 WBA challenger, with a just defeated Mohammeddi and VACANT being the only names ahead of him).

    In a span of ten months, Sergey Kovalev would go from this fighter who's supposed to be a wrecking machine, to a one-belt champion who refused to fight Adonis Stevenson, Artur Beterbiev, and Andrzej Fonfara, having had to fight cans instead.

    Comment


    • #3
      Beterbiev has only has all of *9* professional bouts. For Kovalev to call out a guy with *9* pro bouts is beyond shameful.

      The smart thing for Haymon to do here is force Kovalev to vacate the IBF title and have Beterbiev get more fights under his belt against soft opposition until he's ready to challenge the top guys @ 175...

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Nay_Sayer View Post
        Beterbiev has only has all of *9* professional bouts. For Kovalev to call out a guy with *9* pro bouts is beyond shameful.

        The smart thing for Haymon to do here is force Kovalev to vacate the IBF title and have Beterbiev get more fights under his belt against soft opposition until he's ready to challenge the top guys @ 175...
        I thought Beter holding an ammy victory over Kovalev had something to do With that? Beter-Stevenson would be better regardless

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Nay_Sayer View Post
          Beterbiev has only has all of *9* professional bouts. For Kovalev to call out a guy with *9* pro bouts is beyond shameful.

          The smart thing for Haymon to do here is force Kovalev to vacate the IBF title and have Beterbiev get more fights under his belt against soft opposition until he's ready to challenge the top guys @ 175...
          The smart thing to do???Beterbiev to fight soft opposition what's that gonna get him?How does that get him ready for real challenges like Kovalov!!! I'm all for this fight screw haymon if he trys to block this fight it's f_cken ******ed for fans to agree to Crap like this... why sit around and wait for superwoman Stevenson why pass on this fight...beterbiev beat kovalov in the amateurs and is undefeated and has power and is russian fight is gonna be in Russia WHY NOT!!!!!

          Comment


          • #6
            Here's why Haymon may just approve this fight: Beterbiev isn't much of a draw yet anyways, and considering his skill-level and punching power, they just may feel it's worth the risk to put him in there to try and take out one of the enemy's (HBO) top fighters and potentially bring all three belts back for a major, lucrative unification match with Stevenson. So HBO would be risking one of their main draws, while Haymon only risks an undercard guy. But Haymon won't risk that last belt and just let us see Stevenson/Kovalev. F*** Al Haymon, that little wiesel f***.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by ramplamp View Post
              Here's why Haymon may just approve this fight: Beterbiev isn't much of a draw yet anyways, and considering his skill-level and punching power, they just may feel it's worth the risk to put him in there to try and take out one of the enemy's (HBO) top fighters and potentially bring all three belts back for a major, lucrative unification match with Stevenson. So HBO would be risking one of their main draws, while Haymon only risks an undercard guy. But Haymon won't risk that last belt and just let us see Stevenson/Kovalev. F*** Al Haymon, that little wiesel f***.
              I don't know: Stevenson is old by now... Beterbiev is arguably the best LHW in Haymon's stable and he's the one of the best in the world... But the fact that Beterbiev has only 9 pro fights doesn't put him under lot of actual pressure... He may even lose to Kovalev and still build a solid resume afterwards...

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by MDPopescu View Post
                I don't know: Stevenson is old by now... Beterbiev is arguably the best LHW in Haymon's stable and he's the one of the best in the world... But the fact that Beterbiev has only 9 pro fights doesn't put him under lot of actual pressure... He may even lose to Kovalev and still build a solid resume afterwards...
                Exactly. With those two well above the rest the situation asks for a series of fights between them.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Scipio2009 View Post
                  Make an honest offer (straight up fight, rematch clause to Kovalev, at a better split than the mandated 75/25 ascribed by the IBF, with no calls for additional fight options on behalf of Main Events or HBO) and Main Events gets the opportunity to stage the fight as she sees fit.

                  Pull shenanigans and her card gets pulled; GYM stages the mandatory fight for Beterbiev, the IBF schedules the purse bid for Kovalev-Beterbiev, and then Duva has to explain to Kovalev why he's giving up the IBF belt, not long after also having to give up the WBA belt as well (Andrzej Fonfara is currently the #3 WBA challenger, with a just defeated Mohammeddi and VACANT being the only names ahead of him).

                  In a span of ten months, Sergey Kovalev would go from this fighter who's supposed to be a wrecking machine, to a one-belt champion who refused to fight Adonis Stevenson, Artur Beterbiev, and Andrzej Fonfara, having had to fight cans instead.
                  Originally posted by Nay_Sayer View Post
                  Beterbiev has only has all of *9* professional bouts. For Kovalev to call out a guy with *9* pro bouts is beyond shameful.

                  The smart thing for Haymon to do here is force Kovalev to vacate the IBF title and have Beterbiev get more fights under his belt against soft opposition until he's ready to challenge the top guys @ 175...
                  So you think it would be a good idea for Haymon to use puppet promoters and an investment company's money to force a dominant champion to relinquish his titles, instead of unifying his division?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by MDPopescu View Post
                    I don't know: Stevenson is old by now... Beterbiev is arguably the best LHW in Haymon's stable and he's the one of the best in the world... But the fact that Beterbiev has only 9 pro fights doesn't put him under lot of actual pressure... He may even lose to Kovalev and still build a solid resume afterwards...
                    The problem with this is that Beterbiev is no BHop. For a guy with his style and approach, losing to Kovalev would almost certainly mean getting brutally KO'd, and he might never recover from that.

                    Comment

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