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

[Nay_Sayer]

50/50 was fair to Kovalev not Stevenson. The WBC purse bid calls for 70/30 but GYM/Stevenson went along she agreed with Duva to do a 50/50 split. Kovalev was also not ranked by the WBC but rules were changed to allow Kovalev to become the mandatory, jumping over every other WBC ranked LHW fighter. The WBC, GYM, & Stevenson all bent over backwards to get this fight done and Duva pulled out after all her demands were agreed to.

And there you have it folks....

[Nay_Sayer]

Kovalev holds 3 world championship belts, is No 1 LHW with every reputable rating panel, and is fighting the best men in the division.

Stevenson is a discredited paper champion.

The fact that you think the best way to take his titles is by using purse bids to force him to vacate speaks for itself.

The FACT of the matter is, Stevenson is the rightful and *legitimate* champion @ 175lbs. Kovalev's three paper titles are less than MEANINGLESS. ABC organizations do NOT determine who is or who isn't the champion of a division...

[Scipio2009]

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?

If Kovalev doesn't want the fight, Kovalev doesn't want the fight. Kovalev was made mandatory for Stevenson's WBC belt, Beterbiev in on the verge of being made mandatory for Kovalev's IBF belt, and Fonfara is on the verge of being made mandatory for Kovalev's WBA belt.

No one ever annointed HBO as the only outlet able to air big fights, especially when there's other money being put into the mix

[Scipio2009]

Sick that fans openly root for Haymon to make his fighters duck and use outside the ring leverage to force other world Champs to vacate their belt. That's what it's come to? Haymon is so bad for the sport Stevenson was going to fight Kovalev it was done then he signed to Haymon who crushed that fight. The purse bid was a sham because the fight can only happen on HBO he's under contract. HBO works with every other promoter or fighter except Haymon. What does that tell you. If Stevenson has no promoter and is truly a network free agent this should be no problem to fight on HBO. But we all know what's going on and why the fight won't happen.

And this ain't just about Kovalev. Let's go down the line and name the top fighters from other rival promoters. Why ain't none of Haymon top fighters fighting GGG? Or fighting Ward? Or fighting Klitchcho? Or Crawford? Or Bradley? Or Cotto. Haymon has a huge stable but those guys aren't fighting the best. And none are in the running for any of these fights. Hell Haymon ain't even making top guys in his own stable fight each other. Khan turns down title shot against Bradley. OK but does Khan face Thurman or any of the top guys at 147 that Haymon controlls? Nope fights Algeri while Thurman same thing fights bum Collazo.

lol.

Haymon works for his fighters to make smart business decisions and gets vilified for it; Kathy Duva has Kovalev make the very same business decision, and no one even bats an eye. The faux outrage is hilarious. Klitschko is currently working through his mandatory obligation, and Ward's promotional team have a history with Haymon that seems to have soiled the well.

Every other fighter that you've mentioned is either tied to HBO, or bound to a promoter that refuses to do business with anyone else and is tied to HBO.

[Scipio2009]

You are leaving out the key factor that she has a contract with HBO. The fight can only happen there and the purse bid was sped up because the other side has no intentions of fighting on HBO despite the fact that Stevenson supposedly has no contract with a "promoter" or network. If he is a free agent only signed to Haymon this fight being on HBO should be no issue.

Also if it goes to purse bid there is no guarantee the fight happens. Remember Roc Nation over bid Haymon in a purse bid. But Haymon refused to let his fighter be on a Roc Nation card and forced him to vacate the belt rather then fight an opponent he wanted him to fight. If Duva outbid Haymon we could of seen the same result.

Kovalev-Pascal was the last fight on the HBO deal; unless Duva blatantly lied to the WBC, that knowledge was why the WBC took the unexpected step of compelling another organization's champion to become their mandatory challenger with a 50/50 purse bid.

Duva thought she had things positioned in her favor, Haymon played his card, and Team Kovalev immediately ran to HBO to sign a brand-new contract.

funny thing about history

[AddiX]

Haymon ruins big fights.

Thats his legacy in boxing right now. We were on our way to Stevenson kovalev, he runes it, GGG Chavez, ruined that, HBO was about to make Mikey Garcia a star, nope, when Floyd PAC should of happened, he ran him to Showtime.

And what's Haymon given us in return.

BJ Flores...

[mezoomozaa]

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!!!!!

This is the $h*t that top PPV names always refer to " he hasn't done $h*t to get the shot", fake titles and multiple defences, that how name is made in today's boxing scene!

[GMAN SUPREME]

just make the fight. as kovalev would say al gaymon is a piece of ****.

[HeroBando]

If Kovalev doesn't want the fight, Kovalev doesn't want the fight. Kovalev was made mandatory for Stevenson's WBC belt, Beterbiev in on the verge of being made mandatory for Kovalev's IBF belt, and Fonfara is on the verge of being made mandatory for Kovalev's WBA belt.

No one ever annointed HBO as the only outlet able to air big fights, especially when there's other money being put into the mix

Sure that's fine, but Stevenson's option are fight more bums, or take on Kovalev on America's #1 boxing network for way more money. which one will he choose, what's your guess?

[kafkod]

The FACT of the matter is, Stevenson is the rightful and *legitimate* champion @ 175lbs. Kovalev's three paper titles are less than MEANINGLESS. ABC organizations do NOT determine who is or who isn't the champion of a division...

So who does decide who the champ is? The Ring magazine? Who gave them the right to do that?

Stevenson could have fought Kovalev, BHop, and Pascal, but he decided to fight Sukhotsky, Bika, and Karpency instead.

A champion who ducks the best men in his division to fight lesser opponents has no credibility. And a discredited champion is a paper champion.

The lineal title has no validity in a case like that.