Comments Thread For: Kovalev's Manager Reveals The Terms For Stevenson Unification

[Scipio2009]

I don't blame him for taking the shot. I would too if I was him. I was mentioning the fact that he was built on shobox and that Khan last fought on Showtime one day after Stevenson and so many keyboard warriors were ecstatic that stevenson walked away when Sho wasn't cut into an hbo ppv fight yet they are silent when Khan is doing exactly what was asked of stevenson and Wade is doing the same thing on regular hbo instead of hbo ppv.

I personally don't think the hangup wasn't that Showtime wasn't cut in; from the way that Michel seems to discuss the package, he doesn't buy the notion that the fight, in the form offered to him by Main Events, would actually end up generating $15m. It seems like Michel sees the Main Events model (staging the fight in an area where neither fighter has been shown to sell tickets, projecting that HBO [after flopping with Golovkin's debut PPV] would be able to triple that number for Stevenson and Kovalev's debut PPV) as doing significantly less than the rosy projections.

If Kovalev-Stevenson only does $1m in Vegas and 150k PPV buys, Michel would've screwed his fighter out of a payday, knowing full well that there were things that he could've done to put more money in everyone's pockets.

[Scipio2009]

After March those fights aren't even done deals. Wilder likely won't fight Povetkin.

You forgot after the two hbo cards in march they have Pac-Bradley and GGG-Wade in April and Canelo-Khan in May so those plus the 4 already done for Jan-March is 7 for hbo

The rumors for every fight that I've listed have been consistently mentioned for some time now, which likely means that deals simply need to be finalized before formal announcements. Beyond that, there's no fathomable reason why Wilder won't be fighting Povetkin (especially knowing that the New York metro area has the largest concentration of Russian Americans in the country)

[theface07]

Stevenson-Fonfara II has a far bigger gate than Kovalev-Ward does in Vegas

Anyone who would pay to see Stevenson-Fonfara II but not Kovalev-Ward is lacking in any credibility and would be doing a disservice to the sport in general.
If there is any validity to such a claim it would further reinforce the lack of necessity and/or desire for promoters and governing bodies to make fights that determine the true #1 in any given division.
If you think that people should be more willing to pay for fights such as Stevenson-Fonfara II instead of Kovalev-Ward then unfortunately you are part of the problem.

[killakali]

I personally don't think the hangup wasn't that Showtime wasn't cut in; from the way that Michel seems to discuss the package, he doesn't buy the notion that the fight, in the form offered to him by Main Events, would actually end up generating $15m. It seems like Michel sees the Main Events model (staging the fight in an area where neither fighter has been shown to sell tickets, projecting that HBO [after flopping with Golovkin's debut PPV] would be able to triple that number for Stevenson and Kovalev's debut PPV) as doing significantly less than the rosy projections.

If Kovalev-Stevenson only does $1m in Vegas and 150k PPV buys, Michel would've screwed his fighter out of a payday, knowing full well that there were things that he could've done to put more money in everyone's pockets.

how is he screwing him out of a payday? The guarantee minimum is 2mil. should he go fight a high risk low reward mandatory vs Alvarez for his 1.5??? He should take the cash and run

[killakali]

The rumors for every fight that I've listed have been consistently mentioned for some time now, which likely means that deals simply need to be finalized before formal announcements. Beyond that, there's no fathomable reason why Wilder won't be fighting Povetkin (especially knowing that the New York metro area has the largest concentration of Russian Americans in the country)

actually the rumor is Wilder dumps the belt and fights Martin instead of Povetkin

[Vasyl’s dad]

I have no agenda......but what I see is you have all the usual tribe defending so called haymon fighters who have blatantly avoided a fight or side stepped a challenge...it's plain as day Stevenson was the one who ran away from the kovalev fight on the brink of it getting signed.....you along with aboutfckntime, shoulderroll,TMT, the real pugilist seem to have an agenda in regards to if there not black there not worthy to be champions that's what I see and that my friend is the biggest agenda you have.....as for kovalev he has consistently shown he is the best light heavyweight on the planet and he don't care who's back yard he fights....kovalev is a throwback and he's the best in the division and you don't like it because he is white ...and I stand by what I say....HBO has always been the number 1 and will continue long after al haymon has used up all his hedge fund and his 200 cherry picking stable can't be paid anymore

Damn, just dropped a bomb on Hiroshima!

[aboutfkntime]

1) a joint broadcast, split fairly 50/50..... leading to a great fight

2) a standoff, with one side demanding exclusive rights, simply to maximize their market share and profit margin..... leading to a failed negotiation


EVERYONE who supports option 2 is nothing but a fanboy **** !!

A short while back, no way would fans support greedy TV networks over fighters..... especially if it killed mega-fights.

I don't like the boxing " fans " of today, they are mostly childish clowns.

But kovalev is the A- side yes ? He has a bigger following and is considered the best light heavyweight in the world...Stevenson would also receive 50-50 and the largest purse of his career....showtime are not giving him any dates and he's not signed to them exclusively.....kovalev is the A- side duh and I've been reading many posts from you about canelo being the A- side with golovkin ....you have double standards bongo.....but the reality is kovalev has ward lined up for a big end of year fight ...Stevenson has nothing major planned so I don't think kovalev is gonna lose money but I know Stevenson is.....showtime are not concerned about Stevenson and they want to get involved because it's gonna be a high profile fight....HBO are always on board with kovalev.....so either Stevenson fights on there show or he can go back pimping with his black suit and purple pimp tie and spend time with his 50 dollar hoes .....kovalev is the A- side remember. Lol

Wow, whaddya know..... I was right.

[NearHypnos]

Michel doesn't believes that the fight is going to do $4m at the gate, at MSG or in Vegas, and he doesn't believe that the fight is going to do $9m on PPV on HBO; heck, if Duva believed those numbers, the guarantee to Stevenson wouldn't be just $2m.

If the objective is to end up with GYM/Stevenson getting $7m on the fight, Michel is arguing that the structure of Main Events offer isn't likely to get there. So, he's offered giving up the $2m and marketing the entire fight 50/50; both promoters put the fight where they can get the biggest gate and both promoters marketing the fight to as many people as possible, to goose the PPV number as high as possible.

As things seem currently structured, Main Events is promising $15m for a fight that may actually end up doing $7m-$8m; lol

It's the *first* 2 million. That means the first two mil that come in are Stevenson's. It's guaranteed and if you doubt it'll make less money it makes even less sense to split it with another less successful network that has nothing to do with it. It's ALREADY 50-50. If it was in the best interest of "money" they'd fight in a russian stadium and sho would stilll not be involved. Know why it's not jn Russia? Because Stevenson wont even come to America or fight him in Canada. Adonis has zero leverage. Zero. Kovalev is by far the bigger name now. 15 mil is just a projection. It could be more, it could be less. Even at 8-9 mil that's still 4-4.5 mil. :/

[tiliheels]

so how pissed are you that Dominic Wade is turning his back on Showtime and Shobox who gave him his only exposure to fight GGG on HBO and on Khan for fighting Canelo on HBO ppv without Showtimes involvement when he fought last on Showtime exactly one day after Adonis Stevenson. Based on all of your other showtime fan boy actions you must be really pissed today lololol

dude look at the star power difffernce wade is nothing compared to kovalev, stevenson, or GGG..he has to take wat he can get..and he has not ever been signed to showtime..they likely dont even have options on him..it is highly like that showtime has options on many of haymon's fighters especially onces that they signed exclusive deals.
canelo is way huger than kov..he doesnt need extra promo! and the split in that figh tis no where near the same as 50-50..dont use ****** arguments when u finally see that haymon is doing fair business...but it is not fair for hbo to be the only one getting paid when haymon would have won the purse bid and put it on his network..it is also not fair to showtime if htey have options that we dont know about...stevenson promoter brought in showtime...that should mean he knows more than you! if he goes there without showtime he likely will get sued

[Scipio2009]

Anyone who would pay to see Stevenson-Fonfara II but not Kovalev-Ward is lacking in any credibility and would be doing a disservice to the sport in general.
If there is any validity to such a claim it would further reinforce the lack of necessity and/or desire for promoters and governing bodies to make fights that determine the true #1 in any given division.
If you think that people should be more willing to pay for fights such as Stevenson-Fonfara II instead of Kovalev-Ward then unfortunately you are part of the problem.

The live gate, in case you missed it.

Stevenson-Fonfara II in Montreal, in a rematch of their prior fight in Montreal, is going to be a massive draw locally. Outside of Kovalev-Ward in Oracle (Ward's already put 10k people in the building on his own, with the SF/Bay Area being home to the largest Russian/Russian-speaking population outside of New York; an audience that hadn't been given a reason to come out for a Ward fight beforehand), there's no local area where you can put Kovalev-Ward and draw the type of energy, locally, that comes from Stevenson-Fonfara in Montreal.

Will be buying my ticket to Ward-Barrera and will be watching Kovalev-Ward when it's announced; would I go to Madison Square Garden to attend Kovalev-Ward? No. Head to Vegas? Depending on the card, but with Main Events as the lead promoter(leaving doubt if they can actually deliver an undercard worth watch), I doubt it.