Comments Thread For: Kovalev's Promoter Reacts To Statements From Stevenson

[brettWall]

It's not even like Chickenson only ducked Kovalev. He also ducked Hopkins and Pascal. Two very lucrative fights in Montreal. Absolutely zero reason why he ducked such fights. So that alone make him lose credibility.

In fact, when he ran away to join Haymon to duck Kovalev, that's exactly how Espinoza was justifying Chickenson's decision. That he will eventually get Hopkins and guys like Pascal, who have no issues fighting at Showtime. How can you even defend this guy when he has a pattern of ducking fights most fighters in his division would take?

[Eff Pandas]

And Chickenson doesn't even have a contract with Showtime like Kovalev has with HBO.

Idk what his status is with Showtime. There definitely is some sort of relationship there, but you don't leave Showtime out of all the original terms when you know that could be the deal breaker & then try to slip it in later.

Poor guy is just delusional and/or ******.

He's definitely not ******. He's making nice money fighting bs fights right now. He's smart. I mean the guy was a pimp in a different life, he surely knows how to hustle still.

Just hang on Superman, when Ward beat kkk he will leave HBO and fight you next year.

I'd bet against that. Duva is in love with HBO & HBO's ability in building stars & thinks Kov can become a more mainstream star. Duva hates Haymon so Showtime would seem to be the only other competitor to scoop up Kov & I'm not sure they have any fighters under contract right now so even if they wanted to leave HBO I'm not sure Showtime is willing to pick him up.

[kej718]

Kovalev is not a big draw, and his promoter can't even put up the money for a purse bid but is saying 50/50 is off the table?

[Pigeons]

Two critical junctures in this mess:

2014, Stevenson leaves for Showtime instead of fighting Kovalev on HBO.

2015, Kovalev signs a contract with HBO instead of fighting Stevenson on PBC.

Everything else is worthless promoter speak.

[Bronx2245]

So has the possibility of the fight "sailed" or just the possibility of "50/50" sailed?

April 15, 2015:

Just when it looked like the path was relatively clear for the light heavyweight unification showdown between champion Adonis Stevenson and three-belt owner Sergey Kovalev, a big wrench was thrown in the plans on Tuesday.

The fight is by far the most anticipated in the 175-pound weight class, but the chances that it comes off this fall as many hoped were greatly diminished when Main Events CEO Kathy Duva, Kovalev's promoter, decided against participating in a WBC-mandated purse bid on Friday in Mexico City...

But after Stevenson (26-1, 21 KOs), 37, of Montreal, retained the title by one-sided decision against Sakio Bika on April 4, he and promoter Yvon Michel, whom Kovalev and Duva had accused of ducking the fight, professed their desire to make the match, be it to negotiate terms or let it go to a purse bid, where the promoter with the biggest offer would win the promotional rights.

Then Duva announced that she would not participate in the bidding process, which came as a surprise considering how much she dogged Stevenson for supposedly avoiding the fight.

Duva, the one who initially suggested that the WBC make Kovalev the mandatory at the organization's annual convention late last year, said that while she and Kovalev very much want to make the fight, Kovalev is under exclusive contract to HBO, which would not allow him to fight on another network...

Most believe that if the fight did go a purse bid, Main Events would have no prayer of winning because even if HBO backed the bid it would not be enough to beat Haymon, whose PBC investor war chest is believed to be worth far more than $100 million.

On Tuesday, Duva sent a letter to the WBC and to Michel advising them that she was withdrawing from the purse bid. Had the fight gone to the bid, the fighters would have split the winning figure 50-50 and the winning promoter would control all aspects of the promotion, including all the revenue streams and determining when, where and on what television network the bout would take place...

Michel said he was disappointed in Duva's decision and the she was "playing games."

"They asked to be the mandatory. They asked for a 50-50 split if we don't come to an agreement and we went along with that," Michel told ESPN.com. "Adonis does not have a contract with Showtime, but we are affiliated with Showtime and PBC but we managed to arrange that if we were going to lose the purse bid we could have gone on HBO and we thought it was the same on their side...

"Sergey has a contract with HBO and he will be fighting on HBO. If Adonis doesn't want to do that, God bless him," she told ESPN.com. "Sergey is the best light heavyweight in the world. If Adonis wants to prove he's the best he's going to have to fight Sergey and he's going to have to do it on terms that are doable under Sergey's HBO contract."

Not so fast, Michel said.

"Bring the proposal from HBO and I bring a proposal from a PBC-affiliated network and we go where it has the most value," he said. "I'm willing to negotiate but she has to be willing to maximize the revenue. If she doesn't want to do that then stop trying to make everyone believe we tried to avoid Kovalev. When the WBC decided to name the winner of Kovalev-Pascal the mandatory we were on board and we are not backing out. Let's go with the network that can put up the most money."

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/12692849/sergey-kovalev-bails-adonis-stevenson-purse-bid-order

[jqSide]

It's not even like Chickenson only ducked Kovalev. He also ducked Hopkins and Pascal. Two very lucrative fights in Montreal. Absolutely zero reason why he ducked such fights. So that alone make him lose credibility.

In fact, when he ran away to join Haymon to duck Kovalev, that's exactly how Espinoza was justifying Chickenson's decision. That he will eventually get Hopkins and guys like Pascal, who have no issues fighting at Showtime. How can you even defend this guy when he has a pattern of ducking fights most fighters in his division would take?

Stevenson vs Pascal not happening was a huge disappointment for Montreal fans, who fill up stadiums whenever fight events are shown, MMA, UFC, Boxing, Thai boxing, you name it.

Both guys are of Haitian descent, speak French, live in Quebec. You can imagine the clamor from the locals. This is like Khan vs Brook in the UK.

Unfortunately, Stevenson wanted none of Pascal who would have accepted any term Stevenson threw at him.

[El-blanco]

It's not even like Chickenson only ducked Kovalev. He also ducked Hopkins and Pascal. Two very lucrative fights in Montreal. Absolutely zero reason why he ducked such fights. So that alone make him lose credibility.

In fact, when he ran away to join Haymon to duck Kovalev, that's exactly how Espinoza was justifying Chickenson's decision. That he will eventually get Hopkins and guys like Pascal, who have no issues fighting at Showtime. How can you even defend this guy when he has a pattern of ducking fights most fighters in his division would take?

Exactly, actions speak louder than words. Stevenson has proven what kind of guy he is. He's all talk and will never fight Kovalev.

[bojangles1987]

F#ck me, I agree with Duva. Duva says a million weird or nutty things, but this ain't one of them.

Stevenson needs to quit living in fantasy land already. He's diminished his value with his last year & a half or whatever of his career. When Kovalev is training for Ward, Stevenson is most likely going to be fresh from a W over Edwin Rodriguez lol. That pretty much explains this situation.

Stevenson need to start saying he's good with 40/60 or 30/70 & to call Haymon if he wants Kov or just continue fighting bs guys for a million+. He can probably spread out another 5-6 wins over the next 3 years & knock down $5M+. Thats not a bad retirement pension.

The Ward fight allows Kovalev to completely ignore Stevenson. He's getting just as good a fight without any of the headaches involved in Duva working with Haymon. Kovalev is already considered the real champ at light heavyweight and a win over Ward makes him the p4p best fighter in the sport.

It's up to Stevenson now to change that perception, something he doesn't seem to care at all about doing. He would rather beat up on nobodies and be irrelevant.

[bojangles1987]

Two critical junctures in this mess:

2014, Stevenson leaves for Showtime instead of fighting Kovalev on HBO.

2015, Kovalev signs a contract with HBO instead of fighting Stevenson on PBC.

Everything else is worthless promoter speak.

Yep, both guys screwed the fight up at different points, and both deserve blame for it.

[MDPopescu]

Can't believe we're at the exact same situation since 2013.. what a shame to boxing. Why not simply fight ? From what I read From Yvon Michel, they asked them 50/50 AND proposed to air on Showtime AND Hbo . Duva declined, saying it could only be on HBO. Really ? ? Stop that bull**** and show some respect to the fans. Freaking Duva, Freaking Yvon Michel. ..

Duva didn't decline shit...

She and HBO offered a contract for that fight, back in 2014 -- when they both fought on HBO. The pimp was so scared that he ran to Showtime and papa Al. This year Adonis pretended he wanted to fight Kova, but when Duva and HBO offered another contract to Michel, Adonis said he wanted Showtime into the mix. HBO denied, of course. Now the pimp is shouting again... Maybe he wants to fight the Kova leftovers in Ward -- but I doubt that Ward will fight Kovalev or the pimp in this life... Ward has a great fight under preparation: the rematch with the big bad wolf Paul Smith, at 176...