Comments Thread For: Adonis Stevenson-Thomas Williams Set Down for July 16, Quebec

[cork]

Maybe because Pascal just got destroyed.

You don't think Pascal better then Williams? Just because he got destroyed by one of the best boxer on the planet doesn't mean he's not a good boxer. By your logic everyone who loses should go back to fighting bums. I think Pascal is a top 5 lhw. I don't even think William is a top 10 lhw.

[Eff Pandas]

With Kovalev-Ward happening in November, the winner of that fight basically has to see Stevenson (Ward takes that fight without waiver, pending the terms, but I doubt Main Events ever takes the risk against Stevenson).

Man idk I got much faith in Stevenson vs the Ward/Kovalev winner. I suspect this same Showtime problem will continue to be a problem. HBO has lil reason to do a co-promotion with Showtime for a fight this small & Stevenson seems unwilling or unable to do anything without Showtime. Gonna run into the same problems if its Ward as with Kovalev.

[Derranged]

You don't think Pascal better then Williams? Just because he got destroyed by one of the best boxer on the planet doesn't mean he's not a good boxer. By your logic everyone who loses should go back to fighting bums. I think Pascal is a top 5 lhw. I don't even think William is a top 10 lhw.

You think it would be wise for Pascal to face a big puncher after getting beat up badly and knocked out twice in a row?

[cork]

You think it would be wise for Pascal to face a big puncher after getting beat up badly and knocked out twice in a row?

He lost to the same fighter... And it wasn't in a row. I actually think he have a good chance against Stevenson.

[Scipio2009]

Man idk I got much faith in Stevenson vs the Ward/Kovalev winner. I suspect this same Showtime problem will continue to be a problem. HBO has lil reason to do a co-promotion with Showtime for a fight this small & Stevenson seems unwilling or unable to do anything without Showtime. Gonna run into the same problems if its Ward as with Kovalev.

-Andre Ward is a TV free agent after the Kovalev fight (with no doubt that Main Events likely tried to put an "in case Kovalev gets beat" clause in the contract", Ward would not be beholden to the fight having to be on HBO).

-Stevenson's camp (Yvon Michel most eloquently) asked for Showtime to be put into the mix because Kathy Duva, apparently in the negotitions, was talking about the fighters splitting $10m in both of their PPV debuts, for an event that would have to be outside of Montreal (with the general knowledge of neither guy being any kind of draw outside of Quebec, shown most clearly by Kovalev maybe selling 1,000 tickets for his Vegas headline debut).

GYM/Stevenson's flexibility will likely come down to how Kovalev-Ward ends up doing (with Roc Nation and it's ties to Barclays Center, my assumption is that the fight happens in Las Vegas); if Kovalev-Ward manages to do 350k PPV buys (@$50/PPV, you're basically clearing $8m once everyone gets paid) and ends up doing at least $2m-$3m at the gate in Las Vegas, I don't see GYM having any qualms with HBO having the fight (with Main Events seemingly making all of the promotional decisions, it'd be incumbent on GYM to lock in a sizable downside guarantee for Stevenson).

Only way HBO/Showtime becomes an issue again would be if Kovalev-Ward, once everything is paid, only ends up clearing $5m (GYM would then be rightfully able to make the case that staging the fight in Montreal at the Bell Centre, with both broadcasters pushing the fight, would actually properly compensate both guys).

[Derranged]

He lost to the same fighter... And it wasn't in a row. I actually think he have a good chance against Stevenson.

My apologies, you are correct. He fought someone else in between the Kovalev fights. Still though, he'd be better off fighting someone else next.

[techliam]

4 no hopers in a row. Golovkin gets absolutely trashed for it, but at last his opponents are top 10 or mandatory opponents, with the exception of the awful Monroe fight.

But this is 4 fighters in a row. Leo Santa Cruz level. Even if you wanna squeeze Williams at the very bottom of the top 10 for an irrelevant win, you'd think after 3 mismatches a big fight would be made.

Fonfara 2, Alvarez, Beterbiev, Shabranskyy, Gonzalez, hell even Braehmer. All of those fights could be made in the past 4 attempts, but instead we get this.

[Eff Pandas]

-Andre Ward is a TV free agent after the Kovalev fight (with no doubt that Main Events likely tried to put an "in case Kovalev gets beat" clause in the contract", Ward would not be beholden to the fight having to be on HBO).

-Stevenson's camp (Yvon Michel most eloquently) asked for Showtime to be put into the mix because Kathy Duva, apparently in the negotitions, was talking about the fighters splitting $10m in both of their PPV debuts, for an event that would have to be outside of Montreal (with the general knowledge of neither guy being any kind of draw outside of Quebec, shown most clearly by Kovalev maybe selling 1,000 tickets for his Vegas headline debut).

GYM/Stevenson's flexibility will likely come down to how Kovalev-Ward ends up doing (with Roc Nation and it's ties to Barclays Center, my assumption is that the fight happens in Las Vegas); if Kovalev-Ward manages to do 350k PPV buys (@$50/PPV, you're basically clearing $8m once everyone gets paid) and ends up doing at least $2m-$3m at the gate in Las Vegas, I don't see GYM having any qualms with HBO having the fight (with Main Events seemingly making all of the promotional decisions, it'd be incumbent on GYM to lock in a sizable downside guarantee for Stevenson).

Only way HBO/Showtime becomes an issue again would be if Kovalev-Ward, once everything is paid, only ends up clearing $5m (GYM would then be rightfully able to make the case that staging the fight in Montreal at the Bell Centre, with both broadcasters pushing the fight, would actually properly compensate both guys).

Idk I still think there are more potential roadblocks, then easy to cross bridges, so a lot of things will need to go right for this to go down next (post Kov vs Ward). I mean there is still the weirdness with the Jay Z/Haymon relationship too. I tend to lean towards Ward re-signing with HBO if he wins too.

[Scipio2009]

Idk I still think there are more potential roadblocks, then easy to cross bridges, so a lot of things will need to go right for this to go down next (post Kov vs Ward). I mean there is still the weirdness with the Jay Z/Haymon relationship too. I tend to lean towards Ward re-signing with HBO if he wins too.

The Jay-Z/Haymon feud, imo, has been overblown; Beyonce ended up suing her father, largely over a deal that her father(acting as her manager) worked out with Haymon, apparently without her involvement.

Haymon wasn't about to help Roc Nation build their boxing business from scratch, but with Haymon's company doing fine on their own and Jay-Z's company doing fine on their own, there are no obvious impediments to the two companies doing business.

Andre Ward may very well sign with HBO; the point needs to be made clear though that Showtime, in an effort to bring back the last star that they've built from scratch before Wilder and to deliver a massive event for their network (with eyes towards subsequent massive events), is going to lay out a ton of money to Ward in an offer.

With seeming network deals with Stevenson, Chavez Jr, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, and Ruslan Provodnikov, and a great relationship with boxing's powerbroker, what would you guess a 10-fight deal with Andre Ward (exercised over 40-45 months) could be worth after toppling Kovalev?

$25m-$30m guaranteed (with Ward getting the upside on any PPV fights on the deal) would seem a good place to start. Does HBO lock themselves into that type of money with all of Sean Monaghan as viable fights at the weight for Ward? I don't think so.

[Eff Pandas]

The Jay-Z/Haymon feud, imo, has been overblown; Beyonce ended up suing her father, largely over a deal that her father(acting as her manager) worked out with Haymon, apparently without her involvement.

Haymon wasn't about to help Roc Nation build their boxing business from scratch, but with Haymon's company doing fine on their own and Jay-Z's company doing fine on their own, there are no obvious impediments to the two companies doing business.

Andre Ward may very well sign with HBO; the point needs to be made clear though that Showtime, in an effort to bring back the last star that they've built from scratch before Wilder and to deliver a massive event for their network (with eyes towards subsequent massive events), is going to lay out a ton of money to Ward in an offer.

With seeming network deals with Stevenson, Chavez Jr, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, and Ruslan Provodnikov, and a great relationship with boxing's powerbroker, what would you guess a 10-fight deal with Andre Ward (exercised over 40-45 months) could be worth after toppling Kovalev?

$25m-$30m guaranteed (with Ward getting the upside on any PPV fights on the deal) would seem a good place to start. Does HBO lock themselves into that type of money with all of Sean Monaghan as viable fights at the weight for Ward? I don't think so.

I'm in wait & see mode with Jay Z & Haymon. Until they actually work together I'm gonna assume there is some issue.

And if Ward beats Kovalev I don't think he's gonna be cashing out with anyone. The reality is he's still not selling tickets anywhere but Oakland. And I don't expect this PPV will do great numbers to enhance his drawing power much. If it does 400k that'd be incredible.

Idk I hope I'm wrong, but I just think Stevenson has unrealistic demands & has driven his value down since his HBO exodus & there are just too many problems I can foresee that will slow this fight down or prevent it from happening. If it happens it'd probably be towards the end of next year or 2018 when Stevenson starts feeling more desperate about making the fight.