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what I notice.....
A lot of Ward fans seem to admire and respect Kovalev
makes a nice change from the Golovkin fans, who think that every past/present/future opponent of Gennady's is nothing but a bum, coward, and all around general slime-ball LMAOComment
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Kovalev had no choice but to wait for Ward because Duva maneuvered him out of the chance to fight Adonis Stevenson.
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...
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. Stevenson is backed by Haymon, who could bankroll a big bid by Michel and put the fight on Showtime or one of the networks on which his Premier Boxing Champions series appears, such as NBC, CBS or ESPN, whose deal begins in July.
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.
"We want to make the fight very much and we'd love to make the fight with them on a 50-50 deal," Duva told ESPN.com. "But Sergey is contractually tied to HBO and we can't go to a purse bid. We can't fight the fight if we lose the bid, so there's no point in going to the bid and putting on charade."
http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/i...urse-bid-orderComment
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This fight is interesting. I believe it all boils down to one thing. Can Andre Ward handle Kovalev's power? If he can then he wins a decision, won't be pretty and he'll do a lot of holding but he'll pull out the decision. As for Kovalev if Ward can't handle the pounding he wins a close decision or late stoppage. I simply don't see any other way for this to play out unless there is some weird stoppage due to cuts. Ward is not a puncher and Kovalev takes a really good shot so it's going to be a long night for both fighters I expect.Comment
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Ward by 12 round dissectionComment
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