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i should have added, ward wont fight a 'legitimate opponent' again. He might try and dig up that bum he tried to fight before but the authorities refused to sanction it. That might be his farewell fight. Will ward rematch kovalev or fight beterbiev? Hell noComment
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Main Events put Roc Nation through a ton of bull**** in the run-up to the first fight; Andre Ward got his money to "show up and sit", but Main Events made sure to get every penny worth of that. The petty media credential nonsense, the "stage a press conference in La" stuff, having no input from Roc Nation for staging the event, etc (there was likely more stuff that happened, but none of it made it to the rumor pages).
Andre Ward is heading into the rematch as the champion, and it seems like he's insisting that (beyond Duva/Kovalev/etc acknowledging that they did, in fact, lose a close fight) that be recognized by everyone involved.
Kovalev-Ward, even after all of the talk of the event being flop, still likely ended up splitting $10m once all of the net revenues are brought in, with Andre Ward seemingly getting a possible stake in none of the upside beyond his guarantee.
No idea what Ward and his camp are thinking, but why not have the rematch actually split 50/50?
Main Events and Roc Nation Sports presents, Ward vs Kovalev II; Roc Nation gets two of the fights on the PPV broadcast undercard, RNS/ME each get three fights on the non-televised fight card, RNS/ME jointly sign the deal with whatever venue they jointly choose to take the fight to, RNS/ME jointly negotiate what broadcasters end up getting the international rights to the fight, RNS/ME jointly decide on the press credentials and how the promotional rollout actually happens, etc.
Ward gets $2.5m, Kovalev gets $2.5m, and the fighters split the upside on the rematch (which will likely end up being a bigger event) 55/45 Ward (giving Ward the share split, since he's champion)Comment
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Kovalev's purse in the first fight was nowhere near Ward's. So it would appear the rematch would devalue Kovalev even more, and I don't think Kov would make it a huge deal as he has no history of pricing himself out in any of his previous fights. So Ward is basically in complete control of the terms in the rematch. I mean he can pretty much demand anything, except that he can't expect HBO to be so welcoming. They would most likely won't give a crap if the rematch never happens, anyways. If Ward is asking for $10 mil guarantee, then he can forget about it. Who would offer him that money? It's certainly not Duva or HBO.Comment
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Kovalev is the one, now standing there with his **** in his hands, without a fight that he can look to that HBO is even interested in.
Andre Ward has the three belts around his waist, a resume under his ledger that he can take to the HOF, and only a legal fight (with his side of the fence having the deeper pockets to bear the load) as a possible stumbling block that he seems not worried about (Ward has already sat out for more serious fights, and none of the three governing bodies have taken the step to put his belts at risk).
"hurt his feelings" or not, Kovalev and his camp have some grovelling to do, because there's no structural pressure against Andre Ward (his deal is up with HBO, and his three belts have no mandatory due) and Andre Ward has already made it clear that he's not the one to fold under any attempts at publicly shaming him into making a decision.
What does Kovalev do if he's actually left with having to sit in legal limbo? Main Events has no other fighter under their banner that HBO is really all that interested in, and it's not like Main Events has any real in with any of the other light heavyweight fighters on the planet (slap yourself if you earnestly believe that Bob Arum is going to put Gvozdyk, or any of the rising light heavyweights for that matter, in with Kovalev with nothing else on the line).
get ready to grovel a bitComment
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