Tweet
April 15, 2015
Dan Rafael:
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...
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..."
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.
"If you request a purse bid it's because you decide you want to play the game and if you lose you go on the network where the winner of the bid says. I don't understand. We never said we want to do a bid but fight only on HBO. She was playing games and I'm disappointed. I believed they were genuine and I thought it was a smart move going to the WBC to make Kovalev the mandatory. It was unusual but now I realize it was just games."
http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/i...urse-bid-order
Dan Rafael:
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...
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..."
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.
"If you request a purse bid it's because you decide you want to play the game and if you lose you go on the network where the winner of the bid says. I don't understand. We never said we want to do a bid but fight only on HBO. She was playing games and I'm disappointed. I believed they were genuine and I thought it was a smart move going to the WBC to make Kovalev the mandatory. It was unusual but now I realize it was just games."
http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/i...urse-bid-order
Comment