From the moment he was offered the opportunity to face Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez earlier this year, Sergey Kovalev always knew he was going to be dictated to for the most part in order for the fight to materialize.
Still, it was an enticing enough matchup to where the three-time and defending light heavyweight titlist was willing to forgo a homecoming appearance and mandatory title fight versus England’s Anthony Yarde—all part of the same event—in order to make the dream fight a reality. It just wasn’t meant to be at the time, but also left at a point where it could be revisited.
“We weren’t getting the kind of offer we needed. By the time the offer game, we were pretty far along in (plans for) the Yarde fight,” Kathy Duva, Kovalev’s longtime promoter noted during a recent media conference call to discuss her client’s upcoming showdown versus Mexico’s Alvarez (52-1-2, 35KOs) on Nov. 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Plus, Sergey felt an obligation to go through with the event.”
Several delays came in bringing the Yarde fight to fruition, enough to keep alive hope—or at least talks—for a superfight with Alvarez, who will move up two weight divisions for their upcoming DAZN-streamed battle. His fight with Yarde (18-1, 17KOs) finally landed on Aug. 24, with Kovalev (34-3-1, 29KOs) scoring an 11th round knockout to make the first defense of his third tour as a light heavyweight title claimant.
The victory lap was shortlived, as his team immediately reached out to Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions, as the latter will still in need for an opponent for his firm-in-place Nov. 2 date.
From there, it all came together, even if it meant Kovalev traveling to Las Vegas—the site of his first career defeat in which he dropped a hotly contested decision to Andre Ward in Nov. 2016, along with suffering a stoppage loss in their June 2017 rematch which he contends was the result of low blows which went undetected by referee Tony Weeks.
It's also a town where Alvarez has firmly established his star status, namely in a pair of World championship middleweight fights with Gennadiy Golovkin where he managed a draw and a majority decision win in fights where many argued he should’ve endured at least one loss. The crowd will overwhelmingly pull for Alvarez on fight night, although that scenario plays out anywhere in North America.
“The dynamics of this negotiation just made that impossible,” Duva admitted in terms of disallowing Alvarez and Golden Boy to dictate the location. “We got the fight we wanted, we got the money we wanted. The way to get that money is to go to a place where you can generate it. We are realists.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
