I think Ward beats Kovalev, but you left head butts out of that list. Kovalev definitely seems open to the head butts and Ward throws them with the best. Kovalev's team has been trying to up his competition, but apparently people are not willing to take the risk for the money--Adonis being one of them. Main Events is threatening legal action if Adonis doesn't fight Kovalev in Canada in September because apparently they had an agreement and HBO already put up the money or some crap, but it sounds like Adonis' team would rather go to court than get in the ring, which sucks for the fans, and doesn't support your argument that Kovalev's team is feeding him cans. They are trying to feed him Adonis, but Adonis doesn't want to partake. I think Pascal is their plan-B, so we'll see if he want to fight, if Adonis bails.
Lets be honest here. If Showtime outbid HBO then Stevenson isn't ducking Kovalev. Stevenson is simply going with the highest bidder. Had the roles been reversed, Kovalev would have done the exact same thing - and the Kovalev nut huggers would probably still find a way to blame Stevenson for "ducking" Kovalev.
Let's be honest here. Who's trying to force the fight, and who's trying to escape the fight? If Adonis made an agreement, should he not be an honorable man of his word and follow through with it? P.S. Using what someone might have done to justify what someone did do is a logical fallacy and isn't a valid argument. We don't know if Kovalev would have done the same, and that has nothing to do with Adonis.
Boxing is a business first and there is no honor among thieves. Stevenson was supposed to go with the highest bidder. Fair enough - but what does your common sense tell you?
Just because that works for you, doesn't mean its going to work for me. I'm sure when you look in the mirror, you find all kinds of strange things in your mouth like Andre Ward's Irish ****, but that doesn't make it so for the rest of us.
Common sense tells me that I nor anyone else can truly answer what Kovalev would have done, so speculation does no good. You're right, it is a business, and in business agreements & contracts should be honored. A new "bidder" coming along after an agreement is made, doesn't excuse parties from the agreement. Only a default on the agreement releases an offended party. I will say that I'm not sure what sort of agreement was made--meaning was it a formal or binding agreement. Supposedly money did change hands based on this agreement, so that is likely to be seen as a formal agreement. Whether it's binding or not would be up to a judge. Maybe more money will sway Adonis to keep the Sept. fight with Kovalev in Canada, we'll see. I think it's a great fight that needs to happen. I can see either side pulling off the win, which is part of what makes it a good fight.
p4p is a mythical concept, and most have rigo at #2 Who are you again? Because a pro boxer that fought all 3 fighters said kov is better than ward and stevenson both.