Hopkins "No Need To Fight Kovalev "

“Yeah, it’s complete, because who cares about the WBO belt?” Hopkins responded. “When I won the middleweight undisputed title [Hopkins was the lineal champ and held the IBF, WBA and WBC titles], I fought Oscar De La Hoya for the WBO. That was to make history, to be the first fighter that won four or five belts ever. I was the first fighter to win all four or five titles. I didn’t forget about history. That’s why I fought Oscar De La Hoya.

“If the chance do come that I don’t have the WBO belt, the person that beats the man that beats the man that beats the man becomes the guy. You got the ring belt, you got the WBC, you got the IBF, you got the WBA, you are the man,” he said.

He was then asked, if you were to not include Kovalev’s belt in the conversation, whether Kovalev is part of the picture.

“Not if he’s across the street,” Hopkins said.


Source :************ne

Discuss

 

Now its Ward AND Hopkins dont want anything to do with Kovalev .

Thats too bad because i believe both guys would defeat the Russian .

 

And both are good fights

 

Hopkins is right as usual.

Kovalev is really irrelant where BHOP is concerned. If he weren't with HBO HOP would fight and beat him anyway.

What if BHOP beats Stevenson and can't get his dream send off and big payday with Mayweather. I doubt that Mayweather would want to fight Hopkins and end up rolling on the canvas like Oscar.

Who would then be the next best opponent?

Andre Ward.

I know. Before you say it, I know that Hopkins has said that he would not fight Ward, but knowing Hopkins he said that because that would make the fan base speculate and want the fight more. I say he would fight him, in the right time, under the right conditions, and for the right money.

In Ward Vs Hopkins, Hopkins gets a good retirement check, fights the #2 p4p SMW in the world and if he should win, forever in the annuals of time.
If Ward should win, he'd be the man, the undisputed LHW champ, and earn some big bread with everybody at SMW to LHW wanting a piece of him.

 

The WBO has always been meaningless imo

 

We all know the fight isn't possible as long as GBP is banned from HBO and as long as Kovalev is signed with HBO.

 

This will inevitably be used to declare Hopkins is ducking or scared of Kovalev, but the last statement is the most pertinent. As he says, he went lineal and to most people became undisputed when he beat Trinidad but technically didn't hold all 4 titles until a few years later against Oscar. Once again he'll be fighting for 3 of the 4 belts (against a guy who already is lineal BTW).

 

:deal

 

Ward possibly beats Kovalev. Kovalev puts Hopkins in a body cast and Hopkins knows this.

 

BHOP would put his name on his resume in the easy win category in a heart beat, but there is no upside. The fight won't happen.

 

The fight won't happen because Hopkins may be old, he's not senile. Kovalev is too active for Hopkins and won't spend half the fight looking at him.

 

Here is Hopkins when Kovalev was his mandatory before he signing with HBO telling him to go fight Cleverly. Showtime could have signed Kovalev but they protected Hopkins from him instead and he's lying through his dentures again.

[url]http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/4399/hopkins-would-face-kovalev-but[/url]

“

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and we go head-to-head and give the fans the old light heavyweight battles they had in the late '70 and '80s, and

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. It doesn’t seem complicated. OK, maybe I’m being a little sarcastic.”

So while Hopkins is in, if that is the direction Kovalev pursues, it gets a little complicated because HBO won’t do business with Golden Boy, his promoter.

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Go figure, because Hopkins-Kovalev is a much, much more interesting fight than Hopkins-Murat ever was.

“[Kovalev] is a good puncher and some people are excited about him,” Hopkins said. “He’s a better quality name than Karo Murat is.”

The reason for Showtime’s possible reluctance to put on Hopkins-Kovalev is because it is not heavily invested in the division and

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, so it wouldn’t want to build him up only to see him beat Hopkins and then go to HBO, which is doing a ton of business at light heavyweight and super middleweight.

 

well he should retire if he beats stevenson

 

LOL. That's what they always say and the majority of times, 9/10, they are proven wrong.
The fight won't happen because of network/promoter politics that Kovalev wasn't positioned to avoid. It would simply be to complicated and costly for BHOP to go against the grain. Too much exposure with little reward.

 

This discussion will be irrelevant once Stevenson batters Hopkins into retirement