I'm not 100% sure but does anyone know what actually happened here. I know Hop and Kov were set to fight but instead Kov fought Cleverly. Did Kov change course for Cleverly before or after Hop jumped ship to Showtime?
Murat was Hopkins mandatory but then he had visa issues. Kovalev then became the fill-in mandatory. Kovalev's promoter preferred a fight with cleverly as it's easier. Also, show time did not want to put money behind the fight. However, Sam Watson who is al haymons aide , began developing relationship with Stevenson. A verbal agreement behind the scenes, reflected by stevensons presence in many gbp fight events, prompted show time to show interest in the LHW division. Murats visa issues subsequently got sorted and now we have a possible unification fight between Hopkins and lineal champion Stevenson should those two win their next fights. In short, no fighter ducked the other .