Hopkins: Kovalev ducked me for Cleverly

Showtime was NOT going to air BHop vs Kovalev.
They jumped all over BHop vs Murat though.
Don't sit there and act like you don't know who promotes BHop's fights and what network works with that promoter.:nono

 

You've read all the information (or perhaps you haven't) - Duva and Kovalev took the guaranteed title fight which was already made before Hopkins even became an option over one which showed every sign of never happening at all.

Accuse Hopkins of avoiding the fight? Well, that kinda depends - if you go along with Bernards assertion that he's 'a chess player who people think is playing draughts (or checkers)' and is in control of his business dealings and an active participant in GBP management it becomes hard to see how Espinoza declined the Hopkins - Kovalev fight without consulting Hopkins at the very least.

Best sell for Hopkins is that he wanted Kovalev but was overuled by Espinoza who believed that Murat was gonna make a better or more popular fight. If you buy that I've got a bridge for half price at the moment...

 

Again show prove or shut the **** up. Back then Kov had not yet signed with HBO.

 

[url]http://static.boxrec.com/wiki/thumb/5/50/Naseem_Hamed.jpg/250px-Naseem_Hamed.jpg[/url]

 

If you're gonna argue the toss you should know these things already. Espinoza turned it down. Whether you want to take the logical step further and assume that Hopkins was part of that decision making process is, of course, up to you.

[url]http://www.badlefthook.com/2013/8/22/4647800/bernard-hopkins-bristles-at-attention-given-to-kovalev-he-took-the[/url]

 

Kovalev signing or not signing with HBO had nothing to do with it.
BHop wouldn't have been able to fight on HBO.
SHOWTIME WOULD NOT AIR A FIGHT BETWEEN BHOP AND KOVALEVatsch

F*cks sake, where do some of these people come from?:rofl

 

Hopkins has talked sh*t like that his whole career. After he beat Tito he said he wanted Michalzewski (because RJJ wouldn't fight him). DM's team says ok, Bernard goes quiet. Bernard says he'd fight Ottke, Ottke's team says ok, Bernard goes quiet. Bernard pushed to make a fight with Calzaghe. J_W drafts up a two fight deal - Joe fights Charles Brewer & Bernard fights Harry Simon, then Joe and Bernard fight. Bernard says how much he wants & J_W agrees, Joe signs off, and when it's time for Bernard to sign he says no because Don King is taking too much from him.

 

That's not entirely accurate.

 

Care to point out any inaccuracies?

 

Showtime had no interest in buying Hopkins Kovalev only to have Kovalev go across the street to HBO had he won. This suggests that Showtime probably would have been interested in airing that fight had Kovalev locked himself into a Showtime deal.

 

Any word on what kind of deal, if any that Kovalev turned down from Showtime?

 

Which is of course part of the point - SHO had no contractual or promotional rivalry issues to deal with. They simply turned down the bigger fight - Kovalev, for the smaller one, Murat.

 

You're ****ing stupid you know that. Kovalev signing contract HBO is the only thing that would have prevent the fight from happening. You're the one that tried to use network war as a reason so don't try to backtrack now. Show prove that Showtime did not want Kovalev you ****ing liar. We're waiting. :think

 

Do you know how to use a search engine?
You should've seen this article back when it was first posted, if you actually followed the situation:
[url]http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/4464/what-was-kovalevs-rationale[/url]

(I'm not going to read it for you, though)

 

No potntial deal has even been hinted at or suggested by SHO (who could make some mileage out of revealing such information) - they may have thought as you say, but then why didn't they offer any kinda deal?

Admittedly time was short - the Clev fight was ready for signing and Duva couldn't afford to wait around to see which way GBP / BHop would jump, but your assertion (whilst possibly correct in principle) holds no weight if SHO / GBP made no offer, as appears to be the case.

Have you actually read the various links provided? This was well covered at the time by those interested in the subject. SHO turned it down flat (TBF HBO turned it down flat also due to Hopkins being not just a GBP fighter but a partner I guess)...if they'd offered a deal, well who knows? But they didn't.

Any way you look at it it ain't Kovalev avoiding the Hopkins fight. As pointed out Duva left W a r r e n holding his d1ck in his hands whilst she ran around trying to see if the Hopkins fight was feasible and coulda put the pre-arranged WBO title fight in danger if she'd waited too long, specially as it seems GBP suddenly started opening negotiations with Cleverly (who may have been their post mando target anyway) as soon as the Murat fight fell through (ie at the same moment Kovalev became mando).