Kovalev vs Ismayll Sillakh, Nov 30?

The sanctioning bodies tend to be somewhat inconsistent with their ratings at the best of times. I do agree that at present, Fonfara and Brahmer are more deserving of the crack at Kovalev, though....by quite a margin at present.

 

damn...hbo is just piling it on for their fall lineup.

 

I think it's a combination of HBO wanting to build him up and HBO wanting to generate buzz for a clash with Stevenson. Hey, at least Sillakh can punch so they could have done a lot worse for a filler fight.

 

Bit of a sad one this, 'cos Sillakh is genuinely a good fighter, but has just become a fringe ghost since the upset loss to Grachev. I'd actually fancy him over Bellew, but Kovalev will get Zero credit for having beaten him.

I think Duva is still looking at Fonfara in Chicago but I can see the sense in getting Kovalev on the Stevenson card. Braemer is just... I don't know if he was even offered. Did he refuse? Visa issues likely at short notice due to criminal record and I imagine HBO didn't want another European fight for Kovalev.

I was kinda hoping for Alvarez, but can see that Michel wouldn't want to feed his rising contender to Kovalev.

I wonder if Beterbiev's gonna fight on 30th - he's been on the last 2 Stevenson undercards so it seems likely. We could see sparks between Artur and Sergei if they run into each other.