Kovalev's Manager Reveals The Terms For Stevenson Unification
By Steve Kim
Egis Klimas, the manager of unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, wasn't all that amused by the antics of WBC titlist, Adonis Stevenson, after his fighter stopped Jean Pascal in their rematch this past Saturday night at the
Bell Centre in Montreal.
Following Kovalev's seventh round stoppage of Pascal, Stevenson entered the ring with his entourage and confronted Kovalev during the live HBO post-fight interview.
"Basically he jumped in the ring with all his goons, which means he is scared. Like Tyson Fury, he said a message to (Deontay) Wilder but he was by himself. Stevenson has to get into the ring with a bunch of goons and act like a clown," said the manager, of the verbal altercation that took place between Kovalev and Stevenson.
What distresses Klimas more is the message being put forth by Stevenson regarding the financial split that was offered for a fight between the two.
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"He was - him and his goons - yelling,'50-50'. So basically my thinking is that the management and the promotional team is not bringing to Stevenson 100-percent of what is being offered to him," surmised Klimas. "So basically Stevenson is missing some information where he doesn't know that the deal offered for Kovalev was 50-50 and all they're yelling is '50-50' was coming out of their mouth."
Klimas makes it clear, "Yes, we offered a deal for Stevenson-Kovalev 50-50. The contract was there for like three, four weeks. We had a deadline date, we had everything they asked. We guaranteed them $2 million from the first money that comes from the pay-per-view. It was there they had everything they need. At the last minute, Friday (January 22nd) was the last day and they asked for an extension till Tuesday (January 26th). HBO gave them the extension.
"But still, Tuesday they come back and knocked it out. They said,'No, we're not going to do it.' Their excuse was,'We want to make it 50-50' and plus it has to be [a] combined [pay-per-view] with HBO and Showtime. Nobody thinks Stevenson is in a league where Floyd Mayweather was when they made the (Manny) Pacquiao fight. Second of all, the last time Stevenson appeared on Showtime it was December of 2014, which means he has no deal with no TV network. Everybody around the world knows Sergey Kovalev has a signed deal with HBO. We can't go away from HBO.
"So my message to Stevenson and to all the boxing world: basically the management is for the fighter, looking for where is the best fight, where of course the best money has to be."
Klimas broke down the finances for this proposed fight: "We offered Madison Square Garden or the MGM Grand, where the estimated gate was $4 million. We offered approximate sales with HBO, 300,000 buys which is another $9 million. We offered sponsorships which is about another million dollars, international sales around the world - that's another million dollars."
The manager believes that there was between $12-15 million for both sides to divide up and he reiterated - "We were willing to split 50-50. Question is: can his management guarantee him a fight for this kind of money? So basically what is his management looking for? Protecting the fighter or protecting their business and protecting their TV network? That's the biggest question here."
When asked if Kovalev was moving on, Klimas answered, "Yes, of course, we already did. There's no more negotiations. We are moving."
It seems destined that 'the Krusher' will now have a homecoming fight in Russia before his much talked about showdown with Andre Ward in the fall.
"Today we do not need Stevenson. Stevenson is already, what, 39 years old? Who's he going to fight? He's going to fight for a million-and-a-half (dollars), maybe somebody is going to give him two, then who's he going to fight. Andrzej Fonfara or ( Elieder) Alvarez and then knocked out in the ring and his career is going to be over. We don't care anymore, he's the past, he's history," stated Klimas.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
Kovalev's Manager Reveals The Terms For Stevenson Unification - Boxing News
