Taken from another source. This is a timeline of events and is VERY suspect on BHOPS part.
• 19th June, 2013 - Stephen Espinoza (Showtime boss) claims that he has no intention to schedule a fight between Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev because of "Many factors - schedule, budget, lack of depth in the division, etc."
• 19th April, 2014 - Bernard Hopkins defeats Beibut Shumenov and says that he's a Showtime fighter and that his loyalties lay with Showtime, Richard Schaefer and Al Haymon. He also said that if Kovalev wants to fight him he had to go to Showtime. He also said that Kovalev's WBO belt didn't matter, because it's more important to be "the man who beats the man" and to own the Ring, WBC, IBF & WBA belts (video already supplied).
• 30th April, 2014 - Adonis Stevenson, Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer, Yvon Michel, Groupe Yvon Michel, Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) and Showtime were all the named parties in a lawsuit filed by Main Events. Bernard Hopkins has a vested interest in the lawsuit because he’s a shareholder of GBP and is a business partner of some of the parties named in the litigation.
• 30th April, 2014 - The IBF states that the negotiations for the mandatory defence of Bernard Hopkins title are due to start on the 21st June, 2014.
• 21st June, 2014 - Nadjib Mohammedi becomes Bernard Hopkins mandatory challenger for his IBF light heavyweight title.
• 2nd July, 2014 - Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, announced that she was ready, willing and able to begin negotiations for a light heavyweight unification between her fighter, WBO champion Sergey Kovalev, and IBF/WBA champion Bernard Hopkins. The very same day, 'The Alien' also stated that he's willing to face Duva's fighter: "Kovalev might be a more viable quicker [fight to make], from what I'm understand, than Stevenson is. The perception is, is that Kovalev is a killer and Stevenson doesn't want to fight him, he wants to fight an old man. If that's the case, I'll knock off Kovalev first..." (sources:
Kathy Duva Welcomes Hopkins-Kovalev Unification &
http://www.boxingscene.com/hopkins-kovalev-unifica...-rumblings-alien-speaks--79488)
• 16th July, 2014 - Bernard Hopkins announced that he was aiming for November showdown with Sergey Kovalev: “This is not a done deal yet, but Kathy is talking to Golden Boy, and Oscar [De La Hoya, Golden Boy’s President] is interested in this fight, too. I’m still promoted by Golden Boy, they’re my promoter and we would like to see this fight happen... The goal is to beat Kovalev and then go after Stevenson...” (http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/348251-bernard-...r-showdown-with-sergey-kovalev" target="_new" rel="nofollow">source:
Bernard Hopkins aims for November showdown with Sergey Kovalev - Ring TV)
• 28th July, 2014 - Kathy Duva states during an interview that Bernard Hopkins is a HBO pre-approved opponent for Sergey Kovalev and that she has been discussing the possibility of a fight between 'The Alien' and 'Krusher' Kovalev for a while with GBP, but she said that they needed to make a decision quickly (source:
http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles-front...tinuation-of-the-cold-war-thaw).
• 30th July, 2014 - Kathy Duva contacts HBO, who in turn contacted Golden Boy, to warn them that if Al Haymon's fighter (Thomas Williams Jr.) defeats Gabriel Campillo on the 1st August, he would be in a position to fight Nadjib Mohammedi for the vacant IBF light heavyweight title, assuming that Hopkins is forced to vacate his IBF belt if he doesn't agree to face either the mandatory challenger or engage in a unification bout by the 1st August deadline date.
• 31st July, 2014 - GBP matchmaker (Eric Gomez) contacts Kathy Duva to commence negotiations for the Bernard Hopkins vs. Sergey Kovalev unification bout.
• 1st August, 2014 - The IBF deadline date (at 5pm) for Bernard Hopkins to make a final decision on whether he would face his mandatory challenger or engage in a unification bout (which would allow him to keep that organisation's light heavyweight belt).
• 1st August, 2014 - The boxing media breaks the news that Bernard Hopkins is due to fight Sergey Kovalev on the 8th November.
• 1st August, 2014 - Stephen Espinoza (Executive Vice President, General Manager of Showtime Sports) tells the media after news leaks that Hopkins has agreed to fight Kovalev: "I'm surprised Bernard and Oscar [De La Hoya] went in the direction of the deal with less money."
• 2nd August, 2014 - Bernard Hopkins is interviewed ringside at the Sergey Kovalev vs. Blake Caparello fight (video already supplied) and tells Dan Rafael that facing the Russian forced Main Events to drop their lawsuit, "because I had to... because it ties into... I might have helped a couple of people not have a lawsuit against them!... So as a partner, as a respectful shareholder in Golden Boy, I don't want to be sued..."
• 4th August - Golden Boy Promotions officially announce the Bernard "The Alien" Hopkins vs. Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev light heavyweight title unification fight.
• 4th August, 2014 - Main Events drops ther lawsuit against Adonis Stevenson, Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer, Yvon Michel, Groupe Yvon Michel, Golden Boy Promotions and Showtime, which was announced after the official announcement of the Hopkins-Kovalev bout, but retained the right to reinstate the litigation in the event the fight between Hopkins and Kovalev does not proceed as scheduled.
• 6th August, 2014 - Kathy Duva (Main Events CEO) explained during an interview that Eric Gomez (GBP promotions matchmaker) had been giving her regular updates about the possibility to face Bernard Hopkins throughout the month of July, but he refused to negotiate anything too specific with her unless a deal couldn't be made with Showtime. She said that if Hopkins hadn't of agreed to face Sergey Kovalev by the IBF's 5pm 1st August deadline, the title would become vacant.
• 21st August, 2014 - Bernard Hopkins is interviews by "Tha Boxing Voice" (video already supplied) and says that he “didn’t look at my own commercial interest to fight Kovalev... Fighting Kovalev that would take away Kathy Duva’s claim... others don’t give me credit for thinking/fighting Kovalev takes away Kathy Duva’s lawsuit, they won’t give me the credit for it. I did not to do a presser or anything with my publicist but they knew” (source:
No Harm, No Foul - Undisputed Champion Network)
