By Jake Donovan

In the spirit of optimism, you can take the continued exchanging of letters between promoters Kathy Duva and Yvon Michel as a sign that there’s a chance of salvaging hope for their two light heavyweight thoroughbreds to eventually meet.

A purse bid was due to take place on Friday to determine who would win the right to promote the ordered showdown between World light heavyweight king Adonis Stevenson and unbeaten three-belt titlist Sergey Kovalev. Duva’s Main Events produced jaw dropping news on Tuesday when announcing that their side was withdrawing from the session.

The news came as a shock, considering the fact that Kovalev and Main Events had spent more than a year chasing and belittling—and at one point even having filed a lawsuit against—Stevenson and his team. This time around, it was time for Main Events to perform the walk of shame, though gloating wasn’t at the top of Michel’s list of ways to handle the situation.

What instead followed was a letter-writing campaign. The news began with a letter from Main Events to Michel’s GYM Promotions, met with a reply by Michel calling out Duva on her accusations and false perception of Stevenson’s marketability.

The latest back-and-forth has Duva holding out hope for her original plan of talks picking up after taking care of present business at hand. Kovalev is due to make a mandatory defense versus Nadjib Mohammedi to follow his 8th round knockout of Jean Pascal in March, while Stevenson plays wait-and-see after having outpointed Sakio Bika earlier this month.

“I am so happy to hear that you are willing to negotiate,” Duva opened in a recent reply to Michel. “Sergey Kovalev really does want this fight to happen. And I agree that, after (Floyd) Mayweather [vs. Manny] Pacquiao, Kovalev-Stevenson is the most important and anticipated bout that could occur.”

The bout was on the table since late 2013, when both fighters first emerged as the class of the light heavyweight division. Stevenson scored four knockouts in a Fighter of the Year-level 2013 campaign, including a one-punch 1st round drilling of Chad Dawson to claim the World championship in June ’13.

Kovalev’s emergence in the title picture came two months later, traveling to Wales and systematically destroying Nathan Cleverly in four rounds.

The title wins marked the respective HBO debuts for both fighters, whose 2013 campaign ended on the same card in Quebec City, Canada. Stevenson stopped Tony Bellew in six rounds, while Kovalev was far more emphatic—albeit against a lesser opponent—in knocking out Ismayl illakh in two rounds on a Nov. ’13 twinbill.

From there, one more showcase bout was expected for each before moving on to a head-on collision. Stevenson dramatically changed course, however; his win over Bellew would be his last on HBO, signing with Al Haymon and taking his business to Showtime, and now CBS.

Kovalev had just signed an exclusive deal with HBO, one that expired with the Pascal fight. While his team is working on terms for a new deal, HBO still has first rights/final refusal on his next fight, an option exercised in lieu of a showdown with Stevenson taking place on another network, such as CBS, NBC, Spike TV, Showtime or any of the channels on which Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions series and other events now air these days.

The likely scenario has Kovalev facing Mohammedi in July on HBO, after which he will once reenlist with the network that has helped transition him from cult favorite to aspiring star.

Stevenson’s drawing power hasn’t been as strong since his last fight on HBO, with his two appearances on Showtime—wins over Andrzej Fonfara and Dmitry Sukhotsky—hardly moving the needle. His recent decision victory over Bika on April 4 played to more homes on CBS than any of Kovalev’s bouts on any network to date, a statistic Michel was quick to point out in addition to the favorable ratings the bout drew in Canada, where Stevenson is based.

What’s lacking in Stevenson’s recent run is a win over a notable light heavyweight. Kovalev has scored the two biggest wins of his career in each of his past two fights, a 12-round shutout of legendary Bernard Hopkins last November followed by his becoming the first to stop Pascal—a former World light heavyweight champion—in their bout this past March.

There are rumors of whom Stevenson next face, rumors to which Duva is receptive. It would mean that her fighter can go about his presently awaiting business—satisfying his mandatory obligations—while Stevenson could potentially score a big win that would further enhance the market value of the biggest fight to be made in the light heavyweight division.

“[D]uring the past two weeks I have been hearing what I believe to be credible rumors that Adonis might fight Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. this summer,” alleges Duva.

Such a fight would make sense and also seemingly easy to make. Both fighters are advised by Haymon. Chavez Jr. first has to get past Fonfara—whom he faces this weekend in Carson, Calif.—in order for such talks to gain legs.

“Sergey has had two great fights in a row against two of the world’s best light heavyweights in Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal,” notes Duva. “So it would be terrific if Adonis would also get a quality win under his belt before meeting Sergey.

“It is well know that Sergey’s next fight will be his IBF mandatory versus Nadjib Mohammedi. Given that you (Michel) are in a position to know exactly what is being planned for Adonis’ next fight and I am not, it would have been quite unfair of you to try to lock Sergey into a purse for Kovalev-Stevenson on the very day before Chavez Jr. is scheduled to fight.”

Regardless of how things play out, one hiccup remains in place: Kovalev is beholden to HBO, while Stevenson—technically a network free agent—will fight wherever the terms of his alliance with Premier Boxing Champions dictates. 

Haymon’s relationship with HBO remains a frozen tundra, but big business has a way of helping out the process. It took more than five years to make Mayweather-Pacquiao, but the union means the likes of HBO and Showtime working together, and Haymon and promoter Bob Arum on the same promotion.

Nothing is impossible, least of all the thought of HBO once again opening its doors to Haymon.

“Sergey is an HBO fighter; Adonis is a free agent,” Duva points out to Michel, even if in simplistic terms. “Therefore, if Adonis—or anyone else for that matter—wants to fight Sergey Kovalev, they will have to do it on HBO or through HBO’s excellent PPV distribution network.

“So I propose that the best solution is for (Main Events and GYM Promotions) to sit down with HBO, hear them out and try to make a deal that is in both fighters’ best interests. You will find that HBO is most willing to make a variety of impressive commitments in order to assure that this event will be an unqualified success.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox