Kovalev Eyes Hopkins Unification After Beating Cleverly


blackrican23

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Undefeated Sergey Kovalev (21-0-1, 19KOs) is willing to fight IBF champion Bernard Hopkins (53-6-2, 32KOs) - after fighting WBO champion Nathan Cleverly (26-0, 12KOs) on August 17th at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.

The IBF had ordered Hopkins to defend his title against Kovalev. The Russian contender says his promoter, Main Events, heard nothing from Hopkins or his team regarding the ordered defense. Because there wasn't any interest being expressed from Hopkins, he accepted the opportunity to face Cleverly for his title, and HBO will be televising the fight.

"At first he was silent. He did not respond to our requests. The IBF ordered us to resolve any issues before July 17. So, you can imagine the situation. If we waited until July 17 to receive word from Hopkins, we would have lost the proposals to face Cleverly. To avoid any uncertainty, we made a more reliable decision, [and agreed to face] Cleverly. Once it became clear that my next opponent would be Cleverly, then Hopkins went on the social networks and said he was ready to face me. Well, then, [after Cleverly] we can fight in a unification bout," Kovalev said.

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