Given the fact that HBO made the very public decision to no longer do business with Golden Boy Promotions (or Al Haymon fighters) not too long ago, one may wonder why this is even a news bit, but hey, it is.
Richard Schaefer says he contacted HBO about possibly doing a fight between Bernard Hopkins and Adonis Stevenson, but was told by the network that they're not interested. Again, given what we know from the horse's mouth, it's kind of a "well, duh," sort of a thing, but apparently Schaefer did reach out and make the offer, and they stood firm on what is, frankly, a good fight. It's not like Schaefer called up asking about Broner-Rees II or anything.
Hopkins, 48, is now in a very odd position where he really has nobody to fight, unless the IBF reinstalls Karo Murat as mandatory challenger now that his visa issues are sorted. Showtime passed on Hopkins-Kovalev, which led to Cleverly-Kovalev being signed for August 17, and it appears as though the top light heavyweights (and even the top super middleweights who could move up, in theory) are doing their business at HBO.
This leaves B-Hop out in the cold to a large degree. Stephen Espinoza has expressed concerns about the depth at 175 pounds, and if one didn't know any better, there's at least a mild feeling right now that Hopkins, who is still one of the best fighters in the game, is almost being pushed out of the spotlight, whether consciously or subconsciously from those who make the calls that get him TV fights or leave him twisting in the wind.
I'm not saying SHO is reluctant to air Hopkins fights; they were gung ho to go ahead with Hopkins-Murat, which wasn't exactly thrilling on paper. But there's the feeling that Bernard is, at best, shit outta luck right now. Dates, venues, money would all need to be figured out, not to mention an opponent, and it's all just a bit of a mess for the legend at the moment.