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Last week, it was reported that Sergey Kovalev would be exercising his contractual option for a rematch with Eleider Alvarez, who upset him on August 4 on HBO.
Today, ESPN reports that this is official, but there may be some tougher times in putting the fight together, as HBO is not committed and, while the network has the right to match any offers, they’re “not interested in paying as steep a price” for the fight.
Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KO) led on the scorecards going into the seventh round, but was knocked out by Alvarez (24-0, 12 KO), who took the WBO light heavyweight title with the win.
Promoter Kathy Duva tells ESPN that they’re “in the middle of negotiations,” and that HBO are “keeping their options open.”
Alvarez-Kovalev II is definitely a good and big enough fight to find a TV home somewhere, even if it’s not on HBO, so hopefully something concrete will be announced soon.