Kovalev’s camp blames Square Ring for protecting Sillakh – Boxing News
After the bout between Sergey Kovalev and Ismayl Sillakh was called off, Kovalev’s camp started blaming the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) for the contractual dispute that occurred. Both the light heavyweight fighters were ready to go head to head with each other in the ring, just when the chips fell apart. Ismayl Sillakh, the Ukrainian professional boxer, was the defending champion while Sergey Kovalev had to enter the ring as contender. The fight was being scheduled for April 27 as part of ESPN Friday Night Fights show in Atlantic City.
Sergey’s manager, Egis Klimas, on the unfortunate happening said, “It would have been special having two Russian-born fighters headlining an ESPN card. I understand that it was quickly approved because everybody in boxing knows it would have been a very good fight. We agreed to everything, including short money, to step-up and fight Sillakh on national television. I have a lot of respect for Ismayl as a fighter but his people are doing him a disservice. Everything was good on both sides but, right before Square Ring sent me a contract, I learned from the matchmaker about there being options on my fighter if he won.”
He further revealed that he was ready to give Sillakh a rematch if Sergey would have won the bout, but, he said, he was not comfortable stating ‘four options’ in the contract. He said that with those options, they were safeguarding their own interests and they would not have lost in either case if he had signed the contract.
He further said that whatever happened was a perfect example of how a promoter can protect its fighter. According to Klimas, this is what is wrong with box today. He added that Sillakh’s NABF title defence is due and when his fighter challenged the champion, both parties agreed to it. However, he said, later on they wanted his side to sign a one-sided contract which was out of the question.
As of now, the fight between Kovalev and Sillakh is not happening until both the parties come to a mutual agreement. On the other hand, there are possibilities of Sillakh finding another opponent for him.
Tags: