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IBF Chairman: Hopkins must start negotiations with Kovalev

Bernard Hopkins was originally scheduled to defend his title against Karo Murat on July 13.

Bernard Hopkins was originally scheduled to defend his title against Karo Murat on July 13.

Main Events does not want to pass up a guaranteed opportunity to fight for the IBF title, only to have a fight with Cleverly fall apart. However HBO -- which does not do Golden Boy fights and, presumably, would not be interested in a Kovalev-Hopkins fight -- wants the Cleverly fight, and by passing on it, Main Events could severely damage a relationship with HBO at a time when it has several fighters on its radar. In addition to Kovalev, Main Events promotes middleweight contender Curtis Stevens and co-promotes, along with Russell Peltz, heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings.

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