With Sergey Kovalev and Anthony Yarde still negotiating a deal for Kovalev's light heavyweight title weeks after the fight was ordered, the WBO announces a purse bid less than a week from today.
The organization announced that the bid will take place on April 8 at 11 a.m. ET in the WBO offices in Puerto Rico. The minimum bid is $300,000 with Kovalev set to receive the lion's share of the winning bid per WBO rules. The two sides had been negotiating a deal, but have faced some issues with Egis Klimas recently saying there was a possibility that it would have to go to purse bids.
What isn't determined, however, is exactly how much of the winning bid Kovalev and Yarde will get and they won't know until the fight is officially announced. As it stands, Kovalev could get as much as 75 percent of the winning bid and Yarde receiving the remaining 25 percent if the fight takes place in Kovalev's country of origin, residence or nationality. If the fight takes place anywhere else, Kovalev gets 80 percent of the winning bid and Yarde gets the other 20 percent.
Kovalev won the WBO title last February when he defeated Eleider Alvarez by unanimous decision in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing card that was streamed on ESPN+. Kovalev is currently in his third world title reign as the WBO champion at 175 pounds.
Yarde is a 27-year-old fighter from the United Kingdom who has won all 18 of his fights since making his pro debut back in 2015. Yarde won the WBO European and WBO Intercontinental light heavyweight titles in 2017, making multiple defenses of each title, and is coming off a fifth-round stoppage win over Travis Reeves on March 8.