Counter Punch

A legendary boxing promotion company was on the ropes when Kathy Duva stepped into the ring. Now, it’s a contender once again.

- Joe DePaolo

ON A TUESDAY MORNING in early September, boxer Sergey Kovalev confidently walks into a meeting room at Le Parker Meridien in New York, ready to greet a handful of journalists. Kovalev — the light heavyweight champion and No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world — is accompanied by his trainer, John David Jackson, and his manager, Egis Klimas. All three are serious men. All three are imposing figures. But on this day, all three take a back seat to the only woman in the group.

This, clearly, is Kathy Duva’s domain. As Kovalev’s promoter and CEO of Main Events, the 63-year-old Bloomfield resident begins working the room, happily chatting with the writers. She has reason to smile. Eight years ago, her boxing promotion company was on the ropes. After 30 years at the top of the business, it had just one fighter of any consequence left in its stable — a cruiser weight champion named Tomasz Adamek. Duva considered shutting the company down.

But a lot of hard work and several lucky breaks later, Main Events once again is king of the ring and Duva is the lead promoter of a fight that some experts believe could be the best match in years — the Nov. 19 showdown pitting Kovalev against The Ring magazine’s No. 4 pound-for pound-fighter, Andre Ward.

Getting here wasn’t easy. It seemed, during negotiations, that the deal might fall apart. Duva was involved in a tense dispute with Roc Nation Sports, a sports management company founded by Jay Z, which promotes Ward. Roc Nation is a newcomer on the boxing scene and insiders say it has quickly gained a reputation for being difficult to work with.

“Living hell is a nice way of describing these negotiations,” Duva says.