Big puncher Kovalev up next for Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins, his trainer, Naazim Richardson, said, is like a firefighter: He runs toward the flames while others run away.

This time the blaze is Sergey Kovalev, the chiseled World Boxing Organization light-heavyweight champion from Russia who has menacing power. Kovalev, 31, has knocked out all but three of his 26 opponents.

Undeterred, Hopkins opted for Kovalev instead of a perceived less-dangerous fight against World Boxing Council titlist Adonis Stevenson.

"This is how this dude is," Richardson said. "He runs to the most dangerous dude. It just does it for him. And maybe that's why he's still here after all these years."

The 49-year-old Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 knockouts) will defend his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association titles against Kovalev (25-0-1) on Nov. 8 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. HBO will televise the bout. The winner is expected to fight Stevenson next year to declare boxing's undisputed light-heavyweight champ.

"My thing is there's no pressure on me," Hopkins said. "But one thing that's on Bernard Hopkins is how I continue to keep making history."

Hopkins and Stevenson appeared set to fight after the latter fought on Showtime in May following his signing with manager Al Haymon. Main Events, which promotes Kovalev, believed it had struck a deal with Stevenson for a fight on HBO against Kovalev.

Kathy Duva, Main Events chief executive, filed a federal lawsuit against Haymon, Golden Boy Promotions, Showtime, and Stevenson's promoter. The suit claimed that the defendants interfered with the agreed-upon Kovalev-Stevenson fight and were moving Stevenson toward a bout against Hopkins.

Main Events dropped the suit after Hopkins agreed to fight Kovalev. Hopkins said he issued an "all-points bulletin" this summer to Kovalev's and Stevenson's camps: Whoever came first with a realistic offer, Hopkins said, would get the fight. Kovalev answered quicker.

The fight's telecast on HBO offers hope that the network and Golden Boy Promotions, one of boxing's two mega-promoters, will continue to do business together. HBO has not carried a Golden Boy fight since March 2013.

Hopkins, who also is an executive with Golden Boy, said his fight with Kovalev is wrapped around three agendas: winning another world title, dropping the lawsuit from Main Events, and bringing HBO back into the Golden Boy fold.

"I don't think even the politics behind the scenes, with me or against me, expected that move," Hopkins said. "That was a lot of night thinking. I can't go to sleep because my mind is working."