By Jake Donovan

What was once a collision course for light heavyweight supremacy has now become a fight in which even the sanctioning bodies are now trying to force.

The World Boxing Council (WBC) has formally ordered its recognized light heavyweight champion, Adonis Stevenson—who also holds claim to the World lineal championship—to begin negotiations with mandatory challenger Sergey Kovalev.

The two sides have until April 17 to agree to terms, at which point an immediate purse bid hearing will be held.

Such a fight was at the forefront when both soared to the top of the light heavyweight division in 2013. Stevenson won the World light heavyweight championship as part of his four knockout victories on the year, while Kovalev was equally as destructive in claiming and defending his own light heavyweight hardware.

Handlers for both sides as well as American cable giant HBO had plans in place for the two to appear on separate shows early in 2014 as a prelude to a superfight later in the year. Stevenson disrupted those plans, bolting from HBO and signing with adviser Al Haymon, a move that prompted his walking across the street to Showtime. 

Kovalev had the last laugh, going on to score a 12-round shutout over legendary Bernard Hopkins to collect three belts in capping a three-win 2014 campaign. Stevenson, meanwhile, became Public Enemy #1, with wins over Andrzej Fonfara and Dmitry Sukhotsky failing to resonate with audiences. 

As most remain skeptical over such a fight ever happening, credit to the WBC—for a change—for doing its part to attempt to force the hands of the fighters and their respective camps. 

"The WBC is extremely proud to continue with the task of securing the fights that the fans want and deserve to see," WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman declared in a press statement. "During the historic 52nd Annual Convention in Las Vegas in December of last year, the WBC voted unanimously in favor of a proposal which would lead to the unification of the light heavyweight division."

While boxing fans—and media members alike—will rejoice over the champion's hand being forced, the timing of the announcement is a bit odd. 

Stevenson still has an upcoming April 4 title defense versus Sakio Bika—a voluntary defense that came with the blessing of the WBC. The bout will air live on CBS from Colisée Pepi in Quebec City, Canada. 

Kovalev moved into the mandatory position despite already owning two separate alphabet title belts. The unbeaten Russian knockout artist is coming off of an 8th round stoppage of Jean Pascal earlier this month, with the bout sanctioned by the WBC as a final eliminator. Pascal went into the HBO-televised event as Stevenson's mandatory challenger. 

Even with the favorable placement to Stevenson's throne, Kovalev still has to honor his own overdue mandatory challenge with the International Boxing Federation (IBF), one of three alphabet belts in his possession. Waiting in the wings is a title defense versus Nadjib Mohammedi, who earned the #1 ranking with a knockout win over Anatoliy Dudchenko last June. 

Mohammedi already agreed to step aside while allowing the IBF title—for which he is the top-rated challenger—to be contested for on two separate occasions. Both instances came with the reward of stay-busy fights on the respective undercard, picking up a pair of cheap wins while Kovalev dethroned Hopkins and then recently defended versus Pascal.

A grandstanding claim by Mohammedi's adviser Vince Caruso insists that the 30-year old light heavyweight from France will in fact be next in line for Kovalev, even at the expense of further placing on hold the only light heavyweight championship fight that fans want to see. A showdown between Kovalev and Mohammedi has already been conditionally blessed by HBO, with the fight being eyed for a slot in June or July. 

It remains to be seen if Mohammedi can be swayed otherwise one more time. Of course, it would first require Stevenson and Kovalev coming to terms for a fight more than a year in the making.

 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox