By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Sergey Kovalev is well aware that Dmitry Bivol is coming for him.

To become boxing’s undisputed light heavyweight champion, Bivol realizes he must at least go through Kovalev, who won back the WBO light heavyweight title by knocking out Vyacheslav Shabaranskyy on Saturday night. That’s among the reasons Kyrgyzstan’s Bivol attended the card headlined by Kovalev and watched him dismantle Ukraine’s Shabranskky from a ringside seat in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The 34-year-old Kovalev (31-2-1, 27 KOs) has been watching Bivol’s recent rise within their division as well and realizes they’re on a collision course for an intriguing light heavyweight title unification fight.

“He’s a talented fighter,” Kovalev said after defeating Shabranskyy. “He’s the WBA champion already with a small record of the fights [12-0, 10 KOs). It will be an interesting fight in the future.”

Kyrgyzstan’s Bivol or Russia’s Kovalev will face Sullivan Barrera next, which means a Kovalev-Bivol bout is at least two fights away from taking place. Barrera (21-1, 14 KOs) is the mandatory challenger for Bivol’s WBA title, but Barrera also will consider challenging Kovalev when the WBO 175-pound champion returns to the ring March 3 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Cuba’s Barrera beat the Dominican Republic’s Felix Valera (15-2, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 10-round bout on the Kovalev-Shabranskyy undercard Saturday night.

Assuming they keep winning, a Kovalev-Bivol fight should be easy to make because Kovalev is promoted by Main Events, which also is working with Bivol and his handlers. Both hard-hitting light heavyweight champions also are backed by HBO Sports and its executive vice president, Peter Nelson, wants the network to air a Kovalev-Bivol battle.

Kovalev made it clear that he wants to test himself against the younger, strong Bivol as well.

“I’m a real fighter,” Kovalev said. “I’m not running from the real fighters. In the future, it will be very interesting fights because right now we are just belt-holders. We’ll find out from all of the champions who is the best.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.