By Rick Reeno

Canadian rivals Adonis Stevenson and Jean Pascal have been trading verbal shots for several days . Pascal (29-2-1, 17KOs) is the mandatory challenger to the WBC light heavyweight crown, which is currently around the waist of Stevenson (24-1, 20KOs).

Both of the boxers are scheduled to return this month, headlining separate events. Pascal is back first, as he faces Roberto Feliciano Bolonti on December 6th at the Bell Centre in Montreal. 

Stevenson returns to the ring on December 19th, when he defends his title against Dmitry Sukhotsky at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec.

Yvon Michel—who promotes Stevenson and used to promote Pascal—has set aside an April date for the mandatory showdown. Pascal is currently under a three fight co-promotional deal between his own company—Jean Pascal Promoptions—and InterBox.

For the better part of last year, HBO was building a unification between Stevenson and WBO champion Sergey Kovalev. That fight fell apart after Stevenson jumped ship to rival network Showtime to pursue WBA/IBF champion Bernard Hopkins. 

Negotiations dragged on and Hopkins jumped over to HBO to fight Kovalev, who won a twelve round unanimous decision over Hopkins last month.

Stevenson-Pascal is the biggest fight in Canada. However, the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement on the financial terms - with Stevenson demanding the bulk of the split and Pascal looking for something closer to a 50-50 agreement.

For Stevenson - history is now repeating itself. Should Pascal win on Saturday night - he is likely going to face Kovalev for the WBA/IBF/WBO world titles on March 14th in Quebec.

" The last time I was on your site I crucified him . That was the 'Passion of the Stevenson,'" Greg Leon, CEO of Jean Pascal Promotions, told BoxingScene.com. "Adonis clearly has missed Kovalev, Hopkins and Pascal in 2014. Now that it appears that Pascal is going to fight Kovalev on March 14th, hopefully Adonis does not avoid Artur Beterbiev—a guy with five fights —the way he avoided Kovalev, Hopkins and Pascal.

"[Stevenson and Beterbiev] both have the same promoter. They don't have the same trainer, unlike Pascal, Beterbiev and [Eleider] Alvarez. It seems like a natural to me. If Pascal and Kovalev comes to fruition, Adonis rectifies himself by giving the Quebec fans what they want—which is him vs. Beterbiev."

Until any desirable fight involving Stevenson happens, Pascal's team—along with MANY others in the boxing community—will continue to question the defending champion's honor and the legacy he claims to represent. 

"Adonis Stevenson loves to say, that [his late trainer] Emanuel Steward told him 'knockouts sell.' He forget to finish the sentence and tell him - p*ssies don't [sell]," Leon states. "There wasn't a period [after Steward's statement], there was a comma. Adonis Stevenson should strip off those Kronk colors...they don't belong on him...he doesn't fight the best available challenge. His actions have shown that.

"I'm going to send a letter to the Ring Magazine for Adonis Stevenson to be stripped of that title. He doesn't deserver it. Pascal fought Hopkins twice, he's ready to fight Kovalev. Kovalev fought Hopkins and now he's ready to fight Pascal. Who's the only guy missing? The Ring Magazine champion? He should be stripped for [being a] coward."