By Carlos Boogs

WBC light heavyweight Adonis Stevenson (27-1, 22KOs) is confident that a unification with Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26KOs), holder of the WBO/WBA/IBF titles, will eventually happen in the future.

Both fighters have obligations until the end of the year, which means they have to continue winning for the showdown to take place in 2017. A loss by either of them would put the final nail in the coffin of that fight taking place.

Stevenson will defend his title against Thomas Williams Jr. (20-1, 14KOs) on July 29 at the Videotron Centre in Canada. If Stevenson wins, he will have to make a mandatory defense against Eleider Alvarez (19-0, 10 KO).

Kovalev has some obligations of his own. He is scheduled to defend his title against Isaac Chilemba on July 11 Russia, and if everything goes according to plan he will make an HBO Pay-Per-View defense against Andre Ward in November.

If they both walk away unbeaten at the end of the year, Stevenson has no doubt about the possibility of a Kovalev fight taking place.

"For sure this fight will happen. I can't say too much, but what I can tell you is that it will happen. I can not say anything more than that, but I can guarantee that it will happen," Stevenson said.

"[But] I do not underestimate anyone. It's not a coincidence that I will be making the seventh defense of my title. I am a professional who is fully prepared for every opponent. I know that Williams is dangerous. I will be very well prepared.  I'm focused on the opponent who is currently in front of me."

Stevenson's promoter, Yvon Michel, admits there are still issues when it comes to the television networks.

"We always want to reach a common ground. What I can say is that Adonis and Kovalev want the fight, so we will all have to come together to eventually make it work. The obstacles are still there with Adonis on PBC and Kovalev on HBO. Until one of their contracts expire or the TV networks come together [the fight will be hard to make]. We're always hoping to find a door somewhere for everything to work [for both sides]," Michel said.