By Edward Chaykovsky

According to the International Boxing Federation, an order has been issued for Bernard Hopkins (53-6-2, 32KOs) to make a mandatory defense of his light heavyweight title against Sergey Kovalev (21-0-1, 19KOs). Hopkins was scheduled to fight mandatory Karo Murat on July 13th in Brooklyn, but Murat was unable to enter the United States due to visa issues and the fight was canceled. Golden Boy Promotions, and Main Events, who promote Kovalev, were given until July 17th to reach an agreement or head to a purse bid. Hopkins has made it clear that he wants a unification fight in the fall, so it will be interesting to see how this situation works out.

Last Friday, Kovalev destoryed Cornelius White in three rounds. Hopkins won the title in March with a twelve round unanimous decision over undefeated Tavoris Cloud.