By Luke Furman
The upcoming return of WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (27-1, 22KOs) is still being worked out.
According to his promoter Yvon Michel of GYM, he will either face WBO/WBA/IBF champion Sergey Kovalev in June or mandatory challenger Eleider Alvarez in early April. Kovalev (28-0-1, 25KOs) will defend his belts in a rematch with Jean Pascal on January 30th in Montreal.
Michel says Kovalev's team , which includes promoter Kathy Duva or Main Events, want to close a deal prior to Kovalev's fight with Pascal.
"The Kovalev clan would like the matter to be settled before the presentation of the fight against Jean Pascal on January 30," said Michel to RDS.
But Michel says he is hesitant to sign an agreement prior to January 30th, in the event Pascal pulls off an upset. If Pascal were to win, a fight with Stevenson would be one of the biggest fights in Canadian boxing history. Michel also has a very close relationship with Pascal's co-promoter, InterBox.
If Kovalev does fall through, a fight with Alvarez would place Michel in good situation since he promotes both fighters.
"If we have an agreement in June to face Kovalev, Adonis will miss other fights in-between. If the fight against Kovalev falls into the water, Adonis will make his mandatory defense at the beginning of April, "said Michel.
"[Alvarez] would be a fight for Adonis. Unlike Tommy Karpency who was training in the garage of his grandfather, Eleider Alvarez is a highly trained and serious athlete."
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org
