By Luke Furman
WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson is not backing his countryman, Jean Pascal, to defeat WBA/IBF/WBO champion Sergey Kovalev on March 14th from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Stevenson has been mandated by the World Boxing Council to face the winner of the contest.
There were talks for Stevenson and Pascal, his mandatory challenger, to face each other in April, but their discussions fell apart after Stevenson refused to give Pascal a 50-50 split of the monetary terms.
"Whether it is Kovalev or Jean Pascal, this will be a unification fight [with me] because two champions will compete. It will be normal to share 50-50 between two champions. It's different when someone is without a belt and demands the same share," said Stevenson told the Montreal Journal.
"If Jean Pascal beats Kovalev, then he will deserve an even share. But it would surprise me. I think Kovalev will win and by knockout. Even if Pascal managed to win, then it will be a historic moment in boxing. Two Quebecers will fight for the unification of all the light heavyweight belts."
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org
