By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Adonis Stevenson says he wants to fight the winner of the Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev rematch Saturday night.
Ward (31-0, 15 KOs), the IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion, doesn’t know whether to believe Stevenson (29-1, 24 KOs), who owns the WBC 175-pound title. What Ward does know is that the 39-year-old Stevenson is running out of time to accept the type of challenges the Quebec-based champion has been criticized for avoiding since he knocked out Chad Dawson in the first round to win the WBC title four years ago.
“I don’t know if he’s serious or not,” Ward told a small group of reporters at Mandalay Bay. “I don’t know. I think, honestly, he’s got a lot of pressure on him to make some moves, man. I think you guys have, rightfully so, put pressure on him. ‘Look, all right, man, we get it. But what about these guys?’ So I think now he’s kinda feeling like, ‘All right, I’ve gotta make a move.’ He’s not a spring chicken, either. He’s kind of up there in age, so he’s gotta make some moves.”
After a full unification fight against Kovalev didn’t materialize in 2014, Stevenson has participated in a series of optional title defenses mostly against huge underdogs in Montreal or Quebec City. The powerful southpaw has defeated Dmitry Sukhotskiy, former WBC super middleweight champion Sakio Bika, Tommy Karpency, Thomas Williams Jr. and Andrzej Fonfara in his past five fights.
Stevenson stopped Fonfara in the second round of their rematch June 3 at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Ward, meanwhile, hasn’t paid Stevenson much mind since the former undisputed super middleweight champion moved up to light heavyweight two years ago.
“To be honest with you, that’s not even something that’s been on my radar,” Ward said regarding facing Stevenson. “And it really hasn’t been something that’s on my radar. I’ve spoken about Stevenson. I think he’s a good fighter. I think he’s got a lot of buzz in Canada. But I think some of the moves he’s made over the last couple of years – like he has a belt and he’s earned the belt and he’s defended it and you’ve gotta respect that. But I just think he had an opportunity to get in the mix and it’s like, you know, he didn’t take that opportunity for whatever reason. Honestly, he’s not even a guy I really think about.
“I think he’s coming to the party late. He’s had several years to fight Sergey. And for whatever reason – I’m not involved in every piece of their business – but it didn’t work out. And I think you have to beat the best to be the best. And Sergey was the best in this division and I beat him, and now I’m the best in this division. And that’s what I’m defending Saturday night. As far as Stevenson, I don’t know. I really don’t even have an opinion about him, to be honest with you. I’m somewhat indifferent. Like I respect him, he’s a champion, but that’s as far as I go with it.”
Stevenson told BoxingScene.com two weeks ago that he would attend the Ward-Kovalev rematch to begin generating buzz about boxing the winner. Ward warned Stevenson about his behavior if the Haitian-born boxer does attend the fight.
“Just respect my space, man,” Ward said. “All that getting in the ring, I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do that stuff. Respect my space. You can come. I can’t stop him from coming, and he should come. But all that other stuff …”
The 12-round rematch between the 33-year-old Ward, of Hayward, California, and the 34-year-old Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs), of Kopesyk, Russia, is the main event of a four-fight HBO Pay-Per-View show (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT; $64.99 in HD).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.