By Jake Donovan
The light heavyweight division remains loaded with talent. Where it falls miserably short these days is getting its top participants in the ring to face one another.
Artur Beterbiev remains on the hunt for a dance partner to meet in a final eliminator to determine the next mandatory challenger for unbeaten unified light heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev. The undefeated contender—born and raised in Russia but now based out of Montreal, Canada—has watched the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Isaac Chilemba and Seanie Monaghan pass on the matchup in favor of more desirable opportunities.
The latest to decline to meet the nine-fight prospect-turned-contender in the ring is Jean Pascal, although such a fight was a non-starter. Both share the same coach, Marc Ramsey who is dead-set against his clients facing one another.
There’s also the fact that Pascal doesn’t need a title eliminator to get to Kovalev, since a rematch is already being planned for early next year. The two met in Montreal this past March, with Kovalev becoming the first to stop the Haitian-Canadian in scoring an 8th round knockout.
Kovalev and Pascal appeared in separate bouts on an HBO doubleheader in July, producing varying results that didn’t exactly enhance the prospect of a rematch. Kovalev tore through overmatched mandatory challenger Nadjib Mohammedi in three rounds, while Pascal was considered fortunate to get past undefeated but unheralded Yuneski Gonzalez in their 10-round bout.
Of course, Pascal being willing to face Kovalev (again) makes it easier for his team to sit back and wait for such a fight to materialize. The same opportunity was offered to Beterbiev (9-0, 9KOs), whose promoter Yvon Michel decided—after considering what he acknowledged as a generous offer—to instead go the route of a sanctioned eliminator, since it would give his fighter a bit more experience under his belt before taking on the man widely regarded as the best light heavyweight in the world.
All of that, of course, is ignoring the political aspect of why there remain so many light heavyweight fights these days loaded up with TBA’s, or opponents not previously in the picture.
For as long as they’ve sat atop the division, there has remained a demand for Kovalev and World light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson to get in the ring. The reasons for the fight not (yet) happening have been well-documented, with both sides forced to claim fault in the ongoing follies.
Given the affiliations, an easier fight to make would be a clash between Stevenson and Beterbiev. Both are based in Canada, promoted by Michel’s GYM Promotions and—through an advisory deal with Al Haymon—fight on the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) circuit.
Beterbiev has fought on two separate PBC shows this year. His first came on the CBS-televised undercard of Adonis Stevenson’s successful title defense versus Sakio Bika, delivering a far-more thrilling performance in a 4th round knockout of former light heavyweight champion Gabriel Campillo in Quebec City this past April.
Two months later, Beterbiev took his act south of the Canada/U.S. border, making his stateside debut in a Spike TV-televised show from Chicago. He was taken into the 7th round—the deepest he’s ever fought to date—before eventually scoring a knockout win over Alexander Johnson.
With the team alignments in mind, it came as little surprise when the possibility of Beterbiev facing Kovalev—who is promoted by Main Events and signed to an exclusive network deal with cable giant HBO—eventually hit the scrap heap.
Reasoning aside as to why Beterbiev is being taken this route (and since the promoters promote and writers write, no need for speculation on these pages), the fact is he needs someone to fight.
Moving down the line in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) rankings, the next ordered challenger is Sullivan Barrera. The same political barriers exist—Barrera is one of several promising light heavyweights signed by Main Events.
That said, the unbeaten Cuban—who now fights out of Miami—has already expressed a willingness to break the proverbial picket line for the sake of making the fight happen. As Michel announced that the hunt was on for a new opponent for Beterbiev, Barrera was quick to inform the promoter that the search wouldn’t have to continue any further
“I’m ready” Barrera simply replied, through his social media account.
The two camps will have 30 days to negotiate terms once the fight is formally ordered by the IBF. Failure to reach a deal will result in a mandatory purse bid hearing, which—given the history between all parties involved—is the likely fate awaiting the unbeaten light heavyweights.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Facebook Page: JakeBScene