By Luke Furman
Top light heavyweight contender Eleider Alvarez was angered by some statements that were made WBC world champion Adonis Stevenson during an interview with TVA Sports.
In the opinion of Stevenson (28-1-0, 23 KOs), he's not running to face Alvarez - who is the mandatory challenger - because the television networks are not very interested in the fight.
The two boxers will appear in action on June 3, in separate fights, where the winners of the respective contests will face each other in the fall. Stevenson will have a rematch with Andrzej Fonfara in the main event, while Alvarez (22-0, 11 KOs) will collide with former world champion Jean Pascal in the co-feature.
Alvarez has been waiting for his turn to get his mandatory shot since November 2015. He secured the opportunity with a close points win over Isaac Chilemba.
Earlier this year, Alvarez made a statement with a vicious knockout of former world champion Lucian Bute.
"My fight against [Stevenson] has become a personal affair. His assertions are stupid and I now believe he is afraid of me," said Alvarez to The Montreal Journal.
"He has his head in the clouds. Since when does a television network determine a mandatory challenger getting his title shot? This is the first time I have heard of it. As far as the WBC is concerned, I just hope they will enforce their regulations on this issue."
Stevenson has benefited from his relationship with the sanctioning body. He has not faced a mandatory contender since 2013 - when he knocked out Tony Bellew - who since then has captured a world title at cruiserweight and now competes at heavyweight.
Although part of the reason for Stevenson's lack of mandatory defenses is due in part to the WBC's failed plan to force a mandatory defense against Sergey Kovalev, which was very strange because the Russian boxer was already a world champion under the WBO, IBF and WBA.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.