By Luke Furman

The ring return of former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (30-4-1, 17KOs) is being targeted for the fall.

The 33-year-old has suffered two defeats in his last three fights but they were both to the same man - IBF/WBA/WBO champion Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26KOs).

Pascal's rematch with Kovalev took place in January at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Unlike their first encounter last March, Kovalev had no issues and completely dominated the fight until Pascal's corner pulled him out after seven.

With two defeats to the fighter most believe is one of the best if not the best in the entire division, Pascal's promoter - InterBox - sees no reason to have him start from the bottom of the ladder. The popular boxer is still a ticket seller in Canada and one of the most well known athletes among the local sports fans.

InterBox is looking at a tentative date in September.

"It is clear to him that he wants to return, and he wants to quietly recover from this defeat [to Kovalev] which was very difficult. But the people like to watch Jean Pascal. He hit a wall with Sergey Kovalev, who is one of the best boxers in the world. That does not mean that Jean Pascal is still not among the world's elite. He wants to stay [among the elite] and there will probably be opportunities for him in the fall," InterBox said in a statement to RDS.

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org