By Luke Furman
Canadian stars Lucian Bute (31-1, 24KOs) and Jean Pascal (28-2-1, 17KOs) are getting ready for their super-fight on January 18th at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The World Boxing Council has approved the fight as a final eliminator for WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (23-1, 20KOs), who is also from Canada.
Yvon Michel, who promotes Pascal and Stevenson, says the mandatory will not be due for at least a year because Stevenson recently made a mandatory defense against Tony Bellew of the UK.
"[The final eliminator] is more of a way for us to control the future of our boxers. Because Stevenson made a defense of his title against WBC mandatory opponent Tony Bellew, he will not have to make another mandatory defense for at least one year," Michel said.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org