By Yuri Tarantin
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, Alexander Povetkin's promoter, Andrey Ryabinsky of World of Boxing, revealed his interest in heading to the United States to stage a mandatory fight with Bermane Stiverne, who is based in Las Vegas.
A few days ago, the World Boxing Council ordered a mandatory showdown, between Povtekin and Stiverne, for the vacant WBC interim-heavyweight title. Povetkin and Stiverne have until September 17th to reach an agreement or the fight will be sent to a purse bid.
The current WBC heavyweight champion is Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36KOs), who is currently out of action as he recovers from multiple injuries that were suffered during last month's TKO win over Chris Arreola.
Stiverne (25-2-1, 21KOs) has been out of the ring since last November when he got off the floor to win a ten round unanimous decision over Derric Rossy. Povetkin (30-1, 22KOs) has also been inactive since last November, when he stopped Mariusz Wach in the twelfth round.
Povetkin was due to face Wilder in May, but the fight was postponed when the Russian Olympic gold medal winner tested positive for a banned substance. The World Boxing Council began an investigation which carried on for several months before ruling that Povetkin was capable of fighting for the interim-title.
After revealing his interest in having Povetkin-Stiverne in the United States, Ryabinsky has now disclosed that he would like to bring that contest to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Brooklyn has a very large Russian community, and the venue is owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.
"We have entered into negotiations [with Stiverne's promoter Don King], and have until mid-September to reach an agreement. I plan to stage this fight in late November or early December - and under extreme circumstance at the beginning of next year," Ryabinsky said to Match TV.
"If we are going to discuss the venue for this fight, I plan to organize this contest in New York under the arches of the basketball stadium Barclays Center, which is the home arena for the NBA's Brooklyn Nets."
Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru.
