By Yuri Tarantin
According to Andrey Ryabinsky, who promotes Olympic gold medal winner Alexander Povetkin, the ongoing negotiations for the mandatory fight with Bermane Stiverne are still ongoing and both sides have until September 30th or else a purse bid will take place.
Ryabinsky is looking to have this fight staged in the United States.
The two sides received an extension to continue their negotiations until the 30th of this month. Ryabinsky said it's a "50-50" outlook on whether or not a deal will be reached with Stiverne's promoter, Don King. They originally had until September 16.
The World Boxing Council ordered Povetkin and Stiverne to face each other to establish a mandatory challenger to WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder, who is recovering from injuries that were suffered in his last fight. Wilder suffered a broken hand and torn biceps muscle in his July knockout of Chris Arreola.
While Ryabinsky is looking to stage the fight in the United States, King is has suggested paying homage to Muhammad Ali by staging Povetkin vs. Stiverne in The Democratic Republic of Congo or the Philippines.
The Congo (formerly Zaire) hosted the "Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974 between Ali and George Foreman, while the Philippines hosted the legendary "Thrilla in Manila" in 1975 between Ali and Joe Frazier.
"This sparked the idea to do something fantastic by memorializing 'The Greatest of All Time' Muhammad Ali, to the benefit of the people," King said of the possibility of taking Stiverne-Povetkin to one of those two countries.
Wilder had been due to take on Povetkin in Russia in May before the challenger failed a drug test for newly banned substance meldonium and the fight was cancelled. After a long investigation by the WBC, the sanctioning body cleared Povetkin of any intentional wrongdoing.
Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru