By Luke Furman
WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson is hoping to land a unification fight against Sergey Kovalev, holder of the WBA, WBO and IBF belts. Kovalev was appointed as the mandatory challenger by the World Boxing Council. Stevenson defends his belt against Sakio Bika on April 4th in Quebec, but following that fight the winner will have to face Kovalev.
Promoters GYM and Main Events will have to negotiate Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KO) vs. Stevenson (25-1, 21 KOs). Both fighters are aligned with different networks, Stevenson with Showtime and Kovalev with HBO.
Stevenson denied that his manager, Al Haymon, refused to put him in the ring with Kovalev.
"It isn't that Haymon did not agree, but it's negotiations Look at the time it took [to organize the fight] with Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather for May 2. [In that situation] there were also two television networks in question. There are several factors. It is certain that we, the two boxers, want to fight. But it is necessary that the two networks [reach an understanding]. This is what people do not understand. I'll leave that in the hands of Al Haymon," Stevenson told the Canadian Press.
"These titles [that Kovalev won], I was going to challenge for them against Bernard Hopkins, but then he changed networks and invoked all sorts of reasons. These titles are there and I'm going to pursue them. These are my goals. I will do everything to go capture them. It is my dream to become unified champion."
