by David P. Greisman

Adonis Stevenson is one of the two best light heavyweights in the world. The other is Sergey Kovalev. For some time, there have been hopes that Stevenson and Kovalev would face each other and settle their rivalry. For some time, those hopes have been dashed.

Each has another fight lined up in the meantime: Stevenson will defend his world title and the lineal 175-pound championship against Thomas Williams Jr. on July 29, while Kovalev, who has the three other major world titles, has a bout with Andre Ward set for this November so long as Ward beats Alexander Brand in August.

“Of course I need the winner of the fight,” Stevenson said on a July 18 media conference call. “I’m the lineal champion. I need all the titles. I’m the lineal champion, so no matter what you have to call me.”

But Stevenson won’t make his pick on Kovalev vs. Ward just yet.

“Andre Ward’s got a fight on Aug. 6. We’ll see after that,” Stevenson said. “I’m going to wait for when it will be official. Now it’s just talking.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com