Stevenson's Promoter Hopes Kovalev Bout Happens in '16

By Steve Kim

They say good things often take time to develop. Some may disagree with this notion but in 2015 boxing fans finally got to see Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in the ring together.

But, thus far they haven't seen the fight for all the marbles in the light heavyweight division between Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev. The usual boxing machinations and politics have kept this fight from happening. But Yvon Michel, who's company GYM, promotes Stevenson, believes this match-up can happen next year.

"The difference there is from the past, we're talking," he explained to BoxingScene.com.

"It is Adonis' wish, ours and Al (Haymon), same thing with Kovalev, (Kathy) Duva to do the fight. So we are hoping to find a way to be able to do it sometime in 2016. We are aware that the eventual winner of Stevenson-Kovalev will be a huge star in boxing.

"So it's a fight of such magnitude that nobody wants to miss it. So Adonis is pushing hard in that direction for everybody to find a solution. So we're talking and we're trying to see if it's a possibility."

Currently, the biggest sticking point is Main Events insistence that the fight take place under the auspices of HBO (with whom Kovalev has an exclusive long-term deal). Stevenson is affiliated with Haymon and the Premier Boxing Champions [PBC].

Michel says that Stevenson - who is currently on vacation - will fight once more before the end of the year. Kovalev is slated to fight one more time in 2015.

Is Stevenson-Kovalev the 175-pound version of Mayweather-Pacquiao?

This notion makes Michel chuckle.

"Well, when we first spoke about it it was supposed to happen in 2014. So we are in 2015, it's not that long ago. It will not take five years," he promises.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.