Who should Sergey Kovalev fight next?

[Foreign Soil]

This is their rankings (below). I'm not sure how they do things. Does Kovalev being WBO champ mean he can't fight for a vacant IBO belt?

http://www.iboboxing.com/rankings/175.html

It would be good to see him win whatever titles he can get his hands on if Showtime are going to hold the rest of them hostage.

Nah, IBO allows it. I don't take their belt seriously though. It's like a boxrec belt.

[BattlingNelson]

Ward. If he is retired, then a fight with Pascal makes sense. Brammer would be great as well, but when was the last time Brahmer faced a live opponent?

[SN!PER]

PASCAL or WARD

I see Pascal getting KTFO in a hilarious fight that has Pascal ducking, dodging and dancing all over the ring like he's Chris fucking Byrd.

Ward gives Kovalev his hardest battle ever, nailing him with well-timed counter-shots, blocking most punches, tying him up, and wearing him down. Ward by UD.

[Cinci Champ]

let ward fight him he needs a big fight badly hes wasting his prime

[Foreign Soil]

PASCAL or WARD

I see Pascal getting KTFO in a hilarious fight that has Pascal ducking, dodging and dancing all over the ring like he's Chris fucking Byrd.

Ward gives Kovalev his hardest battle ever, nailing him with well-timed counter-shots, blocking most punches, tying him up, and wearing him down. Ward by UD.

Lol... I imagined Pascal in a similar scenario against Kovalev, though he can still be dangerous with his 1 explosion a round.

I think Ward is going to have to dig deep in order to beat Kovalev. I can see a lot of those straight shots, Kovalev's jab landing on Ward.

[GhostBlade]

Pascal by far is the only credible opponent in the division that could give Kovalev a run for his money. Pascal is even a bigger threat to Kovalev than Stevenson because he is younger and just as powerful and more aggressive. I can definitely see Pascal hurting Kovalev really bad for the first time in his career and possibly stopping him. Pascal is willing to fight anyone and everyone. Tough s.o.b. and really the only one to give Kovalev trouble and more than capable of beating him by knockout.

[tyger]

Andrzej Fonfara
Eleider Alvarez
Jean Pascal
Vyacheslav Uzelkov
Dmitry Sukhotsky
Thomas Williams, Jr.

This is the top six ranked by the wbo. Chilemba is not even ranked by the wbo so it probably won't be him. I sure hope it is not Fonfara. He once suffered a second round stoppage by Derrick Findley.

[PainfromUkraine]

Oh my god if Maccarinelli was to beat Braehmer and then fight KOvalev... he might die. Or at least a NC from glass damage to both fighters and an unsafe ring full of sharps.

[Weebler I]

Oh my god if Maccarinelli was to beat Braehmer and then fight KOvalev... he might die. Or at least a NC from glass damage to both fighters and an unsafe ring full of sharps.

It would be sadistic to put Macca in with Kovalev, but that goes for a lot of fighters. Look at poor Cedric after tonight.

Nah, IBO allows it. I don't take their belt seriously though. It's like a boxrec belt.

Wlad and GGG rep it. It's like half a belt right now, in years to come I think it will be accepted like the WBO.

[Boxingwizard]

The only fighter I see beating Kovalev is Ward, but Ward has no plans to move up anytime soon. Maybe next year.

Hopkins is too old he would lose against Kovalev. Dawson is mentally shot and his skills have eroded over the years. Pascal or Bute I don't see much of a threat. And I would favor Kovalev over Stevenson.