By Luke Furman
Promoter Yvon Michel of GYM is a busy man these days.
The Canadian promoter is currently in discussions for several potential showdowns in the near future.
Michel has revealed that NABF heavyweight champion Oscar "Kaboom" Rivas (24-0, 17 KOs) has received an offer to face former world title challenger Bryant Jennings (23-2, 13 KOs), ranked #8 by the WBO and #13 by the WBA.
Rivas vs. Jennings would be part of a Top Rank promoted card on August 18 at the Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City.
Then there are two important purse bids scheduled in the next few weeks.
The first is for IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) and his mandatory challenger Callum Johnson (17-0, 12 KOs), and the second purse bid is connected to the showdown between WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis "Superman" Stevenson (29-1-1, 24 KOs) and his mandatory challenger Oleksandr Gvozdyk (15-0, 12 KO).
The purse bid dates are June 26 for Beterbiev-Johnson and July 2 for Stevenson-Gvozdyk.
Michel indicates that he's involved in ongoing negotiations to finalize deals for both fights. He's speaking with Eddie Hearn (promoter of Johnson) and Top Rank (promoter of Gvozdyk) - with the goal of reaching agreements for both fights before the respective purse bids.
As BoxingScene.com recently reported, there is still an ongoing promotional rift between Michel and Beterbiev - and how that affects the Johnson fight is unknown. Michel recently won a court battle, with a judge ruling that Beterbiev was contracted to his company until 2021. But the Russian boxer has appealed the decision.
Michel is also working on fights for other boxers in his stable, including NABF super middleweight champion Marie-Eve Dicaire (12-0, 0 KOs), who is very close to a world title fight, and highly ranked WBC International welterweight champion Mikael Zewski (31-1, 22 KOs), and once-beaten Sebastien Bouchard (16-1-0, 6 KOs) is being positioned for a lucrative opportunity.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org
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