Photo by Ismael Gallardo/RBRBoxing
Before the 12-round Welterweight fight between Timothy Bradley and Jessie Vargas took place at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA., Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey Kovalev (27-0, 24 KOs) hosted a meet and greet with members of the media.
Of course, one had to ask a question or two about lineal and WBC champion Adonis Stevenson, whose political affiliations currently prevents him from a fight with Kovalev.
It’s a story that’s often told: the two best fighters in a division are unable to come to terms to make a good fight happen.
Kovalev, however, remains firm with his calling out of Stevenson, though this does not mean he will just sit around and wait for the shot to fight him.
“I already proved who I am and I’m ready to fight with him [Adonis Stevenson]. I hope that one day this fight will be,” said Kovalev, 32, who defends his titles against Nadjib Mohammedi (37-3, 23 KOs) on July 25 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The scheduled 12-rounder–if it even goes that far–will be televised by HBO.
“We’re not chasing Adonis Stevenson, I’m ready for the fight but he’s not ready and everybody understands this who knows boxing. For him this is business and he’s with Al Haymon who maybe doesn’t let him fight me, I don’t know,” said Kovalev.
Indeed, this has forced Stevenson to fight on Showtime or PBC cards exclusively, while Kovalev has an HBO deal that begins with his July 25 fight and which will keep him busy until at least 2017, as reported by BoxingScene.com’s Steve Kim.
Nevertheless, despite these political lines, Kovalev maintains that he wants to fight Stevenson as he has one title left that would complete his utter cleanout of the division.
“He has something I want, the WBC title, my official statement is I want to fight,” said Kovalev.
A win over Stevenson would make him the undisputed champion, though perhaps he is already seen as such by the opposition he has recently faced compared with the opposition Stevenson has faced.
What do you think about this potential matchup? Does this political gridlock make a Kovalev-Stevenson fight impossible?
