Stacey Verbeek

Former light-heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev has something to fall back on should an immediate rematch with Andre Ward fail to materialize in the coming months.

The big-hitting Russian has been rated at number two by the World Boxing Council in their December announcement now that he’s no longer under the jurisdiction of any other organization. This leaves the possibility of a green and gold belt challenge against champion Adonis Stevenson on the table for 2017.

Kovalev and Stevenson have long been linked to a unification in the past, something the WBC were keen to help get over the line, which seems to be a major reason for ‘Krusher’ being placed just under mandatory challenger Eleider Alvarez.

With Alvarez tied to facing Lucian Bute in February and then Stevenson in April, Kovalev would be forced to wait until the summer, although with a second fight with Ward moving at a snail’s pace – that may be sufficient time for promoters Main Events.

The Ward fight could then be revisited at the end of 2017 with the WBC strap potentially in the mix.

Should Stevenson come out on top in any future fantasy clash against Kovalev, the Canadian could then earn himself a shot at Ward which ‘Superman’ came out to publicly declare his interest in last month.

More is set to come to light in the coming weeks if negotiations between Kovalev and Ward finally manage to get off the ground.