By Keith Idec

Even with Andre Ward retired and WBC champion Adonis Stevenson headed in a different direction, Kathy Duva sees a light heavyweight division full of attractive alternatives for Sergey Kovalev.

If Kovalev can win back the WBO light heavyweight title by beating Vyacheslav Shabranskyy on November 25, Kovalev-Dmitry Bivol is a fan-friendly fight Kovalev’s promoter would like to make.

“If he wants to win his [WBA] belt back, he’s going to have to do that,” Duva said during a conference call Tuesday, in reference to a Kovalev-Bivol bout.

Kyrgyzstan’s Bivol (12-0, 10 KOs), the WBA light heavyweight champion, made a sensational HBO debut Saturday by knocking out Australia’s Trent Broadhurst (20-2, 12 KOs) in the first round in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

“You saw Dmitry Bivol the other night certainly announce his arrival very emphatically,” Duva said.

Before considering Kovalev-Bivol, Duva will try to make a bout between Bivol and Sullivan Barrera. Cuba’s Barrera (20-1, 14 KOs) must first defeat the Dominican Republic’s Felix Valera (15-1, 13 KOs) in a 10-round fight on the Kovalev-Shabranskyy undercard. HBO will broadcast the main event between Russia’s Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) and Ukraine’s Shabranskyy (19-1, 16 KOs), who’ll fight for the WBO 175-pound title Ward gave up when he retired, and the Barrera-Valera fight from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“We’ve had talks,” Duva said regarding a Bivol-Barrera bout. “It is certainly makeable, but it is by no means a foregone conclusion at this point.”

Barrera turned down a fight against Kovalev on November 25 because he wanted more money than what was offered. Duva’s Main Events promotes Barrera and Kovalev.

“I was ready to fight Sullivan Barrera,” Kovalev said on the conference call. “But he didn’t approve the fight, and we got Vyacheslav Shabranskyy.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.