Although Sergey Kovalev owns three of the four main sanctioning organization light heavyweight title belts, Adonis Stevenson is the lineal champion and owns the fourth.

Kovalev, of course, has been trying to get Stevenson into the ring and was rebuffed last year after believing they had a deal.

Kovalev moved on with his career. He routed Bernard Hopkins last fall in a shockingly one-sided fight to unify three of the belts and will make a defense on Saturday night (HBO, 9:45 ET/PT) at the Bell Centre in Montreal when he faces former champion Jean Pascal, who also claims he wants Montreal rival Stevenson in the ring in the worst way.

Kovalev-Pascal Videos Look back on the rise of unbeaten light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev entering his March 14 bout against Jean Pascal.

Late last year, Kovalev promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events successfully lobbied the WBC, whose belt Stevenson holds, to sanction Kovalev-Pascal as an official eliminator for the right to be the mandatory challenger for Stevenson.

It was a highly unusual move because sanctioning organizations typically do not rank or recognize titleholders from other organizations. But the WBC claims it wants to see the titles unified, so it agreed to do it.

However, in another surprise move, the WBC announced that “for reasons unknown,” Pascal has withdrawn from the elimination process, meaning if he beats Kovalev he is apparently not interested in a mandated bout against Stevenson.

The WBC said that Kovalev still wants to become the WBC mandatory challenger and he will be if he defeats Pascal.

“Should Pascal win on Saturday, the WBC will establish a process to determine the mandatory contender of the division in accordance with WBC rules and regulations,” the WBC said in a statement.

It is a surprise because Pascal is a former WBC titleholder and has a good relationship with the organization over the years.

No word from Pascal’s team on why he declined to accept the fight with Kovalev as an eliminator, although if Pascal wins he will still claim the three title belts at stake from the other organizations.