By Rick Reeno

WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (25-1, 21KOs) is not overlooking his upcoming opponent, Sakio Bika (32-6-3, 21KOs), but a much bigger fight is hanging over his head.

Stevenson faces Bika on Saturday at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada. The fight will headline the debut edition of "Premier Boxing Champions (PBC)" on CBS.

Last December at the World Boxing Council's annual convention in Las Vegas, the sanctioning body made a very unusual ruling - by approving a request by Main Events CEO, Kathy Duva, to have Sergey Kovalev (27-0-1, 24KOs) become the mandatory challenger to Stevenson's title. The approval was unusual because Kovalev is the world champion of three rival sanctioning bodies, the IBF/WBA/WBO.

Contrary to popular belief, Stevenson's promoter Yvon Michel was happy with the WBC's decision.

"It was a smart move by her and we applaud that. We were not there because Adonis was defending his title and I had to work on the promotion while the convention was running. We were caught by surprise. She went there and made her pitch and got what she wanted," Michel told BoxingScene.com.

After Kovalev's recent knockout of Jean Pascal, Michel wrote a letter to the WBC to quickly set down a purse bid date - which they did, for April 17th.

There is bad blood between the fighters and their respective teams, and Michel felt it was going to be very difficult for both sides to reach an agreement - so a purse bid was absolutely necessary to come sooner than later.

"Once it was clear that Kovalev was Stevenson's mandatory, I wrote a letter to the WBC - requesting a fast purse bid, because considering our past experiences together and the different accusations, I felt that it was probably going to be difficult [in reaching] an agreement. We were happy the WBC agreed on the purse bid date for April 17th. I believe a fight of this magnitude will require quality time to maximize the promotion and resources. Also taking in to consideration that Kovalev still has one fight to do with Nadjib Mohammedi and we want to know where we're going to stand," Michel explained.

"I think that when she requested the fight with the WBC, she thought Adonis would not defend the belt and likely vacate. By asking the WBC to do the bid, we wanted to confirm that Kovalev was the fight that Stevenson wanted. I think this will be the most anticipated fight of the year, only second to Pacquiao and Mayweather. This will be the biggest fight in light heavyweight history."

The purse bid will also decide a trickier issue. Michel, Stevenson and the fighter's manager/adviser, Al Haymon, are tied to Showtime/CBS - while Duva is in the process of finalizing a new agreement for Kovalev with network rival HBO.

"The winner of the bid will decide the date, the place and the network," Michel said.

And Michel confirmed to BoxingScene that Stevenson and Haymon are both "100% in agreement" to go to any venue, and network - in the event they lose the upcoming purse bid. Michel says he's unsure if Duva is willing to do the same if she loses.

"We already stated to the WBC that no matter what, if we lose the bid, we will go to whatever site they pick and network and date available for that. I have not heard anything from Kathy Duva confirming that from her side, that they would do the same if we won the bid," Michel said.