By Luke Furman

Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera is one of several opponents under consideration for former WBA, WBO, IBF world champion Sergey Kovalev, according to the promoter of both boxers, Kathy Duva of Main Events.

Last month at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Kovalev was stopped in the eight round of his rematch with world champion Andre Ward. It was Kovalev second defeat in a row. His second fight of the year will take place between October and December.

"Barrera is one of the opponent's options for Sergey, but we have not had the opportunity to fully discuss Kovalev's next opponent with either his management or with HBO. The next Kovalev fight will take place in the fourth quarter of 2017, most likely on the East Coast or in California. We're still working on it," Duva told Vasily Konov.

Last weekend, Barrera continued his streak of wins with a dominating performance against dangerous puncher Joe Smith Jr. The victory raised his record to 20 wins (14 by KO), with a single defeat to Ward in March 2016. Barrera stated after the contest that he was very interested in facing Kovalev or any other top fighter at 175-pounds.

The 34-year-old Kovalev has an impressive record of 30 wins (26 by KO) with two defeats from Ward and a draw.

In a recent interview, Kovalev expressed his desire to make some changes to his corner, including a new head trainer. Kovalev has been trained since 2012 by John David Jackson, but there has been some friction between the two in training camp. Kovalev was trained at the beginning of his career by Abel Sanchez, who currently handles Gennady Golovkin, Murat Gassiev and several other top fighters. Sanchez stated to BoxingScene.com that he would be interested in once again heading Kovalev's corner.

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.