Adonis Stevenson says Sergey Kovalev has 'chickened out' of fighting him

Adonis Stevenson says Sergey Kovalev has 'chickened out' of fighting him

Adonis Stevenson says Sergey Kovalev and his team have "chickened out" of fighting him.

The WBC light-heavyweight world champion will be making his fourth defence in early September but it will not be against the Russian, who holds the other three straps.

Stevenson has been accused of avoiding his rival but is adamant they would have met had Kovalev's team not opted for a different route.

Adonis Stevenson says Sergey Kovalev has 'chickened out' of fighting him Adonis Stevenson

"The thing is Kovalev was my mandatory challenger and his team never presented themselves at the purse bid," he told World Boxing News.

"They chickened out and decided to sign with HBO instead of taking the fight with me.

"I was really interested in that fight and I still am."

Stevenson (26-1-KO21) will take on American Tommy Karpency (25-4-1-KO14) in Toronto, Canada, the night before Floyd Mayweather takes on Andre Berto.

Kovalev (28-0-1-KO25) boxed earlier this month, stopping Nadjib Mohammedi in the third round at the MGM Grand.

And although it was Krusher's big-time Las Vegas debut, Stevenson admits he was far from impressed.

"I saw two rounds of that fight, it was a joke," he said.

"This guy said his eye hurt and quit. To me, that ‘boxer’ was a pizza delivery guy and he did not belong on that level!"