By Steve Kim

Multiple sources have informed BoxingScene.com that Eleider Alvarez has decided not to participate in Friday's WBC purse bid for a fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

The World Boxing Council had recently issued an order, where they approved Adonis Stevenson's request to defend his world title against Badou Jack. And, they also ordered a final eliminator between Alvarez and Gvozdyk. The winners of the two contests would then have to face one another.

Alvarez (23-0, 11 KO's) has been the number one contender with the WBC for the past couple of years, but instead of enforcing his mandatory position versus Stevenson, the unbeaten contender has been willing to take step-aside money.

The 33-year old native of Colombia last fought on June 3rd where he won a 12-round majority decision versus former world champion Jean Pascal.

For most of 2016, the WBC was pressing Stevenson to make his defense against Alvarez, but the contest never came off. It was scheduled for several tentative dates, but continued to get pushed back and Stevenson openly made it clear that Jack was his preferred opponent.

Alvarez was then given an offer from his promoter Yvon Michel - which the boxer's team had revealed in the Canadian press was a lucrative multi-fight deal, which included the Stevenson fight.

Gvozdyk (14-0, 11 KO's) is currently rated number two by the WBC. He last fought on August 19th where he stopped Craig Baker in six rounds. 'the Nail' is rated in the top four by all four major sanctioning bodies and he holds the NABF title (which is affiliated with the WBC) and the NABO belt (which is aligned with the WBO).

It's not clear if the WBC will look for the highest available contender to face Gvozdyk or just name him the mandatory challenger for the winner of Stevenson-Jack who will be meeting in the near future.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.