By Jake Donovan





The sanctioning bodies catch plenty of hell on any given day, therefore are deserving of praise when efforts are made for the betterment of the sport. The World Boxing Council (WBC) was praised in its attempt to secure a light heavyweight showdown between Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev, and deserves an extended shout out in its latest efforts to keep the fight alive.





A week after Kovalev and Main Events made headlines for all of the wrong reasons in their decision to withdraw from the ordered and eventually canceled April 17 purse bid hearing, the WBC insists the fight is still very much on the table—if either camp still wants it.





“The WBC gave both camps free negotiations period and put May 29 as the date for the purse bid if necessary,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told BoxingScene.com. “If Main Events does not accept, the process will go (back) to purse bid.”





Past history suggests an uphill battle remains. Still, the WBC remains at the front of the line among those who believe it’s a fight that must happen.





“The WBC did everything in its power to secure the fight everybody wants to see,” notes Sulaiman. “The WBC accommodated the requests from main Events and ruled in their favor for their conditions.”





Those conditions included allowing Kovalev—already a recognized light heavyweight titlist by the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO)—to move into the mandatory position for Stevenson’s WBC title.





Stevenson is also recognized as the World lineal light heavyweight champion, through his one-punch 1st round knockout of then-champion Chad Dawson in June ’13.





The proposal was made by Main Events’ Kathy Duva during the WBC annual convention last December, at a time when Kovalev was in the process of securing a showdown with leading contender and former light heavyweight king Jean Pascal. The agreement was made that the winner of their March 14 bout in Montreal would be named the mandatory challenger for Stevenson, who had a voluntary fight scheduled with Sakio Bika on April 4 in Quebec City.





Kovalev went on to win by 8th round knockout, and was prepared to make a mandatory defense of his own—a title shot owed to IBF #1 contender Nadjib Mohammedi. The move was made due to the belief that he would then move towards a title fight with Stevenson some time in the fall.





Instead, Stevenson’s promoter Yvon Michel (GYM Promotions) called for an expedited purse bid in lieu of a negotiation period, a request that came before Stevenson’s eventual 12-round win over Bika. Michel was of the belief that the two sides wouldn’t be able to come eye to eye, instead asking the WBC to fast forward to the hearing, which was ordered for April 17.





It was a bold move, one backed with the knowledge that Stevenson’s adviser Al Haymon had the financial resources to far exceed any bid to be put forth by Main Events or any other interested promoter. This much was realized by Main Events and HBO, under whom Kovalev was an exclusive fighter before his agreement expired following the Pascal bout.





HBO still holds a right of first refusal on Kovalev’s next fight. The two sides continue to work on a future deal, which is expected to be finalized prior to his bout with Mohammedi in late June or early July. In the meantime, Main Events has made it clear that Kovalev is an HBO fighter, which in effect would kill any plans by Stevenson and his team to stage such a fight elsewhere in the event they won the purse bid.





It was in that vein in which their side withdrew from hearing, pledging its allegiance to HBO and inviting Stevenson to cross the street for this one fight. It was HBO who first laid the foundation for such a fight, when Stevenson and Kovalev both rose to prominence in the light heavyweight division in 2013. They even shared a card in Nov. ’13, the first of a three-step process that was to lead to a head on collision in 2014.





Stevenson ruined those plans, however, by announcing his alignment with Haymon, who—for an indefinite period¬—remains unofficially banned from having his fighters perform on HBO airwaves, save for the right opportunity. Such a fight would qualify, although the high-powered adviser is hardly in a position to have to be dictated to, considering his Premier Boxing Champions series that is up and running on a slew of networks, and the deep financial war chest funding the movement.





Kovalev went on to become the darling of the light heavyweight division, largely on the strength of his past two wins. Prior to becoming the first to stop Pascal, the unbeaten Russian dominated Bernard Hopkins over 12 rounds in their three-belt unification bout last November.





His team’s decision to pull the plug on the latest attempt at a Stevenson showdown was a major letdown. Further magnifying the move was the fact that Main Events and Kovalev for the past year have belittled Stevenson and his team, and even made such demands for his alignment as Stevenson’s mandatory challenger as to force the fight, only to walk away the moment they weren’t given their way.





Worsening the situation was Kovalev’s recent behavior through his social media account. The knockout artist from Russia was previously asked to speak to incidents suggesting a history of racism. While he and manager Egis Klimas deflected such claims in the past, those issues came back to light last weekend, when Kovalev posted a picture holding a child wearing a shirt with a picture of a chimpanzee, with the fighter offering the caption “Adonis looks great.”





Kovalev—or someone controlling his account—wisely removed the disgraceful tweet, though it was up long enough for millions to see and to question such idiotic behavior.





The ignorant slam was the latest in a long stretch of back and forth between the two fighters through social media. While the fight continues on line and through words, one has yet to be produced in the ring. The WBC refuses to go down without a fight of its own in efforts to make it a top priority, even if it means clinging to any lingering hope of optimism.





“We were informed both camps will try to negotiate a deal for the fight and we will wait for such, hoping they are able to reach and give boxing the fight everybody wants to see,” Sulaiman suggests.



