By Ryan Burton

WBC and lineal light heavyweight champion Adonis "Superman" Stevenson (26-1) is currently in the middle of his training camp for his September 11th clash against Tommy Karpency (25-4-1). The fight takes place in Toronto, Ontario and will be part of Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions series and serve as the main event of the Spike TV televised card.

The 37-year-old Stevenson and WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev have traded barbs in the press and on social media over the past few years as a fight between the two - which would produce an undisputed champion - has failed to materialize.

The issues at hand have been well documented with Stevenson signing with power broker Al Haymon and moving to his PBC series and shortly thereafter Kovalev's promoter Main Events getting the WBC to make an almost unprecedented decision in mandating a purse bid to create an unified champion. The purse bid fell apart when Main Events, with a new multi-fight deal from HBO for Kovalev, walked away when it was clear they wouldn't be able to make the winning bid.

"Kathy Duva is scared. She is smart. She protects Kovalev. You think if I fight Kovalev I am not going to punch Kovalev? I am going to hurt him and I am going to knock him out and she knows it. She is protecting her company," Stevenson told BoxingScene.com.

Stevenson feels that Duva never had any intention of making the mega-fight that many fans have clamored for. In his opinion, Duva tried to leverage the fight and the purse bid that she created, to secure a new contract with HBO and keep her revenue streams flowing.

"She used my name and Al Haymon's name. She used us to negotiate with HBO. I'm not stupid. She used my name and the purse bid to negotiate with HBO. Then after she gets the contract she pulls out of the fight and doesn't need the fight anymore. She just used us and she made the deal with HBO and now she says we don't need you anymore so if Adonis wants to fight it has to be on HBO. What kind of bullsh*t is that?

"The purse bid is simple. The promoter who puts up the most money makes the fight happen. That's why they have the purse bid. All the bullsh*t that the fight has to be on HBO is just that, totally bullsh*t.

"She used my name to negotiate with HBO and now look what they are doing. She has the contract so Kovalev fights bum pizza delivery guys like his last fight (Mohammedi). Come on man," said Stevenson.

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