Sergey Kovalev to defend belts against Jean Pascal if Pascal wins Saturday
Give Sergey Kovalev credit: The man is doing what champions should do. He's fighting the best available opponent every time out.
Kovalev, whose impressive Nov. 8 victory over Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City, N.J., left him holding the WBA, WBO and IBF versions of the light heavyweight title, will return to the ring on March 14, 2015, to face Jean Pascal. The bout is contingent upon Pascal defeating Roberto Bolonti on Saturday as well as the IBF giving Kovalev a special exception to defer his mandatory defense against Nadjib Mohammedi.
The bout will be on HBO in either Montreal or Quebec City, assuming all the contigencies are met.
"Sergey has made it very clear since the moment we signed him that he only wants to fight the best fighters," promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events said in a statement. "I promised after his demolition of Bernard Hopkins that the next one would be for the money. I'm thrilled to work with Interbox to bring boxing fans 'The Krusher' versus Jean Pascal, which delivers on both fronts. The truth is that these fights are easy to make when both fighters want to be in the big fights and the promoters and managers are willing to be reasonable and work together."
Pascal is a former WBC light heavyweight champion who is coming off an impressive victory over Lucian Bute in a highly emotional battle in Canada. He's the best available opponent for Kovalev, and the men wasted no time getting together on a deal.
The loser in all of this continues to be current WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson, who has seemingly maneuvered himself into oblivion. Stevenson faces Dmitry Sukhotsky in a who-cares type of fight on Dec. 19 in Quebec City.
