Tired of waiting for Stevenson, Alvarez lands title bout with Kovalev

MONTREAL — Light heavyweight contender Eleider Alvarez was fed up with waiting for Adonis Stevenson to give him a title fight, so now he’s landed an even bigger bout with Russian Sergey (Krusher) Kovalev.

Alvarez (23-0), a Colombian based in Montreal, is to face Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 knockouts), the World Boxing Organization champion, in late July or early August either in New York or at the Place Bell arena in Laval, Que. The date and venue are expected to be announced soon.

“I said yes right away,” Alvarez said Thursday. “Kovalev is the best in the division.

“I wanted to fight for a world title. Stevenson, it’s over. It’s in the past.”

Alvarez (23-0) has been the mandatory contender for Stevenson’s World Boxing Council title since November 2015, but a showdown between the two Montreal fighters never happened.

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Either Stevenson would find a way around fighting his mandatory opponent, or Alvarez would be talked into taking on other fighters, as he did last year for wins against Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute.

The same scenario was planned for May 19, with Alvarez fighting on the undercard of a bout between Stevenson and Badou Jack of Sweden in Montreal, with a promise to face Stevenson in the fall.

Now Alvarez can skip that and focus on his own title aspirations. 

“This fight comes at the right time in my career,” said Alvarez, 34. “There’s been a lot of talk in the last two and half years that I’ve been Adonis Stevenson’s mandatory.

“I agreed to things, moved aside, with a promise of a fight against him. But I had four fights like that and it never happened. Now this (Kovalev fight) is something good.”

Kovalev, 35, held the three major light heavyweight titles other than Stevenson’s WBC belt until he lost to American Andre Ward in 2016.

He has since regained the vacant WBO title and remains one of the world top 175-pound fighters.

The Canadian Press