After the stoppage of Jean Pascal on Saturday night, the question on everyone's lips is who’s next for 'The Krusher’?
Kovalev who holds the WBO, WBA and IBF version of the Light Heavyweight titles and is considered by many as the man to beat in the division. He has impressive wins under his belt most recently against Nathan Cleverly, Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. So where does Kovalev go from here?
The obvious option is to fight Adonis ‘Superman’ Stevenson who holds the WBC version of the Light Heavyweight title. If this fight happens the titles would be unified for the first time since Roy Jones Jr vacated the titles back in 2002. Adonis Stevenson will have watched the Pascal fight and maybe have had second thoughts, though. After the Bellew fight, Stevenson was asked by HBO's Max Kellerman if he would be fighting Kovalev next, he went on to mention everyone he would fight but the nothing was mentioned about the Russian. However, it may not be as easy to duck the fight, as Kovalev is the mandatory challenger to Stevensons crown. Since destroying Chad Dawson to become WBC, Lenial and Ring Magazine champion, Stevensons last few fights have been anything but spectacular and he has a big fight coming up on April 4th against the tough Sakio Bika. If he gets past Bika, the fight against Kovalev could be as early as the summer.
A potential rematch with Jean Pascal could be a possibility due to the way the first fight was stopped. Pascal asked for an immediate rematch in the post fight interview, stating that he was unhappy with the way the fight was stopped so suddenly by referee Luis Pabon. Now he may have a point, but the outcome could have been far worse. Remember when Kovalev fought Roman Simakov in 2011? After knocking Simakov down in the sixth round, the fight was stopped in the following round after which Simakov was taken to hospital where he lapsed into a coma and died three days later.
The option to face Pascal should only be considered as a last resort, as I think Kovalev has to look forward rather than giving rematches at this point in his career.
The most realistic fight will most likely be against IBF No. 1 contender Nadjib Mohammedi. The fight isn't mouth watering to say the least. Mohammedi is the perfect opponent for Kovalev, he may be heavy handed but he is also slow and way to easy to hit. This fight should be nothing but a tune up fight for Kovalev in preparation for a unification bout against Stevenson.
Gennady Golovkin would be a great fight but the likelihood of these two dominant boxers squaring of in the ring is hard to see. Both the Russian, Kovalev and the Kazak, Golvkin are undefeated and are both heavy hitters with a KO record Tyson would be proud of. For this fight to happen it would have to take place at a catchweight with neither fighter looking to go up or down in weight division. Should this fight emerge it’s hard to call a winner.
Source: DSG
