Cleverly vs. Bivol ordered

Nathan Cleverly (30-3) has been ordered to defend his WBA “regular” light heavyweight title against the interim champion Dmitry Bivol (11-0) with the winner being established as a mandatory challenger to Andre Ward.

Cleverly won the title when defeating Juergen Braehmer to win the belt. A champion is given 120 days to perform a mandatory match, which has already expired. His name has been linked with Badou Jack on the undercard of Mayweather vs. McGregor.

Bivol also won his belt in 2016 and defended it twice. His biggest win came with a quick stoppage over Cedric Agnew. Vadim Kornilov, the manager of Bivol, stated he “doesn’t think Cleverly wants the fight.”