Oleksandr Gvozdyk’s manager pushing hard for Adonis Stevenson match

To reiterate once again, WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson has not fought a mandatory challenger in five years, and after fighting Badou Jack to a draw (in a matchup he had to pay mandatory challenger Eleider Alvarez step-aside money to make), it looked as though that trend would continue as they worked on a rematch. Top contender Oleksandr Gvozdyk’s manager is willing to put his foot down, however, and tells ESPN he has a “signed notification from WBC stating that Gvozdyk was next.”

In putting together Stevenson-Jack, the WBC reneged on their commitment to finally make Stevenson honor his obligations and instead ordered Alvarez to fight Gvozdyk. Alvarez, rather wisely in my opinion, took the money and went after Sergey Kovalev instead.

Gvozdyk (15-0, 12 KO), meanwhile, beat Mehdi Amar for the interim title.

Stevenson-Jack II is a great fight, don’t get me wrong, but can we at least keep pretending “mandatory” means something? Give “The Nail” his shot.