Stevenson-Bellew after Stevenson-Cloud?

Jul

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RING and WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson could make an optional defense against Tavoris Cloud on Sept. 28 in Montreal, and, if victorious, has come to terms for a December bout with Liverpool’s Tony Bellew, WBC secretary general Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed on Wednesday.

The story was initially reported after BoxingScene.com was informed by Stevenson’s promoter, Yvon Michel.

Stevenson (21-1, 17 knockouts) is coming off last month’s 76-second stoppage of former champion Chad Dawson, while Cloud (24-2, 19 KOs) was derailed as IBF beltholder by Bernard Hopkins in his last fight in March.

Bellew (20-1-1, 12 KOs) became the WBC’s mandatory challenger in May with a unanimous decision over Isaac Chilemba.

The Stevenson-Bellew deal negates a WBC-mandated purse bid for July 26 in the event that Michel and Bellew’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport, had not reached an arrangement. Michel is working with Cloud’s promoter, Don King, on the fall bout with Stevenson.

“That is correct. We have been advised by both parties that they have reached an agreement to cancel the purse bid. They had an agreement in the pre-negotiations period, so everything is on track in the division,” said Sulaiman.

“We know that they’re fighting Cloud on Sept. 28, and we have no other information on that. But the winner must fight their next defense against Tony Bellew in December.”

Neither Michel nor Hearn could be reached for an immediate comment.

“The WBC has granted a voluntary defense for Adonis Stevenson before fighting the mandatory, who is Bellew,” said Michel during an earlier interview with RingTV.com. “The winner of Stevenson-Cloud will have to fight Bellew within 90 days after their fight. So we can fight Cloud first, if we come to an agreement with Don King, and fight Bellew after.”

Photos by Richard Wolowicz, Gettyimages

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]