By Hans Olson
As Bermane Stiverne’s dream of a heavyweight title nears, he first must make it through a “nightmare.”
The Canadian contender must defeat Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola in final eliminator which was once again ordered by the WBC to determine the number one challenger to champion Vitali Klitschko, who faces Manuel Charr next week in Russia.
“The WBC has voted a split between us and Arreola, so that fight is going to happen,” Stiverne’s manager, Camille Estephan recently told Boxing Insider.
“It’s a matter of finalizing the date, location, and who’s going to promote it.”
Back in June, the original purse bid was suspended when the WBC did not receive Chris Arreola’s medical report.
Stiverne’s promoter Don King now has until September 2nd to agree on a fight date with Arreola’s promoter, Goossen Tutor. If a deal isn’t reached, it will go to a purse bid, which would take place on September 3rd in Mexico. At that point, the fight would take place within 90 to 120 days after the said bid.
It will be interesting to see if Arreola’s team moves forward with a fight against Stiverne. The Mexican-American has been idle since a February win over Eric Molina; it was thought among many insiders that he would target Vitali’s younger brother Wladimir, rather than attempt another go around at big bro. Vitali bludgeoned Arreola over ten rounds in 2009, stopping him in a fight so one-sided that many would find a sequel rather pointless.
The 33 year old Stiverne has held the WBC’s “Silver” heavyweight title since knocking out Ray Austin in June 2011.
Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson can be reached at [email protected] Follow @hansolson
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