The 35 year-old Haitan-born Canadian will then face mandatory challenger Tony Bellew in December or January before attempting to seal a mega-money clash with IBF belt holder and Cloud conqueror Bernard Hopkins in the early months of next year.
Stevenson would have loved to have put his belt on the line in a mammoth unification with the veteran this year, but explained to WBN that both fighters had business to take care of before they could strike up any discussions.
“We couldn’t really plan to fight Hopkins right away as he has his mandatory to do as I do, too,” Stevenson told World Boxing News.
“On top of this, HBO wanted me to fight Tavoris Cloud for my first defence and my association with HBO is very, very important for me. My hope is to be able to unify the light heavyweight titles against Hopkins in early spring of 2014.
“I will never turn down a challenge and all decisions are always going to be taken between me my promoter, GYM (Yvon Michel), who looks out for my best interests. Hopkins is a legend and I dream of being the one who will stop his run.”
‘Superman’ knows he has a tough battle first up though against Cloud and won’t be taking anything for granted after the American lost his unbeaten record to the oldest world champion of all time in what was an uncharacteristically sluggish performance in March.
“It is very difficult to look good against Bernard Hopkins and In that fight, Cloud showed he can easily fight for twelve rounds,” he said.
“I look forward to this fight and to continue being a champion. It’s a great feeling as I met several HBO fighters in Los Angeles last week and it is great to be part of such exclusive group.”
