‘Krusher’ punished Pascal for seven rounds before the fight was finally stopped to save the challenger from further damage in front of a passionate crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
With the victory, Kovalev improved to 29-0-1 in defense of his WBO, WBA and IBF championships and on to a high-profile clash against former super middleweight king Andre Ward in November.
Before the Ward encounter takes place, the 32 year-old has a date open in the summer and wants WBC title holder Stevenson to sign a contract to face him for all four belts.
“I am very happy this fight (Andre Ward) will happen, but I want to unify all four titles. I want to fight Adonis Chickenson,” said Kovalev.
Stevenson, 38, has so far resisted all attempts to meet Kovalev in a clash that could have earned both millions of dollars between 2013 and 2014. The fight has gone off the boil somewhat due to a deal failing to materialize and June seems to be the last chance both camps have of making the bout a reality.
As Kovalev is pencilled in to face Ward in November, the fight would go at least another fifteen months without happening, which by that time Stevenson will be pushing 40 should the two champions remain undefeated.
