Don King to promote Bermane Stiverne-Alexander Povetkin heavyweight bout

Yes, Don King is still promoting boxing events, and he wants to honor the great Muhammad Ali for his final hurrah.

The iconic 85-year-old promoter is planning a boxing series called “Salute to Greatness” in a tribute to Ali, who died in June after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

King hopes to return to the sites of historic matches such as the “Thrilla in Manila,” “The Rumble in the Jungle” and many other places where he promoted classic championship fights.

“This is the love and peace roundup for me,” King said. “I’m back in the saddle. There’s no stopping this series. It’s a ‘Salute to Greatness’ in the memory of Ali and for all the great fighters all over the world.’’

The first fight on the series is expected to be the WBC heavyweight interim championship bout between Bermane Stiverne and Alexander Povetkin for the right to face injured titlist Deontay Wilder.

Stiverne, who lives in Las Vegas, lost the title to Wilder at the MGM Grand Garden last year. Wilder is sidelined after sustaining multiple injuries in a July victory against Chris Arreola.

“For the betterment of boxing in general, and the heavyweight division in particular, I plan to knock Povetkin out and bring this title to America,” Stiverne said. “Then I will get my revenge against Wilder, when he is ready.”

The fight could take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Philippines, New York or Las Vegas at the end of the year, according to King.

The Russian Povetkin was scheduled to fight Wilder in May in Moscow, but the match was canceled after Povetkin tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

The WBC did not suspend him.

MAGDALENO’S TITLE SHOT?

Jessie Magdaleno, who grew up in Las Vegas, is in contract talks to face Filipino Nonito Donaire in a junior featherweight title match that could land on the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas undercard Nov. 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

It would be a battle of the Filipinos versus the locals. Donaire has never fought on the same card as Pacquiao.

“I was just talking about that the other day with my coach, how cool would that be if two Vegas fighters face two Filipinos, and we both win titles,” Magdaleno said. “It would be great for Vegas and a great day for both of us. I hope it happens.”

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he hopes to have four title fights on the pay-per-view card.

TOP RANK GOES SHOWTIME

Arum said he has a meeting planned with Showtime executives to televise fights for stars Terence Crawford, Vasyl Lomachenko and Timothy Bradley Jr.

“These guys have to fight, and if HBO doesn’t have the funds, then we have to look elsewhere,” said Arum, who does most of his business with HBO.

Because of HBO’s cutbacks, Arum decided to put Crawford’s July victory over Viktor Postol on pay per view. The bout did only 60,000 to 65,000 buys, according to Arum.

KOVALEV-WARD TICKETS

Tickets for the Nov. 19 light heavyweight showdown between Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward at T-Mobile Arena have gone on sale.

Tickets are available at the T-Mobile Arena box office or www.axs.com. The upper-level tickets start at $55, and the lower level begins at $255.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.