Best fights for Kovalev at LHW in order are: Stevenson, (big gap) Pascal, (even bigger gap) Braehmer, and that's about it. Really not much out there. I'd be down with a bout with Shumenov.
Anyone who has the balls to fight him which rules out Stevenson. Kovalev was lucky to have two champions willing to fight him in Cleverley and Hopkins otherwise he'd be where Golovkin is now with everyone running for cover. I suspect we'll have to wait a while before we see Kovalev in another big fight at light heavy. Now that he holds 3 titles, mandatory duties will dictate much of his choices of opponents unless of course he drops a title or two. Stevenson is in hiding, Ward as dropped of the face of the planet, Beterbiev is still too inexperienced, Dawson is damaged goods and Froch isn't moving up for anything other than a PPV monster payday. Pascal is probably the best opponent available that is probably willing to make the fight, that's the fight I'll be really looking forward to next.
Dear lord! They'd need a body-bag. Do you really hate Lucian that much? Nah. I'm still waiting to see if Bute can Kinda turn it around... ever since the Froch fight he seems to have lost the nerve to pull the trigger. I'm assuming sending him off to Roach is an attempt to remedy that, but we'll have to wait and see how he does in his next outing before I'm convinced he still has what it takes at the top level.