One of the
more interesting weight classes in the sport of Boxing in the last couple of
years has been the Light-Heavyweight division. In recent times much of the
discussion with regard to the division has centered around three men. Adonis
Stevenson, Sergey Kovalev, and Bernard Hopkins.
A scenario of
two emerging stars in Stevenson and Kovalev sharing the top of the division
with a future first ballot Hall of Famer in Bernard Hopkins is certainly an
intriguing storyline. Stevenson, who became the WBC world champion in the
Light-Heavyweight division in 2013, is regarded by many as the top fighter in
the division. Following four knockout victories last year, Stevenson entered
the ring for the first time in 2014 on May 24th to make the third defense of
his world title against top contender Andrzej Fonfara at the Bell Centre in
Montreal, Canada.
Although
Fonfara was rated number three in the world by the World Boxing Council (WBC)
and number one in the world by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) there were
some who considered him an underdog, despite victories over former
Light-Heavyweight world champions Glen Johnson and Gabriel Campillo during his
career. An obvious question that will be asked of any fighter who faces a
fighter with devastating knockout power is not only can they avoid the power,
but also can they extend the fight into the later rounds.
The story of
this fight in my eyes for the first seven rounds was Stevenson’s ability to use
his lateral movement and combination punching to control the tempo. Stevenson
scored a knockdown of Fonfara in round one with a straight left hand to the
head and dropped the challenger for a second time with a brutal straight left
hand to the body in round five. Stevenson dominated the first half of the fight
with a well-balanced attack to the body and head of Fonfara.
Fonfara
consistently came forward and was willing to engage with Stevenson and did have
periodic moments, particularly when he was able to land his left hand on the
champion. Fonfara however, had trouble letting his hands go in the first part
of the fight and did not throw combinations. This could likely be attributed to
both a respect for Stevenson’s punching power as well as Stevenson’s
elusiveness and ability to control distance.
Despite suffering
two knockdowns Fonfara was very “Game” and continued coming forward looking to
turn the fight in his favor. The tempo of the fight seemed to shift slightly in
round eight as Fonfara began to let his hands go more and was able to land a
couple combinations. Although still in control of the fight, Stevenson appeared
to show signs of fatigue.
Fonfara was
able to build on what he was able to do in the eighth round as he dropped the
champion with a straight right hand in round nine. A question that fighters who
are labeled knockout punchers eventually have to answer is can they deal with
adversity. Fonfara’s knockdown of Stevenson, the second of Stevenson’s career
would pose that question to the champion.
The champion
responded in round ten by resuming his attack to Fonfara’s body that put him
back in control. Stevenson’s lateral movement was less visible in the later
rounds due to fatigue and that allowed for good exchanges between the two
fighters on the inside with Stevenson appearing to get the better of most of those
exchanges. Stevenson would go on to win a convincing twelve round unanimous
decision.
Although some
might choose to criticize Stevenson who had scored ten straight knockouts
coming into this fight for not being able to stop Fonfara, this observer will
not be one of them. An interesting conundrum for knockout punchers that can at
times be difficult is to look impressive in fights that go the distance when
fans have become accustomed to seeing fights end quickly.
Many boxers who
were known as devastating punchers have faced similar circumstances as
Stevenson faced in this fight. Sometimes no matter how devastating a fighter’s
punching power might be, an opponent’s will and determination can force a
knockout puncher to go the distance. Andrzej Fonfara earned a lot of respect in
this fight with the heart and will he showed. There is no doubt in my mind that
Fonfara will remain very much in the mix as a top contender going forward.
Despite not
being able to score a knockout in this fight Stevenson was still impressive and
did answer the question of whether he could deal with adversity by getting up
and fighting harder after being knocked down. Now with three successful title
defenses behind him, the question is what is next for Adonis Stevenson?
Stevenson
stated after the fight that he is open to facing either Bernard Hopkins or
Sergey Kovalev in his next fight. Both Kovalev and Hopkins have each
successfully defended their respective world titles in the last two months.
Kovalev scoring a seventh round knockout over Cedric Agnew on March 29th in
defense of his WBO world title and Hopkins successfully unifying his IBF world
title against WBA champion Beibut Shumenov on April 19th.
If a
unification bout is next for Stevenson, both fights would draw attention. An
argument can be made however, that a fight between Stevenson and Hopkins would
draw the most attention due to Hopkins being the marquee draw of the division.
Although
there is always the possibility of a champion’s mandatory obligations
potentially playing a role in whether a unification bout takes place, it does
not appear as though there is much that would stand in the way of a fight to
further unify the World Light-Heavyweight championship. Hopkins would appear to
have no mandatory defenses as mandated by either the International Boxing
Federation (IBF) or the World Boxing Association (WBA). Stevenson meanwhile
could be mandated to face current WBC number one contender and former champion
Jean Pascal at some point in the near future.
What also
makes this interesting by Stevenson defeating Fonfara, is it theoretically
leaves an opening in the number one ranking in the WBO Light-Heavyweight
ratings. It will be interesting to see if a scenario presents itself where
either Stevenson, Hopkins, or Kovalev will face-off in their next fight and
whether the politics of the sport will allow the winner of that fight to face
the third champion of the division to determine an undisputed champion.
Assuming the
sport’s respective governing bodies allow such a scenario to play out, it will
be interesting to see just who emerges as the undisputed champion of the
Light-Heavyweight division. An intriguing storyline that surely will continue
to be a topic of discussion throughout the Boxing world.
“And That’s
The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing
Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
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