Adonis Stevenson

Adonis Stevenson
Statistics
Real name	Stevenson Adonis
Nickname(s)	Superman
Rated at	Super middleweight Light heavyweight
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Reach	77 in (196 cm)
Nationality	Canadian
Born	September 22, 1977 Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	28
Wins	27
Wins by KO	22
Losses	1
Medal record Men's boxing Representing  Canada Commonwealth Games 2006 Melbourne Middleweight

Stevenson Adonis (born September 22, 1977), best known as Adonis Stevenson, is a Haitian Canadian professional boxer. Nicknamed Superman, he is the reigning lineal and WBC light heavyweight champion, as well as a former Ring magazine light heavyweight champion. He was one of the last fighters trained by Emanuel Steward before his death.

Stevenson's known name is an inversion of his family name and given name.^[1][2][3]

Amateur career

Stevenson was Quebec Middleweight champion in 2004, and best amateur fighter of the country in 2005–2006. He also grabbed the Canada national title in 2005 and 2006. Stevenson competed in the XVIII Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia in 2006 and won the silver medal losing to Local Australian, Jarrod Fletcher in the final. It was also the only medal a Canadian boxer received at the games.

He holds a record of 33–5 in amateur contests.

Professional career

Super middleweight

Stevenson turned professional in September 2006.

On August 1, 2009, at Windsor Station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Stevenson defeated Anthony Bonsante by first round knockout. The two fighters came out of their corners for the fight with Bonsante launching the first attack, but just moments after the assault, Stevenson landed a left hand that sent Bonsante down to the canvas. Bonsante sprawled out on the canvas with his eyes closed, while the referee reached the count of six before stopping the fight. Bonsante had begun to get up at the count of six, but it was too late, leaving Bonsante livid with the decision as he chased the referee around the ring in an attempt to protest the decision, but to little avail.^[4][5] He also won a fifth round TKO decision against Jermain Mackey on September 25, 2009.

On April 17, 2010, in his first fight in the United States, which also was his first time fighting for promoter Lou DiBella, he suffered his first defeat being stopped in the second round by Darnell Boone. Boone had been knocked down on the canvas twice in the first round, however, in the second round, Stevenson rushed to Boone without maintaining his defense and he got caught by a solid right sending him on the canvas for the first time in his career. Stevenson managed to get back on his feet inside the count of 10, however, the referee ended the fight even if Stevenson seemed ready to continue the bout.

Nonetheless, Stevenson resumed with GYM Promotions and won the North American title NABA on April 8, 2011 at the expense of Derek Edwards by KO in the third round. He then won by referee stoppage in the first round against Dion Savage (Shujaa El-Amin) on September 17, 2011, and retained his title against Aaron Pryor Jr on December 10, 2011 by referee stoppage in the ninth round. Stevenson jumped from 15th to 2nd position for the IBF title, winning by KO in the first round duel against Jesus Gonzalez on February 18, 2012.^[6][7] He then fought Noe Gonzalez on April 20, 2012 and won the fight at 1:40 in the second round when the referee stopped the fight.^[8]

His next fight originally set to be against Don George with the winner getting a shot at the IBF champion. The fight was originally scheduled to be a co/main event of a fight card also including a match between Jean Pascal and Tavoris Cloud on August 11, 2012 but the even was cancelled due to an injury suffered by Pascal. The Stevenson fight was then moved up to August 17, 2012 and was set to be part of ESPN Friday Night Fights,^[9] but Stevenson later injured his hand cancelling the fight.^[10] The fight was then rescheduled to October 12.^[11] In the fight Stevenson knocked George down twice in the fifth and once in the sixth round before winning the fight with a 12th round TKO after knocking him down twice more.^[12]

Stevenson avenged his only loss, knocking out Darnell Boone with a pair of lefts in the sixth round in March 22, 2013 at the Bell Centre. The left-hander, fighting at 171.9 pounds, forced Boone to take a knee with a right hook to the body early in the sixth, then stunned him coming out of a corner with a left uppercut, followed with a straight left that sent Boone on the canvas.

Light heavyweight

Stevenson vs Dawson

Stevenson moved up to light heavyweight to face lineal/WBC/The Ring champion Chad Dawson on June 8, 2013. Stevenson hit Dawson with a left hook that dropped him very early in the first round of the fight, and although Dawson got up before the count of eight the referee stopped the fight giving Stevenson an unexpected knockout victory. Stevenson's victory was his eighth straight since his only career defeat, all coming by knockout.

Stevenson vs Cloud, Bellew

The WBC originally ordered Stevenson to face mandatory challenger Tony Bellew, but then allowed him to make a voluntary defense first against Tavoris Cloud, where the winner of the fight must face Bellew at a later date.^[13]

On September 28, Stevenson fought Tavoris Cloud and dominated the precedings, flustering Cloud with quick hands and shocking power. The result ended when Cloud failed to answer the bell for the start of the eighth round.^[14]

On November 30, 2013, Stevenson defended his light heavyweight title against Tony Bellew at the Colisee Pepsi. His victory came in the sixth round when the referee stopped the fight, with Bellew unable to fight back.^[15] According to Nielsen Media Research firm, the Stevenson-Bellew fight attracted an average of 1.3 million viewers on the HBO network, making it the 5th most watched bout of 2013.^[16]

Stevenson vs Fonfara, Sukhotsky

Stevenson defended his lineal/WBC/The Ring titles against Andrzej Fonfara on May 24, 2014, in Montreal, Quebec. Stevenson started off very well, dropping his opponent twice with sharp lefts and appeared close to stopping his opponent. Fonfara however, recovered very well, even dropping Stevenson in the ninth round. Stevenson similarly recovered quickly and survived to win a wide unanimous decision.

Stevenson defended his belts against Russian contender Dmitry Sukhotsky in Quebec City, Quebec, and Stevenson dominated the fight from the very beginning and ended up dropping Sukhotsky four times during the bout and eventually knocked him out in the 5th round to retain his belts.

Stevenson vs Bika, Karpency

Stevenson faced contender Sakio Bika on April 4, 2015. Stevenson dropped Bika twice during the bout and would go on to win a unanimous (115–11, 116–110, 115–110) decision victory.^[17]

Stevenson later faced Tommy Karpency on September 11, 2015. Karpency, previously coming off the biggest win of his career, a split decision win against former light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, the man who Stevenson beat to win the light heavyweight championship. Karpency was thought to be a stepping stone for Adonis, and he was. After barely escaping round 2, Karpency got knocked down at the beginning of round 3. He immediately knocked Karpency down after he got up, and the referee called a halt to the bout, awarding Adonis a TKO victory in round 3.

Personal life

In 2012, in response to questioning at a press conference before a fight, Stevenson admitted to serving jail time in Bordeaux, Quebec on charges of managing prostitutes, assault, and making threats.^[18] Stevenson served four years in prison for these crimes and crimes that took place while in prison, and was released in 2001.^[19]

Professional boxing record

See also

• List of current world boxing champions

References

1. "Adonis Stevenson: La vraie histoire de Superman (La Presse)". La Presse. 25 November 2013.
2. "Adonis Stevenson n'est pas une victime (Radio-Canada)". Radio-Canada. 2 December 2013.
3. "Stevenson: de l'ombre à la lumière (Le Nouvelliste (Haiti))". Le Nouvelliste (Haiti). 13 December 2013.
4. Henderson, Jr., Benny (2008-08-02). "Bonsante tells the Doghouse, I was down but not out!". Doghouse Boxing. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
5. Spencer, Dave (2008-08-01). "Miranda shocks Demers!". Fightnews.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
6. TVASports February 18, 2012 (French)
7. TVASports February 21, 2012 (French)
8. "Boxing: Canada's Stevenson overpowers Gonzalez". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
9. "Adonis Stevenson fights Don George in IBF 168 lb eliminator on August 17th". East Side Boxing. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
10. "Adonis Stevenson injures hand, Friday's fight with Don George off". Boxingnews24.com. 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
11. "Adonis Stevenson vs Don George Set For October 12". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
12. "Canada's Stevenson stops George in 12th round to win wild IBF eliminator". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). 2012-10-13.
13. "WBC gives permission for Adonis Stevenson v. Tavoris Cloud fight to go ahead". Eastsideboxing.com. 2013-07-10. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
14. Rafael, Dan. "Stevenson-Cloud deal is near — Dan Rafael Blog — ESPN". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
15. "Stevenson stops Bellew to retain WBC light heavyweight title". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). 2013-12-01. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
16. "Nielsen Ratings: 1.3 million tune into Stevenson/Kovalev twinbill on HBO during Thanksgiving Weekend.". Retrieved 5 February 2014.
17. "Adonis Stevenson outpoints Sakio Bika to retain light heavyweight crown". ESPN.
18. Boxing, Phil. "Boxer Adonis Stevenson admits criminal past after years of suspicion". The Philippine boxing Journal. philboxing.com. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
19. SI.com 2013 Fighter of the Year: Adonis Stevenson – MMA – Chris Mannix. sportsillustrated.cnn.com (2013-12-18)
20. Professional boxing record for Adonis Stevenson from BoxRec

External links

• Professional boxing record for Adonis Stevenson from BoxRec
• Adonis Stevenson on Facebook
• Adonis Stevenson on Twitter
• Adonis Stevenson on Instagram