Adonis Stevenson
Stevenson Adonis, best known as Adonis Stevenson, is a Haitian-Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2018. He won the WBC, Ring magazine and lineal light heavyweight titles in 2013 by defeating Chad Dawson by first-round knockout, which earned him awards for Fighter of the Year and Knockout of the Year by The Ring.
Known for his fast hand speed and exceptional knockout power, Stevenson was considered one of boxing's hardest punchers during his prime. For more than five years, he made ten successful defenses of the WBC and lineal titles until sustaining a life-threatening brain injury in his 2018 fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
Early life
Stevenson's known name is an inversion of his family name and given name. Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Stevenson moved to Montreal, Quebec with his family when he was seven. By 14 years old, he was living on the streets and soon fell into a violent gang which drew him into a criminal lifestyle. In his early twenties, after a criminal trial in 1998 in Quebec, Stevenson served 18 months of a four-year prison sentence for managing prostitutes, assault, and issuing threats. While in prison, he also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after putting a fellow inmate into a coma. After leaving prison in 2001, Stevenson vowed he would never return.Amateur career
Stevenson became the Quebec middleweight champion in 2004, and was named best amateur fighter in Canada in 2005 and again in 2006. Stevenson won the Canadian national title in 2005 and 2006. Stevenson competed in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, and won the silver medal, losing to local Australian Jarrod Fletcher in the final. It was also the only medal won by a Canadian boxer at the Commonwealth Games.Professional career
Super-middleweight
Early career
A 29-year-old Stevenson turned professional in September 2006. His opponent was Mike Funk, another boxer making his debut, at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Stevenson knocked Funk out with a hook in twenty-two seconds.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. He also won a fifth-round TKO decision against Jermain Mackey on September 25, 2009.
Stevenson vs. Boone
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 waved the fight off as he deemed Stevenson unable to continue.Return to title contention
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 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 Jesús González on February 18, 2012. 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.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, but Stevenson later injured his hand cancelling the fight. The fight was then rescheduled to October 12. 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.
Light-heavyweight
Stevenson vs. Boone II
On February 4, 2013, it was announced that Stevenson would get the chance to avenge his only loss as a professional against Darnell Boone with the fight taking place on March 22 at the Bell Centre. With this fight, Stevenson was risking his IBF mandatory status. Stevenson avenged his only loss, knocking out Darnell Boone with a pair of lefts in the sixth round on March 22, 2013, at the Bell Centre. Stevenson, 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.Stevenson vs. Dawson
Stevenson moved up to light heavyweight to challenge Lineal/WBC/The Ring champion Chad Dawson on June 8, 2013, at the Bell Centre. In the press conferences leading up to the fight, Dawson called the fight a tune-up, also claiming that he had to Google Stevenson because he had never heard of him. Stevenson hit Dawson with a left hook that dropped him very early in the first round of the fight, and though 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. At 174 1/4 lbs., Stevenson was fighting at the heaviest weight of his professional career to date. In the post-fight, Stevenson told HBO's Max Kellerman, "I caught him, and that's a beautiful punch." Dawson admitted, "It was a punch I didn't see. He caught me. That's it. He caught me with a good punch." Dawson suffered his second consecutive stoppage loss. In the 76 seconds the fight lasted, Dawson landed 2 of 16 punches thrown and Stevenson landed 3 of his 15 thrown. Stevenson stated the reason he moved up was due to not being able to secure a world title fight at super middleweight, accusing Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler of ducking him and fighting each other instead in a rematch. The knockout was voted as Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year for 2013.Stevenson vs. Cloud, Bellew
The WBC originally ordered Stevenson to face mandatory challenger Tony Bellew, but was 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.The fight against former IBF champion Tavoris Cloud was confirmed on August 12, 2013, to take place on September 28 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, on HBO. Cloud was entering the fight coming off his first career loss, which came in March 2013 against Bernard Hopkins. Stevenson dominated the proceedings, flustering Cloud with quick hands and shocking power. The fight ended when Cloud failed to answer the bell for the start of the eighth round. Round 7 saw Cloud hurt many times and a cut appearing on his right eye. He was also cut on the left eyelid in the opening round.
Terms were agreed for the fight on July 25, 2013. On November 30, Stevenson defended his light heavyweight title against Tony Bellew at the Colisée Pepsi. Stevenson became the first boxer to stop Bellew winning the fight via TKO. In round 6, Stevenson put Bellew down with a left hand, he beat the count and the referee let the fight go on. Bellew was then knocked out standing by another pair of left hands before the referee could get in and put a stop to the bout. At the time of stoppage, Stevenson was ahead on the scorecards 50–45, 49–46, and 50–45. Bellew contemplated moving up to cruiserweight after the loss. According to Nielsen Media Research firm, the fight attracted an average of 1.3 million viewers on the HBO network, making it the 5th most watched bout of 2013.
Stevenson vs. Fonfara, Sukhotsky
In January 2014, 26 year old Andrzej Fonfara notified the IBF, who had ordered him to fight Dmitry Sukhotsky in a final eliminator, that he would pass on the opportunity because he had agreed a deal to fight lineal/WBC/The Ring champion Stevenson. IBF would instead order Sukhotsky to fight their #3 ranked Cedric Agnew. In February, Stevenson signed a deal with boxing adviser Al Haymon.The fight was scheduled for May 24 on HBO, until HBO cancelled the date from their boxing schedule. On March 25, Michel confirmed the fight would take place on Showtime instead. 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. The two fighters exchanged punches in a good-action final round and the crowd gave the fight a standing ovation. Stevenson won the fight as the judges scored it 116–109, 115–110, and 115–110. CompuBox Stats showed over the 12 rounds, Stevenson landed 329 of 790 punches thrown and Fonfara landed 217 of his 613 thrown. In the post-fight interview, Stevenson claimed he hurt his left hand in the second round. He added that he was willing to fight Bernard Hopkins or Sergey Kovalev next, but would leave the decision to his manager, Al Haymon. Kovalev's promoter stated that this fight may never happen. That the window has now closed, alleging that Stevenson's age is a contributing factor. The fight, which marked Stevenson's Showtime debut, averaged 672,000 viewers and peaked at 800,000 viewers.In October 2014, promoter Yvon Michel of GYM announced that Stevenson would next defend his belts against Russian contender Dmitry Sukhotsky in Quebec City, Quebec, at the Colisée Pepsi on December 19, 2014, on Showtime. Sukhotsky was on a four-fight win streak at the time. Michel explained Sukhotsky was selected as Stevenson's opponent because there would not have been enough time to get together and promote a fight with Jean Pascal. He stated the Pascal fight would likely take place in the Spring of 2015. This was his fourth defense of his titles. Stevenson retained his belts via a fifth round stoppage following a one punch knockout. Stevenson was in control from the opening bell, throwing minimal punches as the crowd started to boo. In round 2, he managed to floor Sukhotsky with a left hand. According to CompuBox Stats, Stevenson landed 80 of 272 punches thrown and Sukhotsky landed only 23 oh his 136 thrown.