NO MATCH FOR HIS LEFT FIST
Stevenson easily beats Fonfara
Adonis Stevenson entered the room, somewhat symbolically, with a crown atop his head after putting in a good three minutes and 28 seconds of work on this night.
For the eighth time since June 2013, he had sufficient cause to believe he was the king of the light-heavyweight division. And he had reason to puff out his chest after crowning Andrzej Fonfara, stopping him after only 28 seconds of the second round of their rematch Saturday before 6,183 Bell Centre spectators.
“I said I was looking for a knockout as quickly as possible,” said the southpaw from Blainville, who improved to 29-1 with 24 knockouts. “I said I was going to win by knockout. The sooner I catch him, I’m going to knock him out.”
Stevenson was fighting for the first time in 11 months since requiring four rounds to stop Thomas Williams. But it mattered little. This was total destruction and annihilation.
Stevenson could have entered the ring with his right hand tied behind his back, so dominant was he with his left mitt. He countered with an overhand left counter-punch in the opening round, then followed with another left, dropping Fonfara to the canvas.
Although the Polish native, now fighting out of Chicago, rose quickly, it was clear the damage was done. As the round concluded, Stevenson continued his onslaught, pummelling Fonfara (29-5) in a neutral corner, the bell finally saving the vanquished opponent.
The second round began with Stevenson landing two overhand lefts. Then he continued throwing the same punch, over and over and over again. Fonfara had no answer, or defence; his head was a sitting target, going back and forth. Mercifully, his new trainer, Virgil Hunter, told referee Michael Griffin enough was enough. Stevenson barely had enough time to work up a sweat.
“I have a family, (Hunter) knows that. He wants to protect me,” Fonfara told Showtime, which televised the bout in the U.S., inside the ring. “Stevenson is a great fighter. He has a hard left hand and he could have hurt me more. This rematch didn’t go like I want. He won the fight, that’s all.”
Stevenson and Fonfara originally met in May 2014 and, although Stevenson won a unanimous 12-round decision, he was stretched to the limit for one of the rare occasions. Stevenson knocked Fonfara down in the third and fifth rounds, but he survived and began to gain confidence. Fonfara even knocked Stevenson down in the ninth.
Stevenson would later claim he had a sore left hand and took Fonfara lightly. But he also had something to prove, Fonfara and Sakio Bika the only two to have taken Stevenson the distance since requiring only 76 seconds to capture the 175-pound title against Chad Dawson.
“This is somebody he wanted to fight again because he didn’t get the knockout. This is the man that stopped his knockout streak,” said Stevenson’s Detroitbased trainer, Javan Hill. “It’s something inside of him. The same way he wanted to fight Darnell Boone before Dawson. It was a personal goal to knock everybody out. When you knock everybody out, you don’t have to worry about the decision.
“I didn’t even see the first knock-down, it was so fast. I did see the replay,” Hill said. “He caught Fonfara a little off-balance, leaning forward. Andrzej always fights like that. Adonis executed the perfect left hand. Everybody knows he has a devastating left hand. He throws it from so many different angles. That’s his weapon of choice. Nobody has stopped it yet.”
As expected, Stevenson said he would now like to unify the titles in the light-heavyweight division, meeting the winner of the June 17 rematch between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev. Although Stevenson has always talked a good game, claiming there’s nobody he’s unwilling to fight, he has been criticized for avoiding the division’s biggest names. There was even a smattering of boos as he entered the ring, the crowd no doubt letting Stevenson know how it felt about his title reign.
As expected, Stevenson said he would meet whomever his manager, Al Haymon, determined was next. And since Haymon is linked to Showtime, while Ward and Kovalev are part of the HBO stable, the dream matchup is unlikely to occur. Again.
“He’s the most feared man at 175, for real. He has that one punch that can hurt you, for real,” said Sam Watson, an associate of Haymon’s. “I don’t care about anybody dancing around. Knock them down, knock them out. You got to beat them up bad. That’s what he does.”
Watson was so effusive with his hot air, it’s a wonder he was able to stay grounded in his seat.
“At 175, Adonis Stevenson is the most feared man in boxing. Who really wants to fight him?” he said. “They can talk, talk, talk, but who really wants to get hit? He has done everything he’s supposed to do. He has defeated everybody. We know he’s the most feared man. Hopefully, one of these days, all those other guys you’re talking about, they’ll get a shot. He’s ready to fight anybody. He’s not ducking nobody. They ducked him.”
Next up for Stevenson, most likely, is mandatory challenger Eleider Alvarez, who held up his end of the bargain by scoring a majority 12-round decision against former world champ Jean Pascal in the co-feature.
Alvarez has been ranked first since November 2015, and improved to 23-0 (11 KOs), but has been unable to get the elusive Stevenson into the ring. Alvarez clearly is growing frustrated.
“I want that fight now,” he said. “I think I’ve earned it.”