STEVENSON'S LAST FIGHT
`Bad night' almost killed boxer
Two years later, the words come slowly to a still emotional Yvon Michel as he relives the darkest moments of his career as a boxing promoter.
“It's been two years already?” Michel said. “It was one of the saddest nights in my life. It was so terrible. It was a bad night personally and a bad night professionally.”
On Dec. 1, 2018, Adonis Stevenson lost his World Boxing Council light-heavyweight title, stopped in the 11th round of his bout against Oleksandr Gvozdyk at Quebec's Centre Vidéotron.
Stevenson fell from a 10-punch flurry, and referee Michael Griffin stopped the bout at 2:49 of the penultimate round in a fight Stevenson was winning on two of the three judges' scorecards.
Dizzy in the dressing room, Stevenson was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.
Listed in critical condition in intensive care, suffering from swelling in the brain and internal bleeding, doctors advised Michel and Stevenson's family he wouldn't survive the night.
Stevenson proved the doctors wrong and surgery was performed to relieve the swelling.
A portion of his skull had to be removed. Two days later, he was listed as stable, although placed in an induced coma while requiring a ventilator to breathe.
Following another scare the following weekend — Michel and the family were advised that if Stevenson emerged from his coma he would probably be unable to see, hear and talk — he awoke on Dec. 22. Nonetheless, he had suffered a traumatic brain injury and would probably have permanent damage, according to doctors.
Today, two years later, Stevenson lives with his mother in Laval, having recently sold his home.
Financially stable according to Michel — the 43-year-old made nine title defences over five years — Stevenson tweeted this summer he has resumed jogging. And he recently was presented with a Champion of Hope belt by the WBC.
“I'm doing very good,” Stevenson briefly told the Montreal Gazette by telephone on Monday. “I'm better. I feel better now. I'm alive, and I'm not alive for nothing.
“I remember a lot, but I won't lie and say I remember everything.
“If you ask me if I remember going to the hospital and being operated on? That I don't remember.”
But Michel's memory is vivid, and it's clear from his voice he still remains personally affected.
“I never wish something like that to happen to anyone in boxing, any promoter,” he said.
“I've known this man a long time. I felt responsible for him. I keep asking what could have been done to prevent that?” Nothing, it seems. Stevenson was ahead on two of the judges' scorecards — 9892 and 96-94 — heading into the 11th round. The third judge had the bout even. Gvozdyk was hurt from a left hand in the 10th, against the ropes, perhaps saving him from Stevenson's devastating knockout power.
Michel, normally anxious and excited during a bout, was calm and comfortable, believing Stevenson to be in control. That sentiment was shared by his longtime trainer, Javan Sugarhill Steward.
“I remember it, but don't think about it,” Steward said from Las Vegas. “It was one of the most difficult times I've had as a trainer. To have that person lost, it was a difficult situation.
“Nobody knew. Nobody could tell. Nobody saw it. It just happened. Nothing could have changed what was going to happen. Honestly, I don't think about it that much.
“He's alive, doing well. That's what's more important to me. I didn't know (Tuesday) was the anniversary. I won't call him and say `happy anniversary.' ”
Michel remembers Gvozdyk, undefeated in 15 bouts at the time with 12 KOS, came out aggressively in the 11th, probably realizing he was trailing.
It was a tactic few opponents dared, knowing opening up made them susceptible.
Early in the fight, Stevenson was on the canvas from a counter right hand to the head, but Griffin ruled it a slip. Otherwise, the champ appeared to be in no jeopardy.
“It was sudden,” Michel said. “He didn't seem exhausted. He wasn't tired. He got hit and the rest is history.”
But Stevenson didn't seem to be in jeopardy.
“It was one punch, at the right moment and right place, I guess,” the promoter said. “Adonis was in control. Obviously, I was surprised when he went down. But his head never touched the canvas.”
Indeed, Stevenson was lucid in the dressing room, more upset than anything when Michel showed him the scorecards.
Stevenson captured the 175-pound title in June 2013, requiring only 76 seconds to obliterate champ Chad Dawson.
Stevenson, incredibly, was three months shy of his 36th birthday at the time. He retired with a 29-2-1 record, including 24 KOS.
If you ask me if I remember going to the hospital and being operated on? That I don't remember.