Adonis Stevenson Knocks Out Thomas Williams, JR But Runs from Sergey Kovalev!

By Dave “Madcap” Mroczek

Lineal and WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson defended his crown once again, this time in a rousing fight. It has been over two years since fans have been able to see Stevenson in any meaningful action. After having a scare versus Andrzej Fonfara it seemed Stevenson was un willing to take on any challengers capable of giving him any trouble.

Thomas “Top Dog” Williams, JR. fit the mold of one of these less than thrilling defenses on paper. He’s a younger, unproven fighter who earned his shot by winning a crude all out brawl against Edwin Rodriguez, which was a bit of an upset in itself. The thing that made this fight a little bit better than some of Stevenson’s previous fights is that Williams, JR. carries dangerous power, unlike previous challengers Sakio Bika, Dmitry Sukhotsky, and Tommy Karpency, and is there to throw bombs.

In the first round of the fight the men poked at each other cautiously, sizing each other up. As the round moved along both men tagged one another with one or two stiffer shots, but nothing of consequence. Towards the end of the round Stevenson found the mark with a straight left hand, his big punch, to the back of Williams Jr.’s head. The punch sent him to the canvas, and a little discombobulated but unhurt, Williams Jr. waited out the count and rose gamely.

In the second frame, Williams, JR. came back into focus. He was able to land some of his power hooks and uppercuts and was throwing them at will, as he had in the Edwin Rodriguez fight. Stevenson was still getting his work in, but Williams Jr. had now warmed up and was able to handle the punishing shots of the champion. “Top Dog” began to sit down and counter the champion and even managed to stagger him slightly a couple times. It has been many years since fans have seen Stevenson in a live fight, and…..gasp!…..seen his head snapped back by a hard punch. Williams, JR. danced and showboated to the crowd to end round two.

Adonis Stevenson, to his credit, took the shots very well, and showed that not only can he box on the outside as fans have grown accustomed to seeing, but he can also fight on the inside with a tough opponent. Many fans and pundits questioned his chin, but on this night he took some heavy shots rather comfortably. Round three was packed full of back and forth action, as both men traded heavy leather in order to stake their claim for the lineal light heavyweight crown.

Round four opened with Stevenson landing a low blow on Williams, JR. After a short rest action resumed. Thomas was now the one being staggered in this round as he appeared hurt from a punch at one point, and reeled backwards from a headbutt at another. Then with Williams, JR.’s back against the ropes, WHAM! Stevenson landed a punishing short left hook directly on the chin which dropped the “Top Dog” heavily. He tried to rise but his faculties were not about him and the referee called a stop to the contest.

While it was a short fight it was action packed from bell to bell. Where can these men go from here? Adonis Stevenson will likely look to the winner of November’s Sergey Kovalev Vs Andre Ward mega fight for yet another mega fight. Weather such a fight can be made remains to be seen. Many fans have given up hope on the much talked about Stevenson Vs Kovalev bout, but perhaps this performance breathes new life into that fire. It appeared that Stevenson was getting on the old side and was content to fight underwhelming challengers for eternity. A gritty performance like this against a tough customer like Williams, JR. changes that outlook. Adonis Stevenson looked fresh and quick on his feet, and showed some of that good right hook that had disappeared some three or four years ago.

Thomas “Top Dog” Williams, JR. is a man who is game as hell, and came into this fight looking to win the light heavyweight championship of the world. While he came up short he certainly gave a good account of himself. There is no shame in losing when you give everything you have. He committed to trying to win this prizefight, and if it meant getting KOed then he was going to make sure that he went down throwing bombs. Williams, JR. is an interesting brawler who can feature in some more big fights. He has little outside game, but has some nice looping shots to throw on the inside.

The light heavyweight division seemed to be lulled asleep since the last attempt to make Kovalev Vs Stevenson failed. In the interim, new developments have quietly made this into one of the better divisions on the go in boxing right now. With names like Kovalev, Ward and Stevenson, and with the emergence of new, younger, and exciting fighters like Thomas Williams, JR., Joe Smith, JR., Artur Beterbiev, Eleider Alvarez, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, Marcus Browne, and some others, this could be quietly one of the deepest and most exciting divisions to watch in the coming years.

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