Oleksandr Gvozdyk Knocks Out Adonis Stevenson to Win the WBC Light Heavyweight Title & Breaking News on Stevenson’s Medical Condition!
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By Joshua “City” Brewer
In a much anticipated fight for a number of reasons, lineal and WBC world light heavyweight champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson, 29-2-1, 24 KO’s, put his title on the line against the budding Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk, 16-0, 13 KO’s. The fight took place live from Quebec City.
Stevenson kept his vaunted left hand cocked like a rifle through the first round as he looked to make everyone in attendance take notice. Sevenson was able to land the left on a couple of occasion and physically moved Gvozdyk. Gvozdyk chose to move laterally as he tried to maintain a very controlled first round throwing few punches.
Stevenson landed a hard left against Gvozdyk early in the second moving the challenger before following up with a clean sleft straight. Gvozdyk, though, remained composed through the round at what seemed to be a more reserved pace than the first, effectively giving Stevenson the first two rounds.
Gvozdyk landed a hard right in the third that seemed to drop Stevenson but the referee ruled it as a slip. This seemed to momentarily light a bit of a spark in Gvozdyk. The round remained fairly tense midway through the third. The Showtime broadcast did in fact reveal that the earlier knockdown was clean but missed by the referee.
Both had their moments early in the fourth. As Gvozdyk continued to move through the remainder of the round Stevenson continued to throw the left, some landing cleaner than others. Stevenson remained game in the fifth as Gvozdyk started to land a number of shots as his pace increased.
Gvozdyk remained busy in the sixth as he peppered Stevenson with jabs and straights. Stevenson offered resistance but looked to be slowing down from what was already a slower pace. Gvozdyk was able to get of a number of varying combinations with some shots getting through. This was seemingly setting up what would be an interesting second half.
Stevenson’s corner continued to urge him to mix up his punches and not be reliant on single left hand shots. Gvozdyk was fresh with sharp combinations early in the seventh. Gvozdyk’s jab continued to set up nice hooks from both sides as Sevenson plodded forward looking to strike with his left. Stevenson dug in a few left hooks to the body through the first part of the eighth round before being caught with a solid straight right from Gvozdyk. Gvozdyk continued to find success through his lateral movement.
The ninth round saw Stevenson start with two hard lefts though Gvozdyk didn’t look phased. Gvozdyk pushed Stevenson back with a hard straight right of his own as the round continued. Stevenson found himself throwing more from the back foot as the rond closed.
Stevenson caught Gvozdyk with a monster left hand to the head in the 10th round. The only reasons Gvozdyk didn’t go down waas due to the ropes, another missed call from the referee. Sevenson continued to press landing a number of hard lefts that had Gvozdyk rattled. Gvozdyk himself was able to stun Stevenson near the end of the round with a right hand and followed with a combination of shots.
In what was to be the final round of the fight, Gvozdyk caught a gassed stevenson with a right hand that opened him up for multiple combinations. Stevenson was visibly exhausted and barely throwing shots before Gvozdyk again caught him with another right hand that stunned him and had him in an unsteady spot. Gvozdyk capitalized and dropped Stevenson with a violent combination in the corner forcing the referee to stop the fight.
Gvozdyk’s win sets up a litany of opportunities for unification at 175. The newly crowned champion possesses an elite level skill-set that should prove to be problems for anyone at 175 and has ultimately thrown his name in the claim as the best of the division.
On an even serious note as widely reported, Adonis Stevenson would later be admitted to a hospital in Quebec City hospital following his devastating knockout loss to Gvozdyk. Stevenson, 41, had t to be carried out on a stretcher and was put into a medically induced coma to stop swelling as his condition continued to deteriorate following the knockout. At the time of this article, Stevenson has now been downgraded to stable as he continues to recover.
This speaks volumes about the need for sanctioning bodies to take an even closer look at fighters and their condition as they enter fights. We are now in an age where boxers are hanging around a lot longer and fighting into their mid to late 40s. In the early days of boxing fighters often retired early in their 30s as the sport has essentially always been a young man’s game. Some fighters aren’t willing to stop fighting for themselves. It’s now up to the commissions to put their feet down and do what’s right for the fighter long term. But, of course, when there’s money involved strings are cut and loopholes are exposed.
And with that we look forward to the what 2019 offers.
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