Adonis Stevenson: "Fight Against Jack Should Shut The Critics Up!"

[Ruthless-RKO]

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WBC heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson has been heavily criticized in recent years for his selection of opponents.

The criticism began to mount for more recent opponents like Dmitry Sukhotskiy, Sakio Bika, and Tommy Karpency

"I hope that this will make everybody shut their mouth. I accepted his challenge. Everybody knows Badou Jack is a good boxer. This is a big, big fight. I think this is one of the biggest fights of the year. I am not the only guy who decides if I am going to fight and who I am going to fight you know. Now it is Badou Jack. It is no problem. So now I expect all the people to stop trash talking and hating. Everybody sees I am fighting Bad Jack and this is a big fight at 175,"

"This is the best fight on the schedule. I don't think people expected that and when Showtime announced it people were very surprised. This is the fight that the fans want. I am always giving the fans what they want but like I said I am not the one who decides that. It was easy to make the fight happen because Badou Jack is with Floyd Mayweather and I am with Al Haymon so the fight is very easy to negotiate," Stevenson explained.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I believe the fight won't shut critics up. A WIN will!

[Enlightened-One]

I can understand the reason why many harshly criticise the calibre of opposition that Adonis Stevenson has faced whilst defending his WBC 175lbs title during four years, but the situation wasn’t entirely of his own making, but the vast majority of fight fans either refuse to acknowledge or bother to research the facts that have led to his inability to face the best his division had to offer…

Should Adonis Stevenson be held accountable for his inability to perform mandatory defences of his WBC world title if the likes of Jean Pascal, Sergey Kovalev, Marcus Browne, Sullivan Barrera, Andrzej Fonfara and Eleider Alvarez all refused to exploit opportunities that could have led them to challenge for his belt?

For instance: Main Events withdrew Sullivan Barrera and Sergey Kovalev from purse bids that were ordered by the WBC. Are Kathy Duva’s guys completely blameless and exempt from receiving criticism, which means that those situations were purely Adonis' or the WBC's fault?

Here’s a summary of the key events that have enabled Adonis Stevenson to continually face merely moderate calibre opposition:

• Jean Pascal and Sergey Kovalev both withdrew from their mandatory challenger position, so they rejected a guaranteed opportunity face Adonis Stevenson.

• Marcus Browne, Sullivan Barrera, Andrzej Fonfara and Eleider Alvarez have all withdrawn from final eliminators.

• Eleider Alvarez defeated Jean Pascal, Isaac Chilemba and Lucian Bute in final eliminators, rejected an opportunity to engage in a fourth so-called "final eliminator" and also agreed to step-aside twice.

I’m not suggesting for one second that Stevenson deserves our praise and nor am I attempting to persuade you into liking or respecting him, but I do feel compelled to remind you of the important facts, which relate to the likes of Jean Pascal, Sergey Kovalev, Marcus Browne, Sullivan Barrera, Andrzej Fonfara and Eleider Alvarez having all previously declined opportunities that could have led to them challenging for Adonis’ WBC world title!

[Ruthless-RKO]

EO, you know don't need to always explain. Maybe for others. But you've explained it many times. I agree with you. Some fights weren't made that could have and was't Adonis' fault.

Save yourself some time mate.

[Enlightened-One]

EO, you know don't need to always explain. Maybe for others. But you've explained it many times. I agree with you. Some fights weren't made that could have and was't Adonis' fault.

Save yourself some time mate.

My comments weren't targeted at you personally, since you clearly know your stuff.

It was merely a pre-emptive attempt on my part to educate those that choose to lazily ride bandwagons of misconceptions - passionately hating without attempting to understand the objective truths of the situation.

So apologies if my post appeared to be condescending in nature, but my remarks weren’t aimed at you.

By the way, most of what I've written was copied and pasted from a previous post I'd submitted on a separate thread, since the same sort of topics keep getting discussed repeatedly over-and-over again.

[jamamb]

if he loses the ppl who rushed to crtcze him will somehow act as if that proves he deserved all that hate all along. even though the outcome of ths and other fghts not happenng arent really connected.

and watch if adonis wins badou wll just get called a blown up smw. meanwhle ppl wll cream themselves to sergey beating up a soft punching ebu title level opponent

[Ruthless-RKO]

if he loses the ppl who rushed to crtcze him will somehow act as if that proves he deserved all that hate all along. even though the outcome of ths and other fghts not happenng arent really connected.

and watch if adonis wins badou wll just get called a blown up smw. meanwhle ppl wll cream themselves to sergey beating up a soft punching ebu title level opponent

Will this fight even help Jack? If he loses, like you said, blown up LHW, but so was Stevenson at one point.. and if Jack wins, Adonis was passed it or never really that good?

[Ruthless-RKO]

My comments weren't targeted at you personally, since you clearly know your stuff.

It was merely a pre-emptive attempt on my part to educate those that choose to lazily ride bandwagons of misconceptions - passionately hating without attempting to understand the objective truths of the situation.

So apologies if my post appeared to be condescending in nature, but my remarks weren’t aimed at you.

By the way, most of what I've written was copied and pasted from a previous post I'd submitted on a separate thread, since the same sort of topics keep getting discussed repeatedly over-and-over again.

It's okay. I know it was copied and I know it was aimed at others. Good you posted it at the top.

[jamamb]

adons at least had a number of good lhw wns and has been there for years. badou just got there though and doesnt have the same 175 rep. probably easer of the 2 to write off after the fact as a smw imo.

[Heretic]

So I am to understand that ducking your mandatory by paying step aside money is not ducking but the mandatory's fault for taking that money

This is nice step up on the quality of opponents for Adonis. I would still not call this one of the biggest fights of this year. This one is just normal defense of paper title against decent opponent. Something that Adonis should do at least twice every year

[Deleted_Scenes]

I don't know if I'd blame Stevenson totally, but I definitely think Haymon/GYM have been very sneaky in using Alvarez as a blocker for the mandatory position. I don't think there was ever any chance of that fight happening, even if Alvarez wanted it. I think he was basically told to sit in the number 1 spot, keep accepting the payouts, and in return he'd get to pick up a vacant belt after Adonis retired. No chance was he ever getting to fight Adonis.

The Kovalev situation is difficult. I'm probably in the minority in believing both fighters wanted it to happen. Too many others behind the scenes wanting everything on their terms though. Then I believe Haymon pulled the plug completely by using Kovalev's HBO contract against him. I definitely read somewhere at the time that Duva wanted to run down the contract (almost expired anyway), do the Stevenson fight as a free agent, then re-sign with HBO afterwards. Haymon wasn't waiting - they were still free to negotiate freely, but he petitioned the WBC (allegedly) to order purse bids for the fight to happen before the end of Kovalev's HBO contract, knowing full well Kovalev would have a choice of withdrawal or risk being in breach of contract.

If that is true, then Haymon ducked on behalf of Stevenson, but made it look like it was Kovalev's fault to outsiders.

Stevenson himself sounds pretty pissed off with Haymon these days. Back when he beat Dawson etc, it was all "thanks uncle Al", now it's "stop blaming me for crappy fights because I'm just a puppet with Haymon's hand up my ass". He's not outright saying he's unhappy with Haymon (he'll get shelved completely if he does), but the contempt is very obvious.

As far as how the fans see him, it would help if he fought more than once a year... But yeah, Al decides, and he doesn't have enough dates anymore...

[Ruthless-RKO]

So I am to understand that ducking your mandatory by paying step aside money is not ducking but the mandatory's fault for taking that money

This is nice step up on the quality of opponents for Adonis. I would still not call this one of the biggest fights of this year. This one is just normal defense of paper title against decent opponent. Something that Adonis should do at least twice every year

It's not a paper belt though and Jack is more than a decent paper. On paper, his best opponent since Fonfara 1 possibly. The only way you can call him decent is, his only other LHW fight was against Cleverly.

[Deleted_Scenes]

It's his best opponent since Bellew. I think Jack wins though. Not because I think Stevenson was always overrated - I don't - just because I think the weak opposition has masked the fact that Adonis is pretty old now.

It will still be a good win for Jack, but I don't expect to see anywhere near the same fighter that blasted through Dawson and Bellew. Jack probably has an easier night's work ahead, than he had against Groves or DeGale.

Right now, I'd pick any of Kovalev, Beterbiev, Gvozdyk, Bivol, Barrera or Jack over Stevenson. Memories of 2013 are creating an illusion in our minds.

[gilgamesh]

Even if Adonis Stevenson beats Badou Jack he still ducked Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward, and Beterbiev and is still one of the most cowardly Champions going in the sport today.

It'd be his best win though. So at least it's SOMETHING.

[jewboypgh]

this guys a coward. He wont fight any russians like kovalev.

[Enlightened-One]

The Kovalev situation is difficult. I'm probably in the minority in believing both fighters wanted it to happen. Too many others behind the scenes wanting everything on their terms though. Then I believe Haymon pulled the plug completely by using Kovalev's HBO contract against him. I definitely read somewhere at the time that Duva wanted to run down the contract (almost expired anyway), do the Stevenson fight as a free agent, then re-sign with HBO afterwards. Haymon wasn't waiting - they were still free to negotiate freely, but he petitioned the WBC (allegedly) to order purse bids for the fight to happen before the end of Kovalev's HBO contract, knowing full well Kovalev would have a choice of withdrawal or risk being in breach of contract.

If that is true, then Haymon ducked on behalf of Stevenson, but made it look like it was Kovalev's fault to outsiders.

You’re wrong about Kovalev’s contract with HBO. He was a free agent when Kathy Duva lobbied the WBC to instate Sergey as their mandatory challenger for Adonis Stevenson’s title (since his contract with HBO expired after the first bout against Jean Pascal).

Sergey's fight against Nadjib Mohammedi wasn't even going to be covered by HBO, due to Kovalev's contract expiring.

When the WBC ordered purse bids for a potential Stevenson-Kovalev fight, Kathy Duva had already started negotiating Sergey’s contract renewal with HBO and even asked the WBC to extend the purse bid deadline, since I guess she wanted to keep all avenues open to her for as long as possible until the contract was finally renewed.

Shortly after withdrawing Kovalev from the WBC’s purse bid process, Duva announced that Sergey had signed a contract renewal with HBO. The timing of this was no mere coincidence.

I think the Main Events boss was simply playing political games, by threatening to offer Showtime the opportunity to stage a PPV super-fight between her man, Kovalev, and Adonis Stevenson, if HBO didn’t agree to renew Sergey’s exclusive contract with them.

Kathy Duva clearly had no intention of making a bout between Stevenson and Kovalev. It was just a ploy to get Sergey’s contract renewed with HBO... and GYM, Haymon and the entire boxing media knew this also.

[boxing_rocks]

This is the first good opponent of Stevenson in the last 4+ years. If he is not a ducker, then how you call it?

[KiwiRider]

This is the first good opponent of Stevenson in the last 4+ years. If he is not a ducker, then how you call it?

I tend to agree. 4 years is a long time. Sure there have been complications in getting some opponents signed, but as we have seen, these things can be overcome if the will is there.
TV deals can be compromised, everything is negotiable.
4 years of underwhelming opponents dosent cut it.

[caldo2025]

I've been one of those critics of Adonis and his flimsy reign as the "lineal" champion of the division even though that moniker doesn't hold water any longer due to the lack of quality title defenses. But i'll definitely agree with him. No one can complain about this fight and a win over Jack would be the finest win of his career. When you have one punch power, anything can happen so we'll see if Jack can avoid it and put on a clinic like i think he will. I think Jack is underrated due to that surprise KO loss. Since then, he's showed so much skill and heart that i'm now a fan.