Adonis Stevenson is a legendary Haitian-Canadian professional boxer. He competed between 2006 and 2018. Adonis Stevenson is considered to be one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. He was known for his blazing hand speed and raw knockout power. He successfully defended his WBC and Lineal Titles nine straight times. He had to stop boxing when he suffered a life threatening brain injury in a fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

Adonis Stevenson: All You Need to Know

When was Adonis Stevenson born?

Adonis Stevenson was born as Stevenson Adonis on September 22nd 1977 in Port-au Prince, Haiti. His family moved to Montréal, Canada when Stevenson was seven years old. Adonis Stevenson and Jean Pascal are two of the most famous boxers from Quebec. Growing up in a rough neighbourhood, Stevenson soon turned to a life of crime.

When did Adonis Stevenson go to prison?

In his early twenties, after a criminal trial in 1998 in Quebec, Stevenson served 18 months of a four-year prison sentence for managing prostitutes, assault, and issuing threats. While in prison, he also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after putting a fellow inmate into a coma. After leaving prison in 2001, Stevenson vowed he would never return.

When did Adonis Stevenson turn pro?

Adonis Stevenson started amateur boxing soon after leaving prison. He won the title of the best amateur fighter in Canada in 2005 and 2006. He won a silver medal for Canada during the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. Adonis Stevenson announced his decision to turn pro in September 2006. His opponent was Mike Funk, another boxer making his debut, at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Stevenson knocked Funk out with a hook in twenty-two seconds.

What style of boxer is Adonis Stevenson?

Adonis Stevenson fights in the southpaw style.

Which weight class did Adonis Stevenson compete in?

Adonis Stevenson competed in the super middleweight (160-168 pounds/73-76 kgs) and light heavyweight (168-175 pounds/76-79 kgs) classes.

What happened to Adonis Stevenson?

Oleksandr Gvozdyk defeated Adonis Stevenson via TKO in round 11 during Stevenson’s unsuccessful defence of his WBC and Lineal titles. The morning after the fight, it was reported that Stevenson was in critical condition in intensive care. The following Monday, his condition was changed to stable from critical and was placed in an induced coma. On December 20, despite a Russian tabloid reporting Stevenson had woken up and was seen speaking to family and friends, his promoter Yvon Michel stated he was still unconscious and his health had not improved since being sedated by doctors. He also required ‘mechanical assistance’ to breathe. On December 22, according to his girlfriend Simone God, Stevenson had woken up. As of February 18, 2019, Stevenson moved to a medical facility in Montreal, Canada, to continue receiving treatment related to his recovery. According to ESPN Deportes, Stevenson is talking and moving, becoming more mobile every day, and is well on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, it’s an injury suffered in a sport which requires you to punch people in their face, so personal injury lawyers won’t be of much use.

Adonis Stevenson: Career Highlights

Stevenson won the North American title NABA on April 8, 2011 at the expense of Derek Edwards by KO in the third round. He then won by referee stoppage in the first round against Dion Savage (Shujaa El-Amin) on September 17, 2011, and retained his title against Aaron Pryor Jr on December 10, 2011 by referee stoppage in the ninth round. Stevenson jumped from 15th to 2nd position for the IBF title, winning by KO in the first round duel against Jesús González on February 18, 2012. He then fought Noe Gonzalez on April 20, 2012 and won the fight at 1:40 in the second round when the referee stopped the fight.

His next fight originally set to be against Don George with the winner getting a shot at the IBF champion. The fight was billed as the co-main event along with the fight between Jean Pascal and Tavoris Cloud. However, the entire event was cancelled as a result of the injury suffered by Pascal. The Stevenson fight was then moved up to August 17, 2012 and was set to be part of ESPN Friday Night Fights, but Stevenson later injured his hand cancelling the fight. The fight was then rescheduled to October 12. In the fight Stevenson knocked George down twice in the fifth and once in the sixth round before winning the fight with a 12th-round TKO after knocking him down twice more.

Stevenson vs. Boone II

On February 4, 2013 it was announced that Stevenson would get the chance to avenge his only loss as a professional against Darnell Boone (19-20-3, 8KOs) with the fight taking place on March 22 at the Bell Centre. With this fight, Stevenson was risking his IBF mandatory status. Stevenson avenged his only loss, knocking out Darnell Boone with a pair of lefts in the sixth round in March 22, 2013 at the Bell Centre. Stevenson, fighting at 171.9 pounds, forced Boone to take a knee with a right hook to the body early in the sixth, then stunned him coming out of a corner with a left uppercut, followed with a straight left that sent Boone on the canvas.

Stevenson vs. Dawson

Stevenson moved up to light heavyweight to challenge Lineal/WBC/The Ring champion Chad Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs) on June 8, 2013 at the Bell Centre. In the press conferences leading up to the fight, Dawson called the fight a tune-up, also claiming that he had to Google Stevenson because he had never heard of him. Stevenson hit Dawson with a left hook that dropped him very early in the first round of the fight. The referee awarded Stevenson an unexpected knockout victory by stopping the fight even when Dawson was back on his feet before the count of eight. Stevenson’s victory was his eighth straight since his only career defeat, all coming by knockout. At 174 1/4 lbs., Stevenson was fighting at the heaviest weight of his professional career to date. In the post-fight, Stevenson told HBO’s Max Kellerman, “I caught him, and that’s a beautiful punch. It was a punch I didn’t see. He caught me. That’s it. He caught me with a good punch.” Dawson suffered his second consecutive stoppage loss. In the 76 seconds the fight lasted, Dawson landed 2 of 16 punches thrown and Stevenson landed 3 of his 15 thrown. Stevenson stated the reason he moved up was due to not being able to secure a world title fight at super middleweight, accusing Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler of ducking him and fighting each other instead in a rematch. The knockout was voted as Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year for 2013.

Stevenson vs. Cloud, Bellew

The initial WBC instruction to Stevenson was to face Tony Bellew. However, Stevenson was allowed to defend against Tavoris Cloud. The winner of that fight was slated to face Bellew. 

The fight against former IBF champion Tavoris Cloud (24-1, 19 KOs) was confirmed on August 12, 2013 to take place on September 28 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec on HBO. Cloud was entering the fight coming off his first career loss, which came in March 2013 against Bernard Hopkins. Stevenson dominated the proceedings, flustering Cloud with quick hands and shocking power. The fight ended when Cloud failed to answer the bell for the start of the eighth round. Round 7 saw Cloud hurt many times and a cut appearing on his right eye. He was also cut on the left eyelid in the opening round.

Terms were agreed for the fight on July 25, 2013. On November 30, Stevenson defended his light heavyweight title against Tony Bellew (20-1-1, 12 KOs) at the Colisée Pepsi. On the way, Stevenson earned the honour of becoming the first boxer to stop Bellew winning the fight via TKO. Stevenson managed to knock Bellew down with a hard left but Bellew managed to get back up before the count. Bellew was then knocked out standing by another pair of left hands before the referee could get in and put a stop to the bout. At the time of stoppage, Stevenson was ahead on the scorecards 50–45, 49–46, and 50–45. Bellew contemplated moving up to cruiserweight after the loss. According to Nielsen Media Research firm, the fight attracted an average of 1.3 million viewers on the HBO network, making it the 5th most watched bout of 2013.

Stevenson vs. Fonfara, Sukhotsky

In January 2014, 26 year old Andrzej Fonfara (25-2, 15 KOs) notified the IBF, who had ordered him to fight Dmitry Sukhotsky in a final eliminator, that he would pass on the opportunity because he had agreed a deal to fight lineal/WBC/The Ring champion Stevenson. In February, Stevenson signed a deal with boxing adviser Al Haymon.The fight was scheduled for May 24 on HBO, until HBO cancelled the date from their boxing schedule. On March 25, Michel confirmed the fight would take place on Showtime instead. Stevenson started off very well, dropping his opponent twice with sharp lefts and appeared close to stopping his opponent. Fonfara however, recovered very well, even dropping Stevenson in the ninth round. Stevenson similarly recovered quickly. The two fighters exchanged punches in a good-action final round and the crowd gave the fight a standing ovation. Stevenson won the fight as the judges scored it 116–109, 115–110, and 115–110. CompuBox Stats showed over the 12 rounds, Stevenson landed 329 of 790 punches thrown (42%) and Fonfara landed 217 of his 613 thrown (35%). In the post-fight interview, Stevenson claimed he hurt his left hand in the second round. He added that he was willing to fight Bernard Hopkins or Sergey Kovalev next, but would leave the decision to his manager, Al Haymon. Kovalev’s promoter stated that this fight may never happen. That the window has now closed, alleging that Stevenson’s age is a contributing factor. The fight, which marked Stevenson’s Showtime debut, averaged 672,000 viewers and peaked at 800,000 viewers.

In October 2014, promoter Yvon Michel of GYM announced that Stevenson would next defend his belts against Russian contender Dmitry Sukhotsky (22-2, 16 KOs) in Quebec City, Quebec at the Colisée Pepsi on December 19, 2014 on Showtime. Sukhotsky was on a four-fight win streak at the time. Michel explained Sukhotsky was selected as Stevenson’s opponent because there would not have been enough time to get together and promote a fight with Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs). He stated the Pascal fight would likely take place in the Spring of 2015. This was his fourth defense of his titles. Stevenson retained his belts via a fifth round stoppage following a one punch knockout. Stevenson was in control from the opening bell, throwing minimal punches as the crowd started to boo. In round 2, he managed to floor Sukhotsky with a hard left hand. According to CompuBox Stats, Stevenson landed 80 of 272 punches thrown (29%) and Sukhotsky landed only 23 of his 136.

Stevenson vs. Bika, Karpency

On February 28, 2015 Premier Boxing Champions announced that Stevenson would defend his titles against 35 year old former WBC super middleweight champion Sakio Bika (32-6-3, 21 KOs) on April 4 at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City. It was the first fight to headline PBC on CBS. Stevenson dropped Bika in rounds 6 and 9 en route to winning the fight on the scorecards after 12 rounds, retaining his world titles. The judges scored the fight 115–110, 116–110, and 115–110. Bika failed to make an adjustment and get in much offence of his own. In round 5, Stevenson landed a left which dropped Bika, but referee Michael Griffin ruled it a slip. Bika however appeared hurt. In the post-fight interview, Stevenson said, “I knew he is a tough guy, so I prepared for 12 rounds and I put on a good show. He’s never been knocked out, but I dropped him.” Stevenson admitted he felt Bika’s power and was able to withstand anything that came his way.

On July 27, 2015 Premier Boxing Champions announced that Stevenson would headline a card on Spike TV on September 11 against WBC #9 ranked Tommy Karpency (25-4-1, 14 KOs) at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. Karpency was billed merely as a stepping stone for Adonis. After barely escaping round 2, Karpency got knocked down at the beginning of round 3. He immediately knocked Karpency down after he got up, and the referee called a halt to the bout, awarding Stevenson a TKO victory in round 3. The fight averaged 581,000 viewers.

In November 2015, citing the fact that Stevenson hadn’t faced a top-ranked opponent in the last two years, The Ring Magazine stripped Stevenson of his belt.

Stevenson vs. Williams Jr.

Adonis Stevenson was slated to defend his WBC and Lineal titles against 28 year old southpaw Thomas Williams Jr. (20-1, 14 KOs) on July 16th. The fight was to be held in Quebec and it was to headline a Premier Boxing Champions card. Williams weighed in the heaviest of the two at 174.6 pounds, with Stevenson weighing in at 173.6 pounds. Stevenson earned his victory via a fourth round knockout and defended his title for the seventh time. Stevenson connected with a hard left to Williams’ head in round one that floored him with approximately 30 seconds left, however Williams beat the referees count.

Stevenson vs. Fonfara II

On February 27, 2017 the WBC ordered negotiations to begin between Adonis Stevenson and Eleider Álvarez, who are both managed by Al Haymon and promoted by Yvon Michel of GYM for a deal to be reached within 30 days or they would force a purse bid on March 24. Stevenson had a return date scheduled for April 29 at the newly renovated Nassau Coliseum in New York. Promoter Yvon Michel, stated on behalf of Álvarez, that he had averted from his mandatory position to allow Stevenson a voluntary defence.

On April 8, Stevenson revealed on social media that he had finalized a deal to fight Andrzej Fonfara (29-4, 17 KOs) in a rematch from their first fight in 2014. Yvon Michel later told ESPN that the fight would take place in Canada, at the Centre Bell in Montreal Quebec on June 3, 2017. The last time Stevenson fought at that arena was in 2014 against Fonfara. Michel didn’t go into detail around why a fight with Sean Monaghan, who he was tipped to fight originally in New York, never materialized, but said, if he continues winning, the fight could still happen. Fonfara started the fight strong and landed a solid left jab. Stevenson, who was patient with his left hand, eventually landed a left hook to the head of Fonfara, dropping him to the canvas. Fonfara beat the count, but was on steady legs and when he got backed up to in the corner, the bell saved him from an onslaught. Round 2 opened with Stevenson carrying on where he left of, pummeling Fonfara with huge lefts. The fight came to an abrupt end, when Fonfara’s trainer, Virgil Hunter stepped up on the apron after just 28 seconds, motioning to the referee to stop the bout, which referee Michael Griffin did. Stevenson retained his WBC and Lineal world titles. When asked who Stevenson would fight next, he replied, “I’m the greatest at 175. I don’t have to call out anybody.”