Showtime Fight Preview

Adonis Stevenson vs. Andrzej Fonfara

Lineal light heavyweight champion of the world, Adonis Stevenson first fought Andrzej Fonfara back in 2014.  At that time Stevenson was making the third defense of his WBC title that he beat Chad Dawson for.  That fight saw both fighters taste the canvas and it was an excellent fight and one that Stevenson won.  On Saturday night on Showtime Fonfara will try to get his revenge while Stevenson tries to successfully defend his title for an eighth time.  Their rematch is scheduled to go 12 rounds and Stevenson's WBC light heavyweight title will once again be on the line.

Stevenson landing a stiff jab in his last fight

Stevenson is a southpaw with excellent power.  His best punch is definitely his left hand and that is the punch that stopped Dawson to give Stevenson his WBC title and lineal status.  However, Stevenson isn't just a puncher, he has boxing skills too.  He works behind a stiff jab and he does a nice job of working his punches upstairs and to the body.  Stevenson is at his best when he is walking his opponent down and he doesn't fight nearly as well off his back foot.  His right hand isn't great and he likes to leave it very low and doesn't throw many right hooks but opponents do need to watch out for uppercuts from the right hand.  Defensively the lineal light heavyweight champion has been dropped but he hasn't been stopped since 2010.  

Stevenson who goes by the nickname "Superman" has been the WBC light heavyweight champion since 2013.  He has successfully defended that title seven times but it has been one of the weaker title reigns in recent history.  Included in those seven defenses are wins over the likes of Dmitry Sukhotskiy, Sakio Bika, and Tommy Karpency and while they aren't bad fighters they certainly weren't legitimate threats.  Stevenson's career record stands at 28-1 with a very strong 23 knockouts and his lone career loss came against Darnell Boone back in 2010.  Now Stevenson will look to defend his title for an eighth time but until he faces an opponent like Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward, or Artur Beterbiev fans will continue to diminish his accomplishments.  Yet at 39 years old Stevenson has to be nearing the end so fans may never see him take on other light heavyweights near the top of the division.

Fonfara sticking Chad Dawson with a clean jab

Fonfara is an orthodox fighter who has good power but his hands aren't nearly as heavy as Stevenson's.  Like Stevenson, Fonfara is also at his best when he is being the aggressor and he doesn't fight as well off his back foot.  He has a busy jab and it's a good one and he often follows it with his best punch, his straight right hand.  When he gets inside Fonfara also does a nice job of sneaking in uppercuts and he also has a solid left hook, although it doesn't do as much damage as his right hand.  Defensively Fonfara does have a bad habit of standing up too straight and letting his opponent unload before he goes on the attack and he has been knocked out twice and dropped multiple times.

In their first fight Fonfara was able to get off the canvas to drop Stevenson but he couldn't finish him off.  That loss helped to raise his profile though and helped him secure a fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who he dropped in the ninth round, forcing Chavez to quit on his stool.  However, in 2016 he was knocked out in the very first round against underdog Joe Smith Jr. and has only fought once since that loss.  That fight came in March against Chad Dawson who is far from his prime self.  Dawson had his moments in that fight but Fonfara stopped him in the 10th round to run his career record to 29-4 with a respectable 17 knockouts.  

This should be a good fight but it probably won't be much different from their first encounter in 2014.  Stevenson still has elite power and Fonfara still has enough defensive flaws to make him very vulnerable against him.  However, Stevenson is nearly 40 years old and Fonfara has been chasing this rematch for three years now so he could be at his very best.  Stevenson will enter the fight as the heavy favorite though so look for him to take his time in slowly breaking down Fonfara.  

PREDICTION: Andrzej Fonfara has had a better career than most expected but he couldn't beat Adonis Stevenson in 2014 and he won't beat him in 2017 either.  Stevenson will get off to a nice start but Fonfara will find success in the middle rounds.  Eventually though the power of Stevenson will start to take its toll on Fonfara and Stevenson will stop him in the 10th round of this 12-round bout.

Eleider Alvarez vs. Jean Pascal

The co-feature of Saturday's Showtime card will also be a light heavyweight scrap.  That fight is also scheduled to go 12 rounds but no title will be on the line between Eleider Alvarez and Jean Pascal.  While Alvarez will be looking to keep his perfect record intact and continue to climb the light heavyweight rankings, Pascal will just be looking to remain relevant after a few brutal losses in recent years.

Alvarez admiring his knockdown of Lucian Bute

Alvarez is an orthodox fighter who will have a slight height and reach advantage over Pascal.  He usually leaves both of his hands fairly low and has pretty quick hands that allow him to find success with his jab and straight right hand.  Also, Alvarez is a patient fighter who doesn't mind letting his opponent lead.  Along with the jab and straight right hand Alvarez also throws a short left hook that can do damage, although he does lack top end power.  On defense Alvarez doesn't appear to move that well and he keeps his hands low so you would think he'd be vulnerable defensively but he manages to do a nice job or making subtle adjustments to avoid big punches.

Alvarez should be very comfortable fighting in Canada on Saturday because all of his fights aside from one have come in Canada.  Most of his career he has faced off against solid but relatively unknown competition but he did beat a big name in Lucian Bute in his most recent fight.  Alvarez knocked Bute out in the fifth round in that fight which put his career record at a perfect 22-0 with 11 knockouts.  Even though Pascal is nearing the end of his career he is still a known opponent that Alvarez would like to add to his resume.

Pascal eating a jab from Sergey Kovalev

Pascal is also an orthodox fighter and he too has a quick jab he should commit to more.  In recent years Pascal's punch output his dwindled as he looks to land big counter shots instead of staying busy.  His most dangerous weapon is his wild overhand right that can really do damage if it lands clean.  The problem is that Pascal is not a very accurate puncher so it doesn't land clean very often.  Pascal does still have a solid left hook but defensively he has taken a lot of punishment in recent fights and lately it seems like if he can't land a few big punches per round he can't win the fight.

During his career Pascal has consistently faced much better opposition than Alvarez has.  Pascal has been in the ring with top fighters like Carl Froch, Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins, and Sergey Kovalev among others.  Unfortunately for Pascal he usually losses fights against top talent and in his last four fights he has gone 2-2 but his win over Yunieski Gonzalez could have easily been a loss.  As of now Pascal's career record is 31-4-1 with 18 knockouts and he really needs a win to stay relevant.  

Look for Alvarez to be the busier fighter come Saturday night.  Pascal has never been a very busy puncher and now he mostly looks to land wild overhand rights.  If he lands one of them clean on Alvarez he could do damage and potentially stop him but Alvarez is solid on the defensive end and always makes subtle adjustments.  While Pascal will look to win this fight with a single punch Alvarez should look to stay on the outside and use his jab and straight right hand to control the fight and win on the scorecards.  

PREDICTION: Jean Pascal will look for the knockout with one of his wild punches but that punch will never come.  Pascal won't look great against Eleider Alvarez who is going to control the action and pace from the outside on his way to a clear unanimous decision victory.