TORONTO -- Since knocking out Chad Dawson in 2013 Adonis Stevenson (29-1, 14 KOs) has been the WBC light heavyweight champion and the lineal light heavyweight champion of the world. What followed was one of the weakest title reigns in recent memory. That will change on May 19 when Stevenson defends his title against Badou Jack (22-1-2, 13 KOs) on Showtime.
Stevenson is a southpaw with tremendous power, especially in his left hand. He possesses one-punch knockout power in that left hand and that's the punch that he scores the majority of his knockouts with. Stevenson isn't just a one-trick pony though, he also has a stiff jab that helps him find the distance and set up his massive left. Unlike many other punchers who only find success coming forward, Stevenson actually fights fairly well off his back foot so he doesn't have to walk through punches just to land one of his own.
As successful as Stevenson has been he has also been heavily criticized. That criticism revolves around his title run, after winning the WBC light heavyweight against Dawson in 2013. Since that win Stevenson has successfully defended that title eight times, going 8-0 with six knockouts. However, many of those fights came against massive underdogs and Stevenson never fought Sergey Kovalev, a fight that should have happened numerous times. Instead Stevenson fought lesser opponents like Tommy Karpency, an old Sakio Bika, the relatively unknown Dmitry Sukhotskiy, and the incredibly fragile chinned Thomas Williams Jr. Also, Stevenson has been very active of late. He fought only once in 2016 and once in 2017 and his last fight, an unnecessary rematch with Andrzej Fonfara, came nearly a year ago. Meanwhile, Jack has been much more active.
Jack fought twice in 2017 going 1-0-1. The draw came against James DeGale in a super middleweight title fight and the win came against Nathan Cleverly in Jack's first fight as a light heavyweight. Jack was a nice looking contender when disaster struck in the form on a first round knockout loss to Derek Edwards. After that loss Jack went back to the drawing board and rebuilt himself, scoring nice wins over Anthony Dirrell, George Groves, and the aforementioned Cleverly. Since that loss in 2014 Jack has gone 6-0-1 with two knockouts but he would have been 5-0-2 had his draw against Lucian Bute not been changed to a win after Bute tested positive for a banned substance.
Jack is an orthodox fighter who despite being a few inches taller than Stevenson will actually be at a 4-inch reach disadvantage. Jack likes to work on the inside and does a tremendous job of focusing his attack on the body. He works behind a quality jab and along with a good straight right hand he also loves to sneak in uppercuts. Although Jack does plenty of good work offensively, he doesn't have the type of power that Stevenson does so he will really need to work Stevenson's body in an attempt to break him down like he did against Cleverly.
Whatever happens in this fight it is just nice to see Stevenson fighting an opponent who actually poses a true threat. Look for Jack to try and stay inside where he can smother Stevenson's electric left hand and pound away to the body. Jack's best chance to win this fight is to be relentless to the body and when Stevenson drops his guard Jack needs to catch him clean upstairs. As for Stevenson, look for him to stay on the outside where he can try and control the distance and pace with his jab while waiting for his chance to unload his left hand.
PREDICTION: Badou Jack is a skilled fighter with more than enough skills to hang with Adonis Stevenson. Jack will give a good account of himself and do plenty of solid work to the body but his lack of top tier power will hurt him in this fight. Stevenson's left hand is one of the most dangerous punches in all of boxing and it will win him another fight when he knocks Jack out in the 11th round.
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| Stevenson celebrating with his WBC belt |
As successful as Stevenson has been he has also been heavily criticized. That criticism revolves around his title run, after winning the WBC light heavyweight against Dawson in 2013. Since that win Stevenson has successfully defended that title eight times, going 8-0 with six knockouts. However, many of those fights came against massive underdogs and Stevenson never fought Sergey Kovalev, a fight that should have happened numerous times. Instead Stevenson fought lesser opponents like Tommy Karpency, an old Sakio Bika, the relatively unknown Dmitry Sukhotskiy, and the incredibly fragile chinned Thomas Williams Jr. Also, Stevenson has been very active of late. He fought only once in 2016 and once in 2017 and his last fight, an unnecessary rematch with Andrzej Fonfara, came nearly a year ago. Meanwhile, Jack has been much more active.
Jack fought twice in 2017 going 1-0-1. The draw came against James DeGale in a super middleweight title fight and the win came against Nathan Cleverly in Jack's first fight as a light heavyweight. Jack was a nice looking contender when disaster struck in the form on a first round knockout loss to Derek Edwards. After that loss Jack went back to the drawing board and rebuilt himself, scoring nice wins over Anthony Dirrell, George Groves, and the aforementioned Cleverly. Since that loss in 2014 Jack has gone 6-0-1 with two knockouts but he would have been 5-0-2 had his draw against Lucian Bute not been changed to a win after Bute tested positive for a banned substance.
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| Jack landing an uppercut on Nathan Cleverly |
Whatever happens in this fight it is just nice to see Stevenson fighting an opponent who actually poses a true threat. Look for Jack to try and stay inside where he can smother Stevenson's electric left hand and pound away to the body. Jack's best chance to win this fight is to be relentless to the body and when Stevenson drops his guard Jack needs to catch him clean upstairs. As for Stevenson, look for him to stay on the outside where he can try and control the distance and pace with his jab while waiting for his chance to unload his left hand.
PREDICTION: Badou Jack is a skilled fighter with more than enough skills to hang with Adonis Stevenson. Jack will give a good account of himself and do plenty of solid work to the body but his lack of top tier power will hurt him in this fight. Stevenson's left hand is one of the most dangerous punches in all of boxing and it will win him another fight when he knocks Jack out in the 11th round.
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