By Scott Gilfoid: Super middleweight contender Adonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KO’s) defeated #2 WBC contender Noe Gonzalez (28-2, 20 KO’s) by a 2nd round TKO last night in Montreal, Canada. I can’t say I was all that impressed with Stevenson. He has good – not great – left hand power, but he’s not nearly skilled enough to beat the best fighters in the super middleweight division from what I can see of him.
His trainer Emanuel Steward should try and get the 5’11” Stevenson to move down to 160, which is the only division where he stands any chance of winning a title. He’s not big enough, skilled enough or powerful enough to capture a title at 168.
Stevenson’s problems boil down this: He doesn’t use his right for much, has rather mediocre defensive skills and isn’t as powerful or as fast as some of the other super middleweights like the Dirrell brothers. Yeah, I think Stevenson can throw a mean left hand pot shot, but he’s not a well rounded fighter because of his over-reliance on his left hand, and I get the impression he’ll fold in one or two rounds when getting hit by someone good with power. We already saw Stevenson blown out by journeyman Darnell Boone in 2010. You think that was accident? Heck no! Stevenson was blasted out with no trouble by Boone, and that was Stevenson’s first fight against someone with power that could punch back at him.
Since then, it’s been easy fodder for Stevenson, including last nights’ fight against Gonzalez with his inflated record of 3rd tier opposition. Gonzalez has only fought one good opponent in his career Felix Sturm before the Stevenson fight, and he lost to Sturm. This wasn’t a test for Stevenson last night; it was more of the same weak opposition he’s been facing.
If they put Stevenson in with some of the top fighters like the Dirrell brothers, he’s going to go down fast like Fellow Canadian Renan St. Juste did when he stepped up and was blown out by Anthony Dirrell.
Last night, Stevenson looked slow when he was unloading with his combinations and didn’t powerful either. The only time he seems to be able to throw with power is when his opponent stands at a distance nearly motionless. Stevenson can’t hit a moving target and in close, he has no power or inside game. He’s basically a one-armed fighter that look like he’s fighting by the numbers. He doesn’t look comfortable like he knows what he’s doing in the ring.
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