By Jason Kim: The big match-up between super middleweight contenders Adonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KO’s) and Don George (23-2-1, 20 KO’s) is just around the corner for their IBF super middleweight title eliminator next week on October 12th at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada. Stevenson and George were supposed to have already fought, but Stevenson suffered a hand injury, causing the fight to be pushed back to October. Stevenson, 35, is now healed and ready to go for this crucial fight.

The winner of the Stevenson-George fight will be the mandatory challenger for IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch, although there’s a good chance that Froch will never face either one of these guys because he’s talking about possibly fighting only three more times and then retiring.

Whether he does or doesn’t, Stevenson or George will be ready to fight for the International Boxing Federation title next year so it really doesn’t matter what Froch decides to do. The worst thing that could happen is if Froch chooses to fight a unification bout against one of the other super middleweight champions, because this would cause Stevenson or George to have to wait a little longer to get a shot at the IBF title.

The 35-year-old Stevenson looks to have most of the advantages in the George fight except for age. He’s a little only than the 27-year-old George, but that might not matter if George isn’t able to take Stevenson’s speedy and powerful punches early in the fight in order to take him deep into the bout to where Stevenson’s age might start showing.

George has excellent power, so he’s got a chance of winning if he can take Stevenson’s shots early and take him into the second half. However, it’s not going to be easy for George because he’s so slow, and he’s not a fast starter. That’s going to be a problem for him in this fight, because he’s facing Stevenson, who is a very fast starter. If George doesn’t come ready to brawl the instant the fight starts, he’s going to get blasted out quickly.