Stevenson obliterates Gonzalez!

By Boxing News - 04/20/2012 - Comments

Image: Stevenson obliterates Gonzalez!By Jim Dower: Undefeated Inter-Continental super middleweight champion Adonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KO’s) had an easy time defeating #2 WBC 168 pound contender Noe Gonzalez (28-2, 20 KO’s) by a 2nd round TKO on Friday night at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The end came in the 2nd round when the 34-year-old southpaw Stevenson opened up with a flurry of shots that Gonzalez mostly blocked with his gloves. However, a left to the body drove Gonzalez backwards to the corner where Stevenson, #7 WBA, #7 WBO #9 WBC, #15 IBF, teed off on him with a snowstorm of shots one of which almost dropped Gonzalez but the ropes held him up. The referee Michael Griffin then stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:40 with Gonzalez still on his feet but looking kind of shell-shocked and unhappy.

The stoppage was kind of controversial, as Gonzalez looked like he could still take some more punishment. There was a question whether he may have been able to ride out the storm because he was throwing occasional punches while being unloaded on. However, he throwing very little and it looked he would have likely been viciously knocked out had the fight gone much longer. There was a lot of time still left in the round, and Gonzalez wasn’t fighting smart by not trying to clinch to clear his head.

In the opening round, Stevenson mostly jabbed at a distance with his right eye going from body to head and back and forth most of the round. Stevenson did land some really hard pot shot left hands that a ton of power on them. However, he wasn’t throwing combinations and looked kind of raw, like a fighter that is still learning how to fight. His trainer Emanuel Steward hasn’t been working with Stevenson for that long, and you can see it’s going to take a while before he develops into a better fighter.

Gonzalez threw next to nothing in the 1st round other than a couple half-hearted jab attempted. For the most part, Gonzalez just looked terrified, appearing afraid to get hit. However, he would have been much better off letting his hands go because Stevenson isn’t a counter puncher and he’s wide open for right hands. Stevenson’s defense is basically his offense and he can be hurt, as we saw in his 2nd round TKO loss to hard hitting journeyman Darnell Boone in Abril 2010. But Gonzalez didn’t use his own power and just let Stevenson do all the throwing.

The 2nd round was a lot like the 1st with Stevenson jabbing over and over again to the head and body while every once in a while landing a big left hand pot shot to the head. Gonzalez did nothing other than take the shots. Finally, Stevenson opened up with a prolonged flurry that ended with Gonzalez backed to the corner and hurt. The fight was then halted just like that with the referee deciding Gonzalez had enough punishment.

After the fight, Stevenson mentioned wanting to fight IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute or WBA/WBC champion Andrew Ward next. Personally, I don’t like Stevenson’s chances against either of those guys. While Stevenson does have a good left hand when throwing it as a pot shot from the outside, he doesn’t seem to punch hard or all that fast when throwing combinations at a medium distance. Besides that, Stevenson’s defense is horrible, his jab very average, and his footwork limited.

In short, Stevenson would likely be blasted out very early against either Ward or Bute. It doesn’t matter that Ward can’t punch with major power, he would still likely get Stevenson out of there. Stevenson looks like a fragile fighter with rudimentary skills but a big left hand when throwing at a distance in single shot form. He reminds me of the super middleweight division’s version of Shawn Cox, the guy that Denis Lebedev recently destroy at cruiserweight. I think Stevenson would lose badly to the following super middleweights: Anthony Dirrell, Andre Dirrell, Carl Froch, Glen Johnson, Edwin Rodriguez, Kelly Pavlik, George Groves, Arthur Abraham, Sakio Bika, and James DeGale. I see it as toss up for Stevenson in fights against Robert Stieglitz, Renan St. Juste, Peter Quillin, Brian Magee, Dimitri Sartison, Karoly Balzsay, Don George, Tommy Oosthuizen, Dyah Davis, and Librado Andrade.

In other action on the card:

Eric Barrack TKO 2 Sandy Pembroke
Schiller Hyppolite UD 4 Martin Desjardins
Oscar Rivas UD 6 Stephane Tessier
Eleider Alvarez UD 8 Rayco Saunders



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