Adonis Stevenson laid it on the line: ?I?m gonna knock him out. That?s what I?m going to do. I?m going to knock him out??
They call him Superman. He?s not faster than a speeding bullet. He?s not more powerful than a locomotive. He?s not able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It isn?t that the Marquis of Queensberry forbade those diversions. It?s just that they, however awesome, are no guarantee of a knockout.
On Saturday, May 24, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, Adonis ?Superman? Stevenson (23-1, 24 KOs), from Laval, Quebec, Canada, by way of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, defends his WBC light heavyweight title against Andrzej Fonfara (25-2, 15 KOs), from Chicago via Warsaw, Poland.
Fonfara hasn?t lost since 2008. He has won his last 13 fights, all but one of them by early stoppage. But his victims are not exactly a who?s who of viable contenders. Stevenson on the other hand, in just his last three fights, has stopped Tony Bellew, Tavoris Cloud, and Chad Dawson.
Some have written that we?re overlooking Fonfara, that he doesn?t get no respect. They are not writing that he has a chance of defeating Stevenson.
?I?m very focused for this fight,? said Superman on a recent conference call. ?I?m not overlooking him. I know he?s going to be ready and I?m training for just him. I take it one fight at a time and I will take care of business. I?m ready for this fight. I?m not here to lose. I?m a champion and I?m here to win?by knockout. That?s it and I?m not concerned about anything else.?
Many would rather Stevenson fight Sergey Kovalev, which apparently isn?t happening, or at the very least Bernard Hopkins. When asked about the WBO and IBF light heavyweight champs respectively, Stevenson was noncommittal.
?You know, I want to be a legend,? he said,? and I want to be on par with all the boxing legends so that gives me a lot of motivation to push my body very, very hard and at a high level and keep training and focus fight by fight. I?m very motivated. I don?t care about Hopkins now. Fonfara is in front of me, and that?s it. After the fight we can talk about Hopkins.?
Speaking of Fonfara, Stevenson laid it on the line: ?I?m gonna knock him out. That?s what I?m going to do. I don?t know his game plan. I?m going to knock him out.?
When Stevenson jumped ship and signed with Golden Boy, many people, including Kathy Duva, were disappointed.
?Those people don?t understand that boxing is a business,? Stevenson said. ?That?s our mentality. That we negotiate with the network and we make sure that everyone gets paid. That?s why I took it because I?m working with the best managers in the world and they make sure everything is right with the network, and everything. It?s not about ducking, it?s about business. I don?t have a problem fighting Kovalev. I have a feeling that Yvon Michel will one day make that happen.?
Boxing is a business, and the business end of boxing can compromise the quality of the fights. The late Emanuel Steward knew that as well as anyone, and imparted that knowledge to Stevenson when he was training at the Kronk.
?Emanuel gave me a lot of advice and motivation. And it?s not just about training. He was a friend to me and we spent a lot of time talking about life. And we talked about boxing and what it would be like to be a world champion. A couple of years ago he didn?t have any money, he didn?t save nothing. And he explained that to me and I took his advice. He told me I was going to be the world champion and that I was going to be a star.?
Tune into Showtime Saturday night at 9 PM/ET to watch Adonis Stevenson leap a tall building in a single bound.
