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Stevenson Adonis (born 22 September 1977), best known as Adonis Stevenson, is a Haitian Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2018. He won the WBC, Ring magazine and lineal light heavyweight titles in 2013 by defeating Chad Dawson by first-round knockout, which earned him awards for Fighter of the Year and Knockout of the Year by The Ring.
Known for his fast hand speedCampbell, Brian (October 14, 2012). "Stevenson batters George, lines up Froch". ESPN. Retrieved November 11, 2017. and exceptional knockout power,Campbell, Brian (September 25, 2013). "Adonis Stevenson: 'I have the power'". ESPN. Retrieved November 11, 2017. Stevenson was considered one of boxing's hardest punchers during his prime.Harrison, Andrew (November 7, 2013). "Ranking boxing's 10 hardest punchers". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved December 8, 2018. Boxing News staff (April 26, 2018). "Adonis Stevenson and Badou Jack face off in Toronto" . Boxing News. Newsquest. Retrieved December 8, 2018. For more than five years, he made ten successful defenses of the WBC and lineal titles until sustaining a life-threatening brain injury in his 2018 fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk.Dan Rafael (December 5, 2018). "Adonis Stevenson had emergency brain surgery, in stable but critical condition". ESPN. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
On August 1, 2009, at Windsor Station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Stevenson defeated Anthony Bonsante by first round knockout. The two fighters came out of their corners for the fight with Bonsante launching the first attack, but just moments after the assault, Stevenson landed a left hand that sent Bonsante down to the canvas. Bonsante sprawled out on the canvas with his eyes closed, while the referee reached the count of six before stopping the fight. Bonsante had begun to get up at the count of six, but it was too late, leaving Bonsante livid with the decision as he chased the referee around the ring in an attempt to protest the decision, but to little avail. He also won a fifth-round TKO decision against Jermain Mackey on September 25, 2009.
His next fight originally set to be against Don George with the winner getting a shot at the IBF champion. The fight was originally scheduled to be a co-main event of a fight card also including a match between Jean Pascal and Tavoris Cloud on August 11, 2012, but the even was cancelled due to an injury suffered by Pascal. The Stevenson fight was then moved up to August 17, 2012, and was set to be part of ESPN Friday Night Fights, but Stevenson later injured his hand cancelling the fight. The fight was then rescheduled to October 12. In the fight Stevenson knocked George down twice in the fifth and once in the sixth round before winning the fight with a 12th-round TKO after knocking him down twice more.
The fight against former IBF champion Tavoris Cloud (24–1, 19 KOs) was confirmed on August 12, 2013, to take place on September 28 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, on HBO. Cloud was entering the fight coming off his first career loss, which came in March 2013 against Bernard Hopkins. Stevenson dominated the proceedings, flustering Cloud with quick hands and shocking power. The fight ended when Cloud failed to answer the bell for the start of the eighth round. Round 7 saw Cloud hurt many times and a cut appearing on his right eye. He was also cut on the left eyelid in the opening round.
Terms were agreed for the fight on July 25, 2013. On November 30, Stevenson defended his light heavyweight title against Tony Bellew (20–1–1, 12 KOs) at the Colisée Pepsi. Stevenson became the first boxer to stop Bellew winning the fight via TKO. In round 6, Stevenson put Bellew down with a left hand, he beat the count and the referee let the fight go on. Bellew was then knocked out standing by another pair of left hands before the referee could get in and put a stop to the bout. At the time of stoppage, Stevenson was ahead on the scorecards 50–45, 49–46, and 50–45. Bellew contemplated moving up to cruiserweight after the loss. According to Nielsen Media Research firm, the fight attracted an average of 1.3 million viewers on the HBO network, making it the 5th most watched bout of 2013.
In October 2014, promoter Yvon Michel of GYM announced that Stevenson would next defend his belts against Russian contender Dmitry Sukhotsky (22–2, 16 KOs) in Quebec City, Quebec, at the Colisée Pepsi on December 19, 2014, on Showtime. Sukhotsky was on a four-fight win streak at the time. Michel explained Sukhotsky was selected as Stevenson's opponent because there would not have been enough time to get together and promote a fight with Jean Pascal (29–2–1, 17 KOs). He stated the Pascal fight would likely take place in the Spring of 2015. This was his fourth defense of his titles. Stevenson retained his belts via a fifth round stoppage following a one punch knockout. Stevenson was in control from the opening bell, throwing minimal punches as the crowd started to boo. In round 2, he managed to floor Sukhotsky with a left hand. According to CompuBox Stats, Stevenson landed 80 of 272 punches thrown (29%) and Sukhotsky landed only 23 oh his 136 thrown (17%).
On July 27, 2015 Premier Boxing Champions announced that Stevenson would headline a card on Spike TV on September 11 against WBC #9 ranked Tommy Karpency (25–4–1, 14 KOs) at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. Karpency, previously coming off the biggest win of his career, a split decision win against Chad Dawson, the man who Stevenson beat to win the light heavyweight championship. Karpency was thought to be a stepping stone for Adonis, and he was. After barely escaping round 2, Karpency got knocked down at the beginning of round 3. He immediately knocked Karpency down after he got up, and the referee called a halt to the bout, awarding Stevenson a TKO victory in round 3. The fight averaged 581,000 viewers.
In November 2015, citing the fact that Stevenson hadn't faced a top-ranked opponent in the last two years, The Ring Magazine stripped Stevenson of his belt.
On April 8, Stevenson revealed on social media that he had finalized a deal to fight Andrzej Fonfara (29–4, 17 KOs) in a rematch from their first fight in 2014. Yvon Michel later told ESPN that the fight would take place in Canada, at the Bell Centre in Montreal Quebec on June 3, 2017. The last time Stevenson fought at that arena was in 2014 against Fonfara. Fonfara was ranked #6 by the WBC at the time. Michel didn't go into detail around why a fight with Sean Monaghan, who he was tipped to fight originally in New York, never materialized, but said, if he continues winning, the fight could still happen. Fonfara started the fight well in round 1, connecting with the jab. Stevenson, who was patient with his left hand, eventually landed a left hook to the head of Fonfara, dropping him to the canvas. Fonfara beat the count, but was on steady legs and when he got backed up to in the corner, the bell saved him from an onslaught. Round 2 opened with Stevenson carrying on where he left of, pummeling Fonfara with huge lefts. The fight came to an abrupt end, when Fonfara's trainer, Virgil Hunter stepped up on the apron after just 28 seconds, motioning to the referee to stop the bout, which referee Michael Griffin did. Stevenson retained his WBC and Lineal world titles. When asked who Stevenson would fight next, he replied, "I'm the greatest at 175. I don't have to call out anybody," On the same card, Eleider Álvarez defeated Jean Pascal via majority decision to remain mandatory to Stevenson.
On April 11, news broke out from Álvarez's manager, Stephane Lepine that a deal was yet to be reached with Álvarez to be properly compensated. Yvon Michel admitted he was working on a deal to keep Álvarez happy and this was the same reason as to why tickets had not yet gone on sale for the Stevenson-Jack fight, which was a month away. On April 18, it was announced that a deal had been reached for Álvarez to challenge Sergey Kovalev (32–2–1, 28 KOs) for his WBO light heavyweight title on HBO. Kovalev was originally scheduled to fight contender Marcus Browne in the summer of 2018, however due to having been arrested for domestic violence, Kovalev's promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events got in contact with Álvarez's manager Lepine about a potential fight. Due to Álvarez fighting Kovalev, this meant the announcement of Stevenson vs. Jack would be imminent. On April 23, the card was moved from Montreal and instead scheduled to take place at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A day later, the official press conference was held to announce the fight.
Stevenson and Jack fought to a majority draw in a competitive bout. One judge scored the fight 115–113 in favor of Jack, whilst the remaining two judges overruled the decision, scoring the fight 114–114. Stevenson outpointed Jack in the early rounds being more active, however from round 5, it was Jack who was the busier and accurate of the two. From rounds 7 through 10, Jack out landed Stevenson 114–40 in total shots landed. It was in round 10 were Jack was hurt from multiple body shots from Stevenson's right hand. Stevenson carried the momentum into round 11 but it was Jack who finished the fight stronger. In round 7, Stevenson complained to referee Ian John Lewis about low blows and in round 8, Jack was warned. Jack later explained Stevenson's cup was low, hence why the shots looked like low blows. With the draw, Stevenson retained his WBC and Lineal titles for the ninth time. Jack was ranked as #1 at light heavyweight by the WBC at the time.
During the post fight interviews, Stevenson told Steve Gray, "I won the fight because I hurt him in the body. I hurt him in the body and he got slowed down. I kept the pressure on him. He was moving and moving – slick, slick – but I touched him more of the time and I think I won this fight." Speaking on the 3rd draw in his last 4 fights (before Bute was DQ'd for failed drug test), Jack stated, "I have no idea. It could be they're jealous of Floyd (Mayweather). I'm one of Floyd's top fighters. Maybe they don't like Floyd. Maybe they're trying to – you know, I don't know. To be honest, I don't know. I've gotta thank God for everything. ... I can't do anything about it. I thought I definitely won the fight, definitely won the fight. Nobody's complaining and no judge had him winning." According to CompuBox Stats, Stevenson landed 165 of 622 punches thrown (27%), 87 of which were power shots landed to the body and Jack landed 209 of his 549 thrown (38%) The fight averaged 535,000 viewers and peaked at 611,000 viewers on Showtime. The fight aired on pay-per-view in Canada.
Gvozdyk ended Stevenson's five-year reign as champion by stopping him in round 11 by TKO to claim the WBC and Lineal titles. Gvozdyk knocked Stevenson down with a counter right hand to the head in the opening seconds of the third round, which was incorrectly ruled a slip by referee Michael Griffin. Gvozdyk was the busier boxer through the mid rounds, using his movement to box on the outside, although Stevenson looked to be landing the better shots in some rounds. In round nine, Stevenson started throwing body shots, with some success, while Stevenson seemed to be fading. In round 10, Gvozdyk was hurt by a left hand that would have sent him sprawling but for the ropes; the referee declined to call a knockdown. In round 11, Gvozdyk unloaded a 10-punch flurry that sent Stevenson down for good, the referee stopping the bout as soon as Stevenson went to the canvas. The time of stoppage was 2 minutes and 49 seconds of the round. At the time of stoppage, Stevenson was ahead 98–92 and 96–94 on two of the judges scorecards and the third judge had it 95–95. Gvozdyk celebrated with his team and trainer Teddy Atlas, but they composed themselves quickly as soon as they realized Stevenson was badly hurt. Stevenson was able to sit back on his stool whilst doctors checked on him. In the post-fight interviews, Gvozdyk said, "This win means everything to me. I've trained my whole life for this, and tonight, all of the hard work was worth it." He also praised his new trainer Atlas. Stevenson began to feel dizzy in his dressing room, and was taken to a local hospital. Atlas ruled the 98-92 scorecard from Canadian judge Jack Woodburn as 'criminal'. Atlas also felt that the referee should not have missed the third-round knockdown, but called Michael Griffin a fair and honest referee.
The morning after the fight, it was reported that Stevenson was in Medical state in intensive care. The following Monday, his condition was changed to stable from critical and was placed in an induced coma. On December 20, despite a Russian tabloid reporting Stevenson had woken up and was seen speaking to family and friends, his promoter Yvon Michel stated he was still unconscious and his health had not improved since being sedated by doctors. He also required 'mechanical assistance' to breathe. On December 22, according to his girlfriend Simone God, Stevenson had woken up. As of February 18, 2019, Stevenson moved to a medical facility in Montreal, Canada, to continue receiving treatment related to his recovery. According to ESPN Deportes, Stevenson is talking and moving, becoming more mobile every day, and is well on the road to recovery.
In January 2021, Stevenson spoke to RDC. He stated he was happy and healthy, although not 100% recovered due to the injury itself. He said boxing saved his life and from the streets. He was grateful to the WBC for making him “Champion of Hope", which was announced at their convention. Stevenson added, “This belt means a lot to me. It is being able to help people who have suffered concussions. I have this belt so I can help people who have problems. God brought me back to help. Boxing saved me. She saved me from the streets. How could I regret something that made me feel good? It was an accident that happened in."
On April 12, 2020, it was reported that Stevenson's mother had filed a lawsuit on his behalf against his former fiancé Simone God. Stevenson and God's relationship ended in December 2019. The lawsuit claims that an amount of $891,000 was withdrawn without permission from Stevenson's personal bank account by God. Yvon Michel, Stevenson's promoter was aware of this and said Stevenson would make a statement himself. He also said the whole situation would not have a big impact on Stevenson's finances despite the loss. It was revealed in December 2018 that God was appointed as provisional administrator of Stevenson's property and only six months later a judge ordered an independent accounting firm to manage Stevenson's assets. Speaking to La Presse, he said:
God released an open letter on social media. In this letter, she claimed the money she had been accused of stealing, was in fact money towards a property which was due to be finished.
| 32 | Loss | Oleksandr Gvozdyk | KO | 11 (12), | Dec 1, 2018 | |||
| 31 | Draw | 29–1–1 | Badou Jack | 12 | May 19, 2018 | |||
| 30 | Win | 29–1 | Andrzej Fonfara | TKO | 2 (12) | Jun 3, 2017 | ||
| 29 | Win | 28–1 | Thomas Williams Jr. | KO | 4 (12), | Jul 29, 2016 | ||
| 28 | Win | 27–1 | Tommy Karpency | TKO | 3 (12) | Sep 11, 2015 | ||
| 27 | Win | 26–1 | Sakio Bika | UD | 12 | Apr 4, 2015 | ||
| 26 | Win | 25–1 | Dmitry Sukhotsky | KO | 5 (12) | Dec 19, 2014 | ||
| 25 | Win | 24–1 | Andrzej Fonfara | UD | 12 | May 24, 2014 | ||
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | Tony Bellew | TKO | 6 (12) | Nov 30, 2013 | ||
| 23 | Win | 22–1 | Tavoris Cloud | 7 (12) | Sep 28, 2013 | |||
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | Chad Dawson | TKO | 1 (12) | Jun 8, 2013 | ||
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | Darnell Boone | KO | 6 (10) | Mar 22, 2013 | ||
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | Don George | TKO | 12 (12) | Oct 12, 2012 | ||
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Noé González Alcoba | TKO | 2 (12) | Apr 20, 2012 | ||
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | Jesús González | KO | 1 (12) | Feb 18, 2012 | ||
| 17 | Win | 16–1 | Aaron Pryor Jr. | TKO | 9 (12) | Dec 10, 2011 | ||
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | Shujaa El-Amin | TKO | 1 (8) | Sep 17, 2011 | ||
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | Derek Edwards | KO | 3 (10) | Apr 8, 2011 | ||
| 14 | Loss | 13–1 | Darnell Boone | TKO | 2 (8) | Apr 16, 2010 | ||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Jermain Mackey | TKO | 5 (12) | Sep 25, 2009 | ||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Anthony Bonsante | KO | 1 (12) | Aug 1, 2008 | ||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Dhafir Smith | TKO | 5 (12) | Apr 5, 2008 | ||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | David Whittom | UD | 10 | Dec 7, 2007 | ||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Marlon Hayes | UD | 8 | Aug 3, 2007 | ||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Alvaro Enriquez | KO | 1 (6) | Jun 8, 2007 | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Marcus Thomas | 1 (8) | May 12, 2007 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Carl Cockerham | 6 | Apr 14, 2007 | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Etianne Whitaker | TKO | 1 (4) | Feb 10, 2007 | ||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Eduardo Calderon | TKO | 1 (6) | Dec 11, 2006 | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Bonnie Joe McGee | TKO | 2 (4) | Nov 18, 2006 | ||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Ferenc Lankonde | TKO | 1 (4) | Oct 28, 2006 | ||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Mike Funk | 1 (4) | Sep 30, 2006 |
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