If not often that a fighter claims a "Lineal" title by opening round KO and leaves us with a lot of questions. That, however, is what Adonis Stevenson (22-1, 19) did earlier this year when he landed a single money maker on to the then defending world champion Chad Dawson.
All we really learned from the Stevenson/Dawson fight was that Stevenson's power was legitimate and that it carried up from Super Middleweight, where he had been seen as a promising contender, to Light Heavyweight.
Thankfully Stevenson did answer a number of questions this past Saturday as he defeated former IBF Light Heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-2, 19) in what can only be described as an impressive performance.
Against Dawson all it took was a single shot to shock the boxing public. This time around Stevenson knew he was fighting a tougher man, both mentally and physically and that one shot, even with his power, was never going to do the job. Instead Stevenson took control with unexpectedly sharp boxing, using his reach and speed to pepper the apprehensive looking Cloud from range with stiff, hurtful shots and beautiful counters.
Cloud, for his part, played the role of a tough but over-matched fighter. The energy and work rate that he once made his name on had vanished, the confidence he had had just a few fights back had dissipated and it seemed that as long as he wasn't getting to hurt by any single shot he was happy to let Stevenson do as he wished.
Unfortunately when you're fighting a guy like Stevenson punches will do damage. Not every shot needs to be concussive to do damage and due to the weight of the shots and the accumulation of them Cloud's face slowly turned from unmarked to cut showing the effects of the shots. It was the cuts, and the sheer fact that Stevenson turned out to be a talented boxer as well as a big banger, that saw Cloud retiring on his stool at the end of the 7th round.
For Cloud this really could be the end. He has now been out boxed by Gabriel Campillo, Bernard Hopkins and Adonis Stevenson and looks like another fighter who has been effectively "found out". On the other hand Stevenson has now proven himself to be a genuinely talented boxer with serious bang.
I now expect that Stevenson will face mandatory Tony Bellew, in what will likely be a painful nights work for Bellew, then their will be serious talk about a WBC/WBO unification bout with Sergey Kovalev who has also proven to have dynamite fists and under-rated boxing ability.
Showing posts with label Canadian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canadian. Show all posts
Monday, 30 September 2013
Friday, 23 August 2013
Argenis Mendez v Arash Usmanee
In a genuinely thrilling contest for the IBF Super Featherweight title champion Argenis Mendez (21-2-1, 11) managed just retain his title courtesy of majority decision draw against determined challenger Arash Usmanee (20-1-1, 10).
The Afghan born-Canadian Usmanee set off at an amazing pace forcing Mendez on to to the ropes from the off. Although Mendez was comfortable on the ropes with his counter punching skills it was pretty obvious that he lost the opening round with Usmanee seriously out working him. It was clear from the off that Usmanee wasn't there to just make up the numbers and immediately made an impact with his aggression an workate.
Usmanee's relentless aggression continued through out the fight though Mendez managed to put his foot on the gas with his counters in round 2 as he managed to get through with some clean shots of his own. The success of Mendez grew and in round 3 he made a solid case for the round with his counters which had become more and more regular as the opening few rounds went on.
Although Mendez continue to have success with his counters in rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7 it was becoming harder and harder work for the champion to back up the challenger. Mendez's own bombing counters, although looking like monster shots seemed to just bounce off Usmanee who came straight back at him with flurries of shots of his own as he tried to out work and grind down the champion.
Despite Mendez's success through a series of the middle rounds Usmanee would fight back hard in round 8 and 9 as the two men were dragged in to a war. By now Mendez seemed to realise that Usmanee wasn't going to just tire and realised that he was going to have to show some offense of his own. The champion tried to bomb the challenger with fearsome hooks but the challenger, showing his toughness refused to back down as the rounds finished with both men having major success.
The championship rounds saw it all to play for and both men knew it as Mendez began to hold his ground more often and the two men traded in centre ring in a very eye catching back and forth. It was almost impossible to split them as they went at each other with bad intentions, ufortunately the lack of power both men had saw them being able to take the hardest shots with out going down but it looked thoroughly dramatic through out.
It appeared that both men knew the fight was in the balance in the final round and both men fought as if they needed it, giving us one of the genuine round of the year contenders, it, like much of the fight was tough to score. Did you prefer the relentless if somewhat ineffective aggression of Usmanee or the crisp classy work of Mendez?
The judges decided that they liked the styles equally as well as each other and scored the bout a draw, a fitting result given the effort of both men in a bout that I'd certainly like to see again!
The Afghan born-Canadian Usmanee set off at an amazing pace forcing Mendez on to to the ropes from the off. Although Mendez was comfortable on the ropes with his counter punching skills it was pretty obvious that he lost the opening round with Usmanee seriously out working him. It was clear from the off that Usmanee wasn't there to just make up the numbers and immediately made an impact with his aggression an workate.
Usmanee's relentless aggression continued through out the fight though Mendez managed to put his foot on the gas with his counters in round 2 as he managed to get through with some clean shots of his own. The success of Mendez grew and in round 3 he made a solid case for the round with his counters which had become more and more regular as the opening few rounds went on.
Although Mendez continue to have success with his counters in rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7 it was becoming harder and harder work for the champion to back up the challenger. Mendez's own bombing counters, although looking like monster shots seemed to just bounce off Usmanee who came straight back at him with flurries of shots of his own as he tried to out work and grind down the champion.
Despite Mendez's success through a series of the middle rounds Usmanee would fight back hard in round 8 and 9 as the two men were dragged in to a war. By now Mendez seemed to realise that Usmanee wasn't going to just tire and realised that he was going to have to show some offense of his own. The champion tried to bomb the challenger with fearsome hooks but the challenger, showing his toughness refused to back down as the rounds finished with both men having major success.
The championship rounds saw it all to play for and both men knew it as Mendez began to hold his ground more often and the two men traded in centre ring in a very eye catching back and forth. It was almost impossible to split them as they went at each other with bad intentions, ufortunately the lack of power both men had saw them being able to take the hardest shots with out going down but it looked thoroughly dramatic through out.
It appeared that both men knew the fight was in the balance in the final round and both men fought as if they needed it, giving us one of the genuine round of the year contenders, it, like much of the fight was tough to score. Did you prefer the relentless if somewhat ineffective aggression of Usmanee or the crisp classy work of Mendez?
The judges decided that they liked the styles equally as well as each other and scored the bout a draw, a fitting result given the effort of both men in a bout that I'd certainly like to see again!
Saturday, 8 June 2013
Chad Dawson v Adonis Stevenson
In a huge upset the WBC Light Heavyweight title changed hands as Canadian Adonis Stevenson (21-1, 18) stopped American Chad Dawson (31-3-0-1, 17) in eye catching fashion in the opening round.
Surprisingly Dawson started offensively and actually appeared to look like the fighter that many (myself included) believed Chad Dawson could be. It didn't take long however for Steveson to show off why he is so highly regarded as he connected with a monster straight left that sent Dawson flat on to his back with his eyes seriously glazed over.
Dawson surprisingly managed to get back to his feet but with his brain still detached from his senses the referee was forced to wave the bout off. The official time of the stoppage, 1:16 into the opening round was genuinely a shock and could well send a shockwave through the Light Heavyweight division, despite the fact Stevenson was actually moving up for the bout.
Surprisingly Dawson started offensively and actually appeared to look like the fighter that many (myself included) believed Chad Dawson could be. It didn't take long however for Steveson to show off why he is so highly regarded as he connected with a monster straight left that sent Dawson flat on to his back with his eyes seriously glazed over.
Dawson surprisingly managed to get back to his feet but with his brain still detached from his senses the referee was forced to wave the bout off. The official time of the stoppage, 1:16 into the opening round was genuinely a shock and could well send a shockwave through the Light Heavyweight division, despite the fact Stevenson was actually moving up for the bout.
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