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Cloutier’s Canada Corner
Stevenson Wins With….One Power
Shot!
By Daniel Cloutier
MONTRÉAL - Chad Dawson said many times that Adonis Stevenson
was not part of the boxing major leagues. He was wrong.
Stevenson said many times that Dawson would not stay on his
legs on the impact of his power shots. He was right.
Stevenson, a southpaw from Montréal, sent Dawson to the
floor with his first power shot of the fight. Dawson got
back on his feet, but he was clearly weak and hurt. The
referee Mike Griffin stopped the fight and declared Dawson
TKO after only 1:16 minute of action in the first round.
Stephenson, who was involved in the first world championship
fight of his career, dethroned Dawson as WBC light
heavyweight champion of the world. Dawson, who was involved
in his 11th world championship bouts, suffered of the
shortest lost of his career.
“I knew I had the power to win this bout by KO,” said
Stevenson. “From the moment I connected him with a power
left hook, my first power shot of the fight, I knew it was
over. Chad was clearly hurt. I am realizing the biggest
dream on my life. It's pretty special, considering it was
first fight in the light heavyweight division. I will live
the greatest hours on my life tonight and tomorrow, but I
want to go back in the gym soon, to fight the IBF champion,
Bernard Hopkins.”
Stephenson (21-1-0) won in front of Andre Ward, the man who
stopped Dawson (30-3-0) last September in Oakland,
California, in a WBA and WBA super middleweight championship
of the world. Ward was analyst for HBO.
GAMBOA WINS A BORING FIGHT
The Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa, a former WBA and IBF
featherweight champion of the world, has now the guaranty to
be involved soon in a WBA lightweight world title match.
Just before the fight Dawson-Stevenson, Gamboa won a WBA
interim lightweight championship, in beating the Colombian
Darley Perez by unanimous decision in 12 rounds. The judges
posted scores of 116-111, 116-111 and 115-112 at the end of
this boring fight.
A few seconds before the end of the first round, Gamboa sent
Perez on the floor with a solid left hook. After a defensive
third round, Gamboa opened the machine in the fourth and
gave to his opponent a pretty rough time. The crowd was
clearly unhappy by the lack of action during the last seven
rounds. The two fighters, too defensive in most of the
rounds, were booed several times. Gamboa still undefeated.
His record is now 23-0-0. For Perez, ranked second contender
by the WBA, third by the IBF and 6th by the WBO, it was a
first lost (28-1-0) in pro-boxing.
PEDRAZA GAVE A BOXING LESSON TO VILLANUEVA
The super featherweight Jose Pedraza, the new boxing star in
Porto Rico, gave a boxing lesson to the Mexican Sergio
Villanueva. And a painful one! Pedraza provoked three
knockdowns in route for a win by TKO. Pedraza was faster and
more accurate then his opponent. Pedraza was preparing
brilliantly his power shots with his jab. Pedraza hurt
Villanueva in the third round with a splendid body shot, but
it's in the fourth and the fifth rounds that the Porto Rican
was the most impressive offensively. Villanueva (25-3-2)
went of the floor few seconds before the end of the fifth
round, on a great body shot, and he has been stopped in the
seventh round after two others knockdowns. Pedraza, who
still undefeated (13-0-0), won by TKO one second before the
end of the seventh round of a fight scheduled for 10.
LEMIEUX IN LESS THAN A ROUND
David Lemieux (29-2-0), a young middleweight from Montréal
who should fight a boxer rank in the «Top 10« in the world
before the end of the year, got another short night of work.
Lemieux sent the Polish Robert Swierzbinski on the floor
three times in the first round, winning automatically by KO.
Swierzbinski (11-2-0) has decided to charge Lemieux in the
first seconds of the bout, but his reaction has changed
radically when the Montrealer started to hit with power
shots. The knock out, the 28th for Lemieux, has been
registered after only 2:21 minutes of action.
EASY WIN FOR BENCE
The Montrealer heavyweight Eric Barrak, who has predicted
that he would become the first fighter to beat Didier Bence
by KO, finished the fight… on his knees. Didier Bence, who
fast clearly faster than his opponent, send Eric Barrak on
the canvas in the third round and the fifth rounds. After
his second knockdown, Barrak kept a knee on the floor,
forcing the referee to stop the bout at mid-way in the fifth
round. Bence has dominated easily the action from the
beginning to the end.
Bence, also a Montrealer, improved his record to 9-0-0. It
was a first lost for Barrak in eight fights. In the opening
fight of the evening, the former amateur champion of the
world, the Russian Artur Beterbiev, started his pro boxing
on a good note.
This very talented light heavyweight signed by the GYM Group
few weeks ago, send the Californian Christian Cruz (12-15-1)
three times on the floor, and finally won the fight by TKO
at 2.41 minutes of the second round. Cruz was not scared to
attack Beterbiev in the first two minutes of the bout, but
he paid the big price for that. Beterbiev provoked one
knockdown in the first round, and the two in the second.
When Cruz has fallen for the third times, the referee
stopped instantly the bout.
And finally, in a fight opposing two local super
welterweights, Sébastien Bouchard (7-0-0), from Baie-Saint-Paul,
Québec, beat the Montréaler Franceso Cotroni (7-2-0) by
unanimous decision in six rounds.
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