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Adonis Stevenson Knocks Out
Dmitry Sukhotsky To Retain WBC Light Heavyweight World
Championship
Photos: Amanda Kwok - SHOWTIME
Adonis Stevenson defended his
WBC Light Heavyweight World Championship for the fourth time
with a devastating fifth-round knockout of Russian
challenger Dmitry Sukhotsky in the main event of SHOWTIME
BOXING: SPECIAL EDITION on Friday at Pepsi Coliseum in
Quebec City, Canada.
Known for his knockouts, the southpaw champion was patient
early, not forcing the action against a defensive Sukhotsky.
When Sukhotsky did decide to punch, Stevenson was extremely
effective with his counter shots and floored the challenger
with a straight left in the closing seconds of the second
round.
Stevenson (25-1, 21 KOs) hit his stride in the fifth,
knocking down Sukhotsky with a straight left and then
flooring him for a third time seconds after Sukhotsky beat
the count. The onslaught continued, with the Haitian-born
Canadian going for the kill and attacking with a series of
vicious lefts. The final shot landed flush on the chin,
knocking Sukhotsky (22-3, 16 KOs) out at 2:42 of the round.
“I gave a beautiful knockout for SHOWTIME,” Stevenson said.
“I just used my speed, my movement. I have the power and I
know the knockouts are going to come. I’m not going to force
it. I was just waiting for him and, bang, I caught him. I
wanted to hit him with my left hand and it worked.
“I’m the big champion. He has to come to me,” said Stevenson
of any challengers. “I’m the man in the light heavyweight
division. They have to come to me. My job is to go in the
ring and knock everybody out. I’m a ‘Superman.’”
In the co-feature, Jo Jo Dan won another razor close
split-decision over hometown favorite Kevin Bizier in a
welterweight rematch of their 2013 bout, scored 115-112 Dan,
114-113 Bizier, 114-113 Dan.
The early rounds were extremely close with back-and-forth
action that could have gone either way. Bizier had his best
round in the seventh, landing 38 punches to Dan’s 12 and
flooring the Romanian for the first time since 2011. But the
Quebec City native may have punched himself out, as Dan
rallied and was the more active fighter from that point on.
Dan landed 113 to just 78 for Bizier from the eighth through
the 12th rounds.
“It was a very hard fight,” Dan said. “Kevin is a warrior. I
did my best in the ring. I think I controlled the action and
I think I won the fight. He changed a lot from the first
right. He moved a lot, and he surprised me with that. He
caught me, but I came up and I came up stronger. He spent
all his energy to put me down.”
With the win, Dan (34-2, 18 KOs) became the IBF No. 1
contender to champion Kell Brook at 147 pounds.
“Yes, of course (I’d fight Bizier again), but first I want
to fight Kell Brook,” Dan said. “I hope we’ll make an
exciting fight like this one.”
After the fight, Bizier (23-2, 16 KOs) was disappointed to
again be on the losing end of a close split-decision.
“All the close rounds went to Jo Jo,” Bizier said. “We knew
we had to win those last two rounds and I guess they gave it
to him. When I hurt Jo Jo in the seventh I hurt my right
hand. At that point, I was fighting with one hand.
“Let’s fight again. Why not? The first two fights were
close. I don’t know why, but the judges just seem to give
the close rounds to him.”
Super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell was triumphant in
his return to SHOWTIME, registering a near-shutout 12-round
decision over Derek Edwards, scored 119-109, 120-108,
119-107.
The switch-hitting Dirrell fought entirely from the southpaw
stance and dominated the bout from the opening bell, landing
lefts and combinations with ease while breaking down Edwards
and maintaining his distance. Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) landed
46 percent of his power punches compared to Edwards’ 19
percent. Edwards (27-4-1, 14 KOs) only managed to land one
jab through the entire 12 rounds.
“I want to perfect my craft as far as fighting southpaw,”
Dirrell said. “I was shooting the left hand. This guy has a
tough, tough head so I’m not going to doubt my power one
bit. I’m glad to walk away with a victory. My knuckle was
hurting but it wasn’t bad enough that I couldn’t throw it.
This boy could take a punch.
“I’m getting there. I’m proud of my performance, but it was
a tough 12 rounds.”
Dirrell, who advanced to the No. 2 spot in the IBF super
middleweight standings, was asked after the fight by
SHOWTIME reporter Jim Gray if he’d like to avenge his lone
loss to IBF 168-pound champ Carl Froch.
“I believe he’s scared to fight me,” Dirrell said. “It’s too
risky a fight to take. But I’m going to push it to the best
of my ability. There’s a win on his record that’s
questionable to everyone in the world. Give me the rematch.
Prove to your fans that you beat me and try to do it again.
Step in the ring with Andre Dirrell and you’re going to see
what I’m all about.”
In the opening bout of the telecast, undefeated light
heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev kept his perfect
record intact with his seventh knockout in his seventh
professional bout, finishing previously unbeaten Jeff Page
Jr. at 2:21 of the second round.
Page (15-1, 10 KOs) surprised Beterbiev in the first,
knocking down the former Russian amateur champion for the
first time in his career. But Beterbiev (7-0, 7 KOs) stormed
back in the second, roughed Page up in the inside and
floored the Kansas native. Page beat the count but was dazed
and Beterbiev finished him with a lead right hand that sent
Page face-forward to the canvas.
“I felt a bit sleepy before the fight and I don’t think I
was concentrating for a fraction of a second (in the first
round),” Beterbiev said. “I got angry after the knockdown
and decided to go forward. I have a lot to learn in
professional boxing, but I’m looking forward to the
experience.”
When asked if he thinks he could beat WBO/WBA/IBF Champion
Sergey Kovalev, who he defeated as an amateur, Beterbiev was
noncommittal.
“I beat him (Kovalev) as an amateur so I can’t say much,”
Beterbiev said. “It’s hard to say right now.”
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