by Cliff Rold

Woe to the party deemed responsible…

Boxing fans wanted to see a showdown at light heavyweight between the two biggest punchers in the division. They still do. It hasn’t happened.

It may never.

When Adonis Stevenson initially opted to head for Showtime, the complications in making a fight with Sergey Kovalev increased. He became the guilty party.

He ducked the fight. Period. Right?

It was a little more complicated than that of course.

Kovalev’s team positioned and got him placed as a mandatory for Stevenson’s WBC belt after Stevenson’s initial move. It’s uncommon for a fighter holding any belt, much less the three (WBA, WBO, and IBF) Kovalev holds, to be rated by another organization. The WBC has made notable exceptions in the last couple years for Kovalev and Golovkin.

For Golovkin, he ended up with the belt without fighting when Canelo Alvarez opted to vacate rather than face Golovkin as a mandatory. Perhaps that’s what Kovalev’s team was hoping for. A bluff called, a belt awarded.

It didn’t work out that way. Stevenson’s team instead was the one that called the bluff and pushed for purse bids. Kovalev’s team withdrew and he’s since gravitated towards a high profile showdown with fellow HBO staple Andre Ward.

Stevenson has done some grandstanding in the ring after a Kovalev fight. He’s fought no-hope challengers Tommy Karpency and Dmitry Sukhotsky (and whoa did he) along with former super middleweight titlist Sakio Bika since an exciting defense against Andrzej Fonfara.

He’s mostly retained to the lion’s share of the blame in the public eye.

With that blame, an easy thing can be overlooked. Stevenson remains a very good fighter. He remains a lethal puncher. He remains history’s light heavyweight king.

And this Friday night, he has a defense that could make for a hell of a television scrap. 

Let’s go the report card.

The Ledgers

Adonis Stevenson

Age: 38

Title: Lineal/TBRB/WBC light heavyweight (2013-Present, 6 Defenses)

Previous Titles: Ring light heavyweight (2013-15, 6 Defenses)

Height: 5’11

Weight: 173 ½ lbs.

Hails from: Blainville, Quebec, Canada (Born in Haiti)

Record: 27-1, 22 KO, 1 KOBY?

Record in Major Title Fights: 7-0, 5 KO

Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 4 (Chad Dawson KO1; Tavoris Cloud RTD7; Tony Bellew TKO6; Sakio Bika UD12)

Vs.

Thomas Williams

Age: 28

Title/Previous Titles: None

Height: 6’1 

Weight: 174 ½ lbs.

Hails from: Fort Washington, Maryland

Record: 20-1, 14 KO, 1 KOBY

Record in Major Title Fights: 1st Title Opportunity

Rankings: Unrated

Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 1 (Gabriel Campillo RTD5)

Grades

Pre-Fight: Speed – Stevenson A-; Williams B+

Pre-Fight: Power – Stevenson A; Williams B+

Pre-Fight: Defense – Stevenson B; Williams C

Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Stevenson A; Williams B

The best advice for viewers heading into Friday night (Spike, 9 PM EST/6 PM PST) is don’t blink. Both men can punch and the style of Williams isn’t to be shy. In a memorable war with Edwin Rodriguez earlier this year, both men came out gunning. Williams got it done in two.

His best chance is to force a similar immediate war with Stevenson. Stevenson has shown his chin isn’t as invulnerable as his ‘Superman’ namesake. This is the champion’s first fight in almost a year while Williams has been in the ring twice since Stevenson’s last fight. There is a chance here for Williams to catch Stevenson cold. He’s going to have to risk getting caught himself.

To his credit, Williams has been willing to do that. He doesn’t fold the first time he gets touched. He fights back.

The problems for Williams start if he doesn’t get Stevenson out of there. In this battle of southpaws, Stevenson is the better tactician. Williams often throws wide and, while Stevenson can as well, the champion is an underrated boxer. Williams is wide open on the attack. If Stevenson times those openings, Williams will get hit with more power than he’s yet seen as a pro.

Stevenson has a good jab and sneaky speed. He is quicker than Williams, throws straighter, and his power is better. Can there be decline? Aside from inactivity, Stevenson is also getting up there in years. His relative lack of professional rounds suggests less wear and tear than many a 38-year old. The calendar still favors the young.

While Williams showed some resilience against Rodriguez, his lone loss raises questions about his stamina. He gassed and was outclassed against slick Gabriel Campillo. That can happen on the way up against a cagey veteran.

Stevenson had his own stumble. Early in his career, big punching Darnell Boone taught him some hard lessons in a second round stoppage loss. Stevenson showed his growth in coming back from a late knockdown against Fonfara, digging deep to come up with a title saving effort in the late rounds.

If Williams has to keep coming late, has he grown in the same way? Can we see an upset here?   

The Pick

This is a dangerous fight for both men early. It will remain dangerous for Williams later. The evidence suggests that is less true for the champion. Both men have had issues with stamina but we’ve seen Stevenson pull through and find a second wind against Fonfara. Williams couldn’t do the same against Campillo and he hasn’t been asked since. 

This is the sort of style clash that can be unpredictable because until the first couple rounds are in the bank, we won’t know how effective Williams’ early attack has been. The safe bet is that the faster, harder hitting man wins enough of the early exchanges to endure. When he does, Stevenson will be in the driver’s seat. Both men could be hurt; they might even both hit the deck. When the smoke clears, the last man standing should be hear the words, “…and still.”

The pick is Stevenson by stoppage.  

 Report Card and Staff Picks 2016: 29-10

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com