By Jake Donovan
Even if Adonis Stevenson doesn’t wind up winning 2013 Fighter of the Year honors, the light heavyweight king is still enjoying a year to remember.
Less than a week after taking part in a photo shoot and dinner honoring the new faces of HBO, Stevenson is now officially locked in for the first defense of his light heavyweight title. The knockout artist will meet former beltholder Tavoris Cloud on September at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
“Superman Returns is now official,” promoter Yvon Michel exclaimed once hearing the news that Cloud was finally on board. “Adonis Stevenson is facing Tavoris Cloud in Montreal, September 28 on HBO.”
Stevenson (20-1-1, 18KO) and his team were on board at the beginning of August but were just waiting on Cloud’s team to sign all documents to make the bout official.
Cloud’s side submitted their signed agreement to Michel’s GYM Promotions office on Monday. The bout will air live on HBO, giving the network major fights on its airwaves on six out of seven weekends through mid-November.
The bout marks Stevenson’s first defense of the lineal light heavyweight championship he won in emphatic fashion, knocking out Chad Dawson in just over a minute this past June in Montreal. Stevenson has scored knockouts in each of his past eight fights, including a 6th round stoppage of Darnell Boone to avenge his lone loss from three years ago.
Cloud (24-1, 19KO) fights for the first time since landing on the wrong side of history. The Floridian conceded his light heavyweight belt to Bernard Hopkins this past March. The feat made Hopkins, 48, the oldest fighter in boxing history to win a major title, breaking his own record set two years ago when he beat Jean Pascal to win the light heavyweight championship at age 46.
Hopkins lost the belt to Dawson in their April ’12 rematch, with Dawson giving up the crown to Stevenson in his lone defense.
Many expect the showdown with Cloud to become an instant hit and a Fight of the Year entrant, which speaks volumes to the risk Stevenson is taking in accepting the fight. The Haiti-born, Canada-based southpaw has already put ink to paper for a mandatory title defense against Tony Bellew, which has to take place before years end.
“We plan to keep Superman very busy, as you can see,” Michel modestly says of the risk.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
