By Keith Idec
Adonis Stevenson fights infrequently and turned 40 since he made his last title defense.
The WBC light heavyweight champion remains as confident as ever, though. The powerful southpaw promised during a recent press conference in Toronto to prove that he is the best light heavyweight in boxing when he battles Badou Jack on May 19 at Air Canada Centre.
“Badou Jack is an excellent opponent,” Stevenson said. “He’s smart, he’s been a world champion and he’s shown he’s a true competitor. But I am the best light heavyweight in the world, and Toronto and the world will see that on May 19.”
The Haitian-born, Quebec-based Stevenson considers himself better than WBO champ Sergey Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KOs), WBA champ Dmitry Bivol (13-0, 11 KOs), IBF champ Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) and every other boxer that competes at 175 pounds.
By the time Stevenson steps in the ring to face Jack, he won’t have fought in 11½ months. In his last title defense, Stevenson (29-1, 24 KOs) knocked out Poland’s Andrzej Fonfara (29-5, 17 KOs, 1 NC) in the second round of an unnecessary rematch June 3 at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Sweden’s Jack (22-1-2, 13 KOs) stopped Wales’ Nathan Cleverly (30-4, 16 KOs) in the fifth round of his last bout to win the WBA world light heavyweight title August 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Jack quickly gave up that 175-pound championship because he was assured that he would get a crack at Stevenson in his next fight.
“Badou Jack is a good champion,” said Stevenson, who also participated in a press conference Wednesday in Montreal. “He’s not coming to Canada to lose. I know he’s coming to win, so we need to train like we’ve never trained before.
“I know Badou is one of the best boxers in the world and I can’t take him lightly. We can’t underestimate this guy – he’s a two-time world champion.”
The Stevenson-Jack clash will headline Showtime’s split-site doubleheader May 19. In the opening bout, Gary Russell Jr. (28-1, 17 KOs) will defend his WBC featherweight title against mandatory challenger Joseph Diaz Jr. (26-0, 14 KOs) at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.