By Jake Donovan
At the very least, Adonis Stevenson needed to score the Knockout of the Year to salvage what has otherwise been a largely forgettable 2014 campaign.
By night’s end, the reigning World light heavyweight champion achieved the desired outcome, stopping Dmitry Sukhotsky in the fifth round of a voluntary title defense Friday evening in Quebec City, Canada. The result wasn’t the type of unforgettable moment, though, to make the viewing public forget about what he DIDN’T accomplish over the course of the past year.
The truth is, there was little Stevenson could have accomplished at the Colisee de Quebec to land back in favorable view of the boxing public. Failing to secure fights with the two best fighters in the division – Sergey Kovalev and Bernard Hopkins – was one thing. The fact that they wound up facing each other after he had fights with both on the table has cast the Haitian-Canadian in a very bad light.
Not the best look, and a miserable fall from grace after earning accolades in many circles – including BoxingScene.com – as the 2013 Fighter of the Year.
With 2014 a lost cause even before fight night began in Quebec City, Stevenson did his best to make the most of his final fight of the year. A theatrical entrance carried a “Superman” theme, in recognition of his boxing nickname and complete with a red cape as he made his way to the ring.
There was no kryptonite in sight to slow him down on this particular evening. Sukhotsky did absolutely nothing to earn a title shot, with his current four-fight win streak coming against meager opposition. Both of his career defeats heading into the contest took place outside of his native Russia. The light heavyweight suffered a landslide decision loss at the hands of journeyman Cornelius White in Las Vegas in July ’12, and came up well short in his lone title bid – a 12-round loss to Juergen Braehmer five years ago to the day in Germany.
His second career trip to North America ended in despair, suffering his first career stoppage in a bout which completely justified Stevenson entering as a 22:1 betting favorite.
Action was slow to begin, at times creating restlessness among those in attendance and viewers at home - particularly fans in the East Coast once again forced to watch a televised main event creep past midnight. Stevenson gradually picked up the pace, with the first moment of excitement coming with a flash knockdown scored in round two.
It was all Stevenson from there - really from the opening bell - as Sukhotsky looked every bit the part of a massive underdog.
The fateful end came in round five, as Stevenson let his hands go and eventually send his fans home happy. Three knockdowns came of the round, all the result of left hand shots to the chin, the last of which prompted veteran referee Michael Griffith to step in and stop the slaughter.
The official time was 2:46 of round five.
Stevenson entered the fight as boxing’s most scorned considering the manner in which he conducted himself over the past 12 months. The year began with his being groomed for an eventual showdown with Kovalev, in a matchup of the two best light heavyweights in the world. He singlehandedly destroyed any chance of that fight happening, deciding to renege on an agreement to move forward with the fight, instead signing with adviser Al Haymon and bolting from HBO to Showtime.
Now with the ability to put 2014 in the rearview mirror, Stevenson had a chance to come correct after the fight. In running his record to 25-1 (21KOs), there was only so much to talk about regarding the fight itself. The result was expected, and in fact much needed after struggling to a points win over Andrzej Fonfara earlier in the year, which was his first fight under Showtime.
Eventually the question came up of whether or not he’d face Kovalev in 2015. Credit to the Showtime staff for challenging its fighters on air in recent weeks: Floyd Mayweather was twice openly questioned about whether or not he’d face Manny Pacquiao; and on Friday evening, Kovalev’s name was mentioned throughout the broadcast, including during Stevenson’s post-fight interview with Showtime’s Jim Grey.
The response offered suggests that Stevenson either thinks he’s still in 2013, or that his lineal light heavyweight championship status automatically validates his continued decisions to watch the parade go by.
“Kovalev has to come to me. I'm the big champion,” insisted Stevenson, who has now won 12 straight. “I'm the RING Magazine champion, I beat the man. I'm the man at light heavyweight. They have to come to me.”
The only problem is that plenty in the division HAVE come to Stevenson. Not only did they not get to fight him, but the leading candidates have all been paired with one another.
There was a time when Kovalev was on the verge of going through 2014 without a viable dance partner. While Stevenson deserved blame for their fight not happening, the truth was that Kovalev’s handlers and HBO were struggling to find relevant opponents.
Stevenson, on the other hand, was looking at a lucrative fall showdown with Bernard Hopkins, who became a unified titlist earlier in the year following a landslide points win over Beibut Shumenov. A Stevenson-Hopkins showdown was to serve as the centerpiece of Showtime’s fall schedule on its flagship station, the perfect complement to the replay of Floyd Mayweather’s eventual rematch win over Marcos Maidana.
Instead, the network was left with a gaping hole in its schedule after Stevenson and his team failed to close yet another deal. Exactly who is to blame for Stevenson-Hopkins not happening is wide open to speculation. Some suggest that Hopkins was the one who walked away from what could have easily been a done deal; others hinted that the 49-year old – up against the clock with a decision to be made on a mandatory title defense waiting in the wings – wasn’t in the mood to play games and decided to instead go with the fight he knew could happen on his timeline.
Stevenson took a called third strike earlier this month, when Jean Pascal - his mandatory challenger and fellow Haitian-Canadian – agreed to terms for a March 14 showdown with Kovalev in Montreal. Pascal has been chasing Stevenson for the better part of the year, expressing his interest in fighting the reigning light heavyweight champ on this very night while an opponent was still being sought.
As we head into 2015, Stevenson may serve as the division’s true champion, but continues to learn the hard way that the view is lonely at the top. At present moment, the viewpoint among the boxing public is that – while the recognized champ – he is no longer considered the best in the division.
It doesn’t take much to change that perception; force the fights that will leave no doubt as to whom is the best. That starts with recognizing the toughest challenges out there, and then finding a way to lure them into the ring.
For whatever reason, the same man who once went out of his way to chase down an owed title fight versus Carl Froch is no longer interested in pounding his chest and demanding his peers step to him.
“I'll let Al Haymon and Groupe Yvon Michel take care of that,” Stevenson says of negotiating for fights with anyone who matters. “Me, my job is to go in the ring and knock everybody out.”
Stevenson managed that just once out of two tries in 2014 – unless you count the 12 months he’s spent knocking himself out of relevance.
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
