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by David P. Greisman - Adonis Stevenson is the lineal light heavyweight champion. It is a position he earned with power when he knocked Chad Dawson down with one punch, and it is power that has kept him there since, with stoppage wins over Tavoris Cloud and Tony Bellew.
Sergey Kovalev holds a world title in the light heavyweight division and is vying for Stevenson’s spot. He, too, is a man who believes in and relies on his power. He won his title belt by blowing through Nathan Cleverly and has defended it since with knockouts of Ismayl Sillakh and Cedric Agnew.
Stevenson has scored knockouts or technical knockouts in all but three of his victories. Kovalev has picked up the KO or TKO in all but two of his wins. That is why we wanted to see them face each other. This isn’t a case of unstoppable force vs. immovable object. Rather, it would be unstoppable force vs. unstoppable force.
We now know who has more power, though in this case we speak figuratively instead of literally.
It is Stevenson, who proved it without ever stepping into the ring with Kovalev.
It remains to be seen whether Stevenson ever will step into the ring with him.
A year ago, neither man had fought on HBO or Showtime, the two major networks for boxing in the United States. Stevenson’s 2012 fight with Don George was originally supposed to be on a Showtime card underneath Tavoris Cloud vs. Jean Pascal, but that show was canceled and Stevenson-George ended up on WealthTV, as did Stevenson’s early 2013 rematch win over Darnell Boone. Kovalev, meanwhile, was being featured on NBC Sports Network boxing broadcasts. [Click Here To Read More]
Sergey Kovalev holds a world title in the light heavyweight division and is vying for Stevenson’s spot. He, too, is a man who believes in and relies on his power. He won his title belt by blowing through Nathan Cleverly and has defended it since with knockouts of Ismayl Sillakh and Cedric Agnew.
Stevenson has scored knockouts or technical knockouts in all but three of his victories. Kovalev has picked up the KO or TKO in all but two of his wins. That is why we wanted to see them face each other. This isn’t a case of unstoppable force vs. immovable object. Rather, it would be unstoppable force vs. unstoppable force.
We now know who has more power, though in this case we speak figuratively instead of literally.
It is Stevenson, who proved it without ever stepping into the ring with Kovalev.
It remains to be seen whether Stevenson ever will step into the ring with him.
A year ago, neither man had fought on HBO or Showtime, the two major networks for boxing in the United States. Stevenson’s 2012 fight with Don George was originally supposed to be on a Showtime card underneath Tavoris Cloud vs. Jean Pascal, but that show was canceled and Stevenson-George ended up on WealthTV, as did Stevenson’s early 2013 rematch win over Darnell Boone. Kovalev, meanwhile, was being featured on NBC Sports Network boxing broadcasts. [Click Here To Read More]
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