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Wow! Both are in great shape. I hope it's a good scrap while it lasts.
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I know man I was agreeing with you - they aren't tomato cans! He's world class but the narrative with most posters on here is that he's a garbage champion. To fight like he did against Jack at age 40 was impressive to me.Comment
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I mean, Williams Jr was knocked out by Campillo, a defensive boxer who is not even a puncher, and Campillo was obliterated by both Kovalev and Beterbiev very early. I think Williams Jr is only considered a decent win for Stevenson because of how well he did... vs Stevenson! So that begs the question of how good Stevenson really is, or did Williams Jr just improve a lot, or what.
Fonfara was never good either. Knocked out in 1 round by Joe Smith. Took a long time to get Chavez Jr out of there which, I mean, Chavez Jr has a hell of a chin, but still, at 175, a top guy would have knocked Chavez Jr out in a round or two, in my opinion. Bellew is Stevenson's best win but even he was better at cruiserweight than light heavyweight. Cloud lost to old BHop who Kovalev dominated soon after. Beterbiev also KO'd Cloud in like his 3rd pro fight or something so... come on. You not wanting to call them tomato cans, well, it just depends on your definition. They're not top opponents at 175, that's for sure, not a single one. And Im not sure Gvozdyk is either. He's the best one of the lot but styles make fights and he was dropped before by a not huge puncher as well. So a chinny guy vs a big puncher, it always favors the puncher, stylistically. It's like how Garcia vs Linares was not a competitive matchup to me but Loma vs Linares was. Styles make fights. I think Haymon and the WBC picked Gvozdyk of all the top 5 guys as the one to finally do a mandatory against because he is the most beatable of them all for Stevenson.
Then again, I have to give Stevenson credit that at age 40, his style and his skill actually still matches up well vs all the top guys besides Alvarez. Alvarez is like Kovalev mixed with Badou Jack but with twice the chin of both of them and better stamina than both of them. Less power than Kovalev but that wont matter, he has enough to hurt Stevenson once he tired. Stevenson-Alvarez would be like Stevenson-Jack just much worse for Stevenson.
But everyone else... Beterbiev would beat the **** out of Stevenson if the fight went rounds, possibly even early, but his defense is way worse than Stevenson's so who are you going to bet on landing more first? Stevenson would have a good chance in that fight. Then there's Bivol who is tiny for the weight class, smallest top light heavyweight I have seen in years. I'd still pick him to beat Stevenson 3 out of 4 times because Stevenson would have a hard time catching him and Bivol still has enough power even with his lack of size to hurt Stevenson.
So for me, the hardest fights for Stevenson are in this order:
1. Alvarez
2. Bivol
3. Beterbiev
4. Gvozdyk
So is it a coincidence that he didn't fight #1 when he was the mandatory, but is fighting #4? We'll probably never know.
Anyway, I always rated Stevenson highly, he just ducked the best opponents so I stopped being a fan. And then you saw that even as good as he is, his gas tank is not the best, and he gets caught a fair amount, so someone durable with speed and power would beat him, or even just someone with great defense and speed and power. Like if Bivol was his size, it would be an easy fight to pick, just for example. But since Gvozdyk's defense isn't the best, and we saw him get hurt badly by Karpency, this might not be the fight to show it.Comment
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easy pick, Gwozdyk by TKO in 10-12 roundComment
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Superman looks sharp, and I believe him when he says he's committed to the KO. Gvozdyk just doesn't have the chin to escape 12 rounds without Adonis tagging him solid a few times. Mid rounds KO for Stevenson IMO.Comment
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Stevenson. Just go away. Must be sad.being stripped of your ring title for not fighting anyone. Such a huge joke of a *champion*Comment
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