Nearly a year out of the ring hasn’t dulled the potency of Adonis Stevenson’s straight left hand. The lineal light-heavyweight champion needed less than two rounds to repeatedly blitz Andrzej Fonfara to force a ring apron stoppage from trainer Virgil Hunter.
Fonfara never recovered from getting caught with a left-hand counter early in the first round. He was dropped by the shot and nearly stopped as the bell rung. The second was a continuation of the first before Hunter saved his client from a more brutal stoppage.
What would have been an intriguing rematch 2 years ago was rendered pointless by recent developments. Since Fonfara’s notable showing in the first bout, he’s had a brutal Fight of the Year candidate against Nathan Cleverly and got destroyed in one round against Joe Smith Jr. That wear and tear seemed notable in Fonfara looking more like a pinata than a fighter Saturday night.
As for Stevenson, we can say a lot about his putrid level of competition over the last 5 years. However, what can’t be debated is he remains one of the more lethal hitters in the sport (he hurt Fonara badly while backpedaling). Like most PBC fighters, he affirmed in his post-fight interview that he’ll fight whomever Al Haymon puts in front of him. Logically, that should be the winner of Kovalev-Ward II or Eleider Alvarez. Otherwise, it’s just more of the same for a 39-year old champion whose time at the elite level can end at any given moment.
.@AdonisSuperman sends @andrzej_fonfara to the canvas in the opening round. #StevensonFonfara2 pic.twitter.com/PUE2Y94xrI
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 4, 2017
ELEIDER ALVAREZ MD JEAN PASCAL: This was an entertaining scrap. At this stage, the 34-year old Pascal doesn’t have the same explosive athleticism that won him the light-heavyweight title from Chad Dawson. But he still has a huge heart, and it allowed Pascal to go the distance despite being rocked several times by Alvarez. Whenever it seemed like Pascal might be going out, he fired back with body shots and occasionally landed some flashy left hook counter upstairs.
In the end, it was Alvarez’s consistent jab that kept Pascal controlled to take a majority decision (117-111, 116-112, 114-114). The win positions Alvarez as a top contender for Stevenson’s WBC title.
We’ve got ourselves a fight. @stormalvarez and @jeanpascalchamp are throwing punches in numbers. #AlvarezPascal pic.twitter.com/BVhq3qWrYe
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 4, 2017
.@stormalvarez swarms @jeanpascalchamp to the ropes in round 9. #AlvarezPascal pic.twitter.com/X6xTSlbxbA
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 4, 2017
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 