Adonis Stevenson

Adonis Stevenson

Haiti-born Stevenson came late to the sport of boxing and a brief amateur career saw him pick up a silver medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He soon joined the paid ranks and quickly hit the winning trail with only one of his first five opponents able to survive the first round. Fighting out of Montreal, the titles quickly followed for Stevenson until he bumped into the durable, yet limited, gatekeeper to the super-middleweight division in Darnell Boone. Boone had lost his last five and it looked like Stevenson would blow him away after decking him twice in the first round. But a reckless assault in the second left Stevenson wide open and Boone ended it there and then with a solid right hand. It was a salutary lesson for the ambitious Stevenson, barely out of the rookie stage but already with designs on the bigger names in the division. After taking a year off the knockouts resumed. Indeed he has won eight straight since that loss, including a re-match victory over Boone earlier this year. But his string of knockout wins had earned Stevenson too big a reputation, and the title fights were not immediately forthcoming. However, the chance to challenge WBC light-heavyweight champion Chad Dawson was too good to turn down, and he brushed off the step up in weight to lay Dawson out with just 76 seconds on the clock. 'Superman' had officially arrived.