The long light heavyweight title reign of Adonis Stevenson came crashing down in Quebec City on December 1, when Oleksandr Gvozdyk announced his arrival as an elite champion light heavyweight.
Gvozdyk (16-0, 13 KO) knocked out Stevenson (29-2-1, 24 KO) at 2:49 of the 11th round to win the WBC title, sending the defending champion to a local hospital’s intensive care unit in critical condition. By the end of the bout, the 41-year-old Stevenson was running on empty and Gvozdyk took full advantage, backing the champ into a corner before knocking him senseless with a flurry of shots to the head. [Stevenson’s condition was later upgraded to stable.]
The 31-year-old Ukrainian displayed excellent technique and resilience in winning the fight, overcoming difficulties early and late in the battle. Stevenson’s strong
left hand found the range in the first couple of rounds as the wily veteran danced around, threw some set-up jabs and then followed up with a cracking left.
Round 3 saw Gvozdyk score with what was a clean knockdown with his first punch after the bell, only to have referee Michael Griffin wave it off, calling it a slip. Stevenson clearly felt the punch with Gvozdyk getting within range, landing some rights, blocking some of Stevenson’s lefts and allowing himself to stay in the pocket and counter.
Unable to reach Gvozdyk’s head, Stevenson expanded his arsenal by attacking the body, finding cracks in the challenger’s defenses, nullifying his forward thrust.
Gvozdyk got his technique going in the eighth round, ducking out of the way of Stevenson’s power punches before setting back up and firing his right hand to the head. A simple and clean plan of attack was effective, but potential danger still loomed.
The 10th round saw Stevenson land a thundering left that sent Gvozdyk crashing into the ropes, his legs wobbling. The Ukrainian survived thanks to the ropes and a smart clinch, coming back at the end of the frame with a series of right hands. This was an omen of what came next, as Gvozdyk would end the bout toward the end of the next round to become the new world champion.
In the 11th, Gvozdyk was really focused, finally finding a consistent home for his punishing right hand. A series of damaging blows – right hand, left hook, two more powerful rights – put Stevenson down hard in the corner, and in a few seconds it was over, with referee Griffin waving things off without bothering to count.
Gvozdyk now officially joins a talented field at the top of the light heavyweight division, which includes Eleider Alvarez of Colombia (WBO champion, 24-0, 12 KO), Artur Beterbiev of Russia (IBF champion, 13-0, 13 KO), Dmitry Bivol of Russia (WBA champion, 15-0, 11 KO), Badou Jack of Sweden (22-1-3, 13 KO) and Sergey Kovalev of Russia (32-3-1, 28 KO).
After the fight, Gvozdyk praised his new trainer, Teddy Atlas.
“This win means everything to me,” he said in a post-fight press briefing. “I’ve trained my whole life for this and tonight all of the hard work was worth it. Having Teddy in my corner was a huge help. He knew exactly what to say to me. We trained so well for this fight and I knew I was going to get the knockout. Adonis was a great champion, but it’s my time now. He got me with a good shot in the tenth round, but I handled it and finished him.”
Stevenson was ahead on two judges’ cards and tied on the third when the fight was stopped.
Gvozdyk’s future is clearly very bright. The 175-pound division has plenty of challenging talent with opportunities for unification fights, as each of the four major world titles are currently held by a different boxer.