By Ian S Palmer
Haitian-born Quebecer Adonis “Superman” Stevenson will be defending his WBC Light Heavyweight Title against Swedish-born Badou Jack of Las Vegas this Saturday, May 19th. The 12-round bout has ended up at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and can be seen live in the U.S. On Showtime while British fans can catch the action on Sky sports. Stevenson’s last fight took place in June when he stopped Andrzej Fonfara in the second round of their rematch. Jack’s last outing was in August when he stopped Nathan Cleverly in the fifth round.
Stevenson’s now 40 years old and will climb into the ring with an impressive record of 29-1 along with 24 Kos and has put together a 16-fight winning streak. The southpaw is regarded as one of the sport’s hardest hitters with a current knockout ratio of 80 per cent. This will be Stevenson’s ninth title defence and he also owns the linear light heavyweight crown. He’s not invincible though as he was knocked out by Darnell Boone in the second round back in April of 2010 in his only defeat.
Stevenson stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a 77-inch wingspan. He turned pro back in 2006 and has 131 rounds under his belt since then. He’s been heavily criticized for ducking the top light heavyweights around and will arguably be facing his toughest opponent to date in Jack. Stevenson’s biggest career wins have come against Chad Dawson for the title in 2013, as well as Derek Edwards, Tavoris Cloud, Jesus Gonzalez, Aaron Pryor Jr., Tony Bellew, Dmitry Sukhotsky, Sakio Bika and Tommy Karpency. He also stopped Darnell Boone in their rematch to avenge his only defeat.
The 34-year-old Jack is a former WBC Super Middleweight Titleholder and then won the WBA Light Heavyweight Title in against Cleverly in his last outing. He enters the ring with a record of 22-1-2 with 13 Kos. Jack possesses a good jab, decent and underrated power and is a good counterpuncher. He’s not a spectacular boxer, but is a solid one. The only loss on his record came at the hands of Derek Edwards in an upset via a first-round stoppage in February of 2014.
His draws came against James DeGale in January, 2017 and a 10-found affair against Marco Antonio Periban in September of 2013. His best wins have been over Cleverly, George Groves, Lucian Bute, Anthony Dirrell and Rogelio Medina. Jack has as habit of dropping his hands and sometimes lunging in and he’ll need to keep these traits to a minimum against Stevenson or he’ll pay for it. He stands 6-feet-1-inch tall and has a 73-inch, so is a couple of inches taller than Stevenson, but has a four-inch disadvantage in reach.
Jack is a former Olympian who has boxed 147 rounds since turning pro in 2009. He has a solid chin as well as plenty of heart and determination and carries around a knockout ratio of 52 per cent. He’s fought two or three times in the past as a light heavyweight, but most of his career has been in the 168 lb super middleweight division. He’s got the frame to carry 175 lbs though and is obviously comfortable doing so.
Prediction…
This is a close fight to call as it’s basically going to come down to Stevenson’s power and Jack’s chin. From what I’ve seen, it looks like Jack has the better chin while Stevenson possesses more power. Therefore, if Jack catches him just right we may see Stevenson hit the canvas. Either way it’s a good matchup and Jack could conceivably outbox or stop Stevenson while I think Stevenson needs to win by stoppage. Don’t be surprised be any outcome here, including a draw, but I think Jack has a slight edge and will take Stevenson’s crown in a close battle.
