Ok, I know everyone is assuming Sergey Kovalev or Artur Beterbiev will walk right through Adonis Stevenson if they catch him, but I gotta say I am not so sure. Adonis clearly showed he can take a punch better than his reputation, as he walked straight through Bika's shots. Now, Pascal is iron chinned, and Kovalev still knocked him out, so I am not saying this result won't happen. However, if you think it is happening the first time Sergey lands, you are in for a surprise. And Stevenson was able to drop Bika twice, an iron-chinned opponent. Beterbiev and Kovalev have both been dropped early by far lesser fighters. Add to that, Stevenson is a fast starter, and we could have a much more even fight indeed.
What I am saying is that the crunching power and average chin may exist on all 3 men's arsenals, and when that is even, we are left with boxing skills. Kovalev has already shown he possesses them, and is maturing. Stevenson, while limited in his punch selection, is quite advanced in his timing, placement, and use of a mixed attack. His lateral movement and punch selection reminds me of Sergio Martinez. However, Beterbiev is being rushed. He knocks out a couple of shot former champs, and people are getting far too excited. He does have intelligence and crunching power, but he is not ready for either Sergey or Adonis, and to rush him would be a mistake. If I am Superman Stevenson, I would take that fight tomorrow. He would likely win it, and it would silence all the critics who say he is running from tough fights.
He will have beaten the second biggest perceived threat to him, while Kovalev was fulfilling a useless mandatory against Mohamedi. This is a big money fight anyway, but Stevenson would not be dismissed after he lost to Kovalev (if he does), if he had taken the Beterbiev fight. Odds are that he will instead take a useless tune-up or mandatory... or even a Chavez Jr fight if JC wins, but looks bad (which he likely will) against Fonfara. This is too frequent a plan in boxing today, and it is dulling the luster of what was starting out as an exciting year. It still is an exciting year, with network TV back in the mix, and Mayweather-Pacquiao happening, but the middle of the year is being dogged by a bad-looking drop-off.
Khan is avoiding Brook, and Quigg-Frampton are avoiding each other, while Rigo looks for opponents. What happened to Quillin vs Jacobs? What happened to Wilder vs. Fury? What happened to Lomachenko vs. Walters? We seem to be hearing a lot of nothing regarding those fights. Many of them involve Haymon and/or Arum, who are famous for delaying the fights that the public wants to see, but I hope we do not lose Stevenson-Kovalev for the same reason. I never thought I'd say it, but at least the WBC is trying to force men like Stevenson and Cotto (both champs, but not number 1 in their division) to face the number 1 guy. A sanctioning body on the side of right? A boxing first, for sure.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com
