Adonis Stevenson, who had reigned as WBC light heavyweight champion since 2013, was fighting for his life after suffering a vicious knockout on Saturday night.
Adonis Stevenson, the 41-year-old Haitian-born Canadian boxing star who reigned as World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion since defeating American Chad Dawson on June 8 of 2013, per BoxRec, remained in critical condition in a Quebec hospital on Sunday morning after suffering a brutal knockout loss to Ukrainian challenger Oleksandr Gvozdy, who is 10 years his junior, on Saturday night at Videotron Centre in Quebec City.
The fight was broadcast on Showtime Championship Boxing as part of the run-up to the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury heavyweight title fight later that night in Los Angeles, as Inquisitr reported.
Stevenson, who had previously lost only one fight — and not since 2010 — took a flurry of hard punches from the undefeated (16-0) Ukrainian in the final seconds of the 11th round of their title bout. “In the 11th, Gvozdyk swarmed and landed a hard right hand that snapped Stevenson’s head back and sent him reeling to a corner, where Gvozdyk finished him with a power punch that sent Stevenson crumpling to the canvas,” The Los Angeles Times reported in its description of the knockout, which came with 13 seconds remaining in the round.
While Stevenson was stretchered out of the arena and taken to a nearby hospitably ambulance, the extent go his injuries were not immediately evident, according to an account by Britain’s Daily Mail.
Watch the brutal 11th round knockout in the Stevenson-Gvozdyk fight in the video below, courtesy of Showtime Championship Boxing.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=gDQZt-Y1wZM%3Ffeature%3Doembed
At about 2:30 a.m. local time, approximately five hours after the fight ended, Stevenson’s promoter Yvon Michel released a statement revealing that the boxer was in the intensive care unit.
“The family of Adonis and Yvon Michel are currently with Adonis Stevenson. They want to inform friends and supporters that Adonis is currently in critical condition in intensive care, at the hospital, following his fight against Oleksander Gvozdyk,” Michel said in the statement, according to Boxing Scene. “They appreciate the concern and support of everyone. There will be no further comments at this time and they respectfully request your understanding in their desire to stay private.”
The World Boxing Council also sent a message to Stevenson, via Twitter.
With the knockout, Stevenson lost his title and Gvozdyk, who trains out of the Boxing Lab gym in Oxnard, California, walked away with the WBC Light Heavyweight belt. Before Gvozdyk erupted with his 11th-round flurry, the WBC title fight had been even, with one judge recording a 95-95 scorecard at the time of the KO.
Stevenson had stunned Gvozdyk with a right and in they 10th round, but the younger fighter came back to land combination that weakened Stevenson, leading to the 11th-round knockout.
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