‘THE QUEST FOR THE MAN OF STEEL’
DOUBLE WORLD LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP ACTION
ADONIS STEVENSON VS. TONY BELLEW
SERGEY KOVALEV VS. ISMAYL SILLAKH
Saturday, November 30 from Colisee Pepsiin Quebec City, Canada
Televised Live on HBO Boxing After Dark®
MONTREAL(October 17, 2013) — The World Boxing Council (WBC), The Ring Magazine and lineal World light heavyweight champion, Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (22-1, 19 KOs), has promised to be a spectacular, popular and active champion. He is keeping his word, fighting more impressively with each other victory, as he now prepares for his fourth fight in 2013.
Stevenson’s third world championship fight in a five month period, to air in the United States on HBO®, will be in the main event against his mandatory challenger and the WBC’s No. 1 contender, England’s Tony ‘Bomber’ Bellew (20-1-1, 12 KOs), on Saturday, November 30 at Colisee Pepsiin Quebec City, Canada. The event will televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark, beginning at 10:15 p. m. ET/PT.
As a bonus, Quebecers will also have the pleasure of watching a second world light heavyweight title fight in the same ring as undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KOs), who like Stevenson is one of the most feared hitters in boxing today, defends his crown for the first time against challenger Ismayl “The Black Russian” Sillakh (21-1, 17 KOs) in the co-feature.
“The Quest of the Man of Steel” event, featuring double world light heavyweight championship action — Stevenson vs. Bellew and Kovalev vs. Sillakh — is being co-promoted by Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) and InterBox, in association with Matchroom Boxing and Main Events, and co-presented by Mise- O -Jeu and Videotron.
According to GYM president Yvon Michel, “This attractive boxing event also helps bring international prestige to the beautiful City of Quebec for the first time since Pascal vs. Hopkins and Bute vs. Johnson. We find ourselves with valuable support, including Mayor Régis Labeaume and his team, whom we thank for their co-operation.”
“We are very happy to be participating in this event as co-promoter in the wonderful city of Quebec,” InterBox President Jean Bédard said. “We will put all our resources and knowledge at the forefront in order to contribute to the success of this event.”
The 36-year-old Stevenson, now living in Blainville (Quebec, Canada), won his world heavyweight title by way of a first-round knockout in 76 seconds over “Bad” Chad Dawson who was considered at that time the undisputed King of the Light Heavyweights. In Stevenson’s first defense (September 28), former world champion Tavoris Cloud (24-1, 19 KOs) was supposed to be a major test for the new world champion. It was quite different as the powerful left-hander pressured Cloud from the start, forcing the challenger to retire at the end of the seventh round. Stevenson gave Cloud a boxing lesson, displaying brilliant skills, finesse, speed and defensive power.
“Stevenson – ‘The Man of Steel’ – is receiving universal recognition as an exceptional boxer, as well as a superior athlete who, through his most recent performances, has risen to the level of his generation’s greatest champions,” Michel declared. “Adonis Stevenson is already considered a major international attraction in professional boxing. Every time he goes into the ring, he has an opportunity to increase its visibility and reputation.”
The powerful southpaw Stevenson is on a nine-fight win streak, all ending on sensational knockouts, over Cloud (TKO7 ), Dawson (KO1), Darnell Boone (KO6), Don George (TKO12), Noe Gonzalez (TKO2), Jesus Gonzales (KO1), Aaron Pryor, Jr. (TKO9), Shujaa El Amin (TKO1) and Derek Edwards (KO3). In fact, the last Stevenson fight that went the distance dates back to 2007.
The 30-year-old Bellew is a native of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. After a great amateur boxing career, he turned professional in 2007 and later won the Commonwealth (2010-2011) title and he still holds the WBC Silver Belt (2012). He has suffered only one loss to then WBO world champion Nathan Cleverly in 2011. He earned his mandatory challenger position by taking the measure of Isaac Chilemba on points in a WBC title eliminator this last May 25 in the co-feature a Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler headlined card in the UK. Among his notable victories was a ninth-round technical knockout of the usually durable Colombian Edison Miranda (35-7, 30 KOs).
The WBO light heavyweight championship bout between champion Kovalev and challenger Sillakh has also raised a lot of interest around the world. Kovalev once terrorized boxing rings around the world representing the Russian National Team. Now a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he continues in the same vein as a professional, stopping 20 of his 22 opponents, including his last six in a row. In his WBO world title fight last August in England, he was so strong that he tore the title belt from defending champion Cleverly (26-0, 12 KOs), by way of a fourth-round knockout, putting an end to his nearly three-year reign, including six consecutive world championship fights. Kovalev has fought only 61 rounds during his pro career in 22 fights. Eighteen of his 22 fights have ended three rounds or less.
Sillakh was one of the most decorated amateurs of his time in international boxing. The former World Cup champion as an amateur turned pro in 2008. In 2012, he was ranked the WBC No. 1 contender, before losing for the first and only time to Denis Grachev (11-0-1, 7 KOs) by eighth-round TKO. Sillakh has his last four fights to reappear in the world rankings.
Undercard fights will soon be announced as InterBox and GYM are working hard to set up another memorable event.
Tickets will go on sale this Saturday (Oct. 19) at 10:00 a.m. ET, at Pepsi Coliseum box office, on www.billeteck.com, at GYM (514) 383-0666, InterBox (Marie-Josée Fontaine) (450) 645-1041 or Boxing Club Champion (514) 376-0980. Ticket prices range from $50 in the red up to $300 on the floor.
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As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
