There’s not much buzz or anticipation floating around the boxing twitter-sphere about the Showtime doubleheader coming up this Saturday. There are a few reasons why mainly due to Adonis Stevenson career being stuck in neutral since he shocked the world via first round KO versus then respected Chad Dawson in 2013. Over the last few years Adonis failed to make his mark in a division that featured Bernard Hopkins, Jean Pascal, and Sergey Kovalev.
(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp/SHOWTIME)
His flashy lifestyle and past transgressions outside the ring combined with a mediocre resume has left him as an afterthought. Which brings us to a rematch with Andrzej Fonfara that nobody asked for especially at this point in time, one could make a case for the rematch a few years ago as a bridge fight between bigger challenges but that’s about it. In the meantime, Fonfara has taken far more damage including a first round knockout via Joe Smith Jr. about a year ago on NBC. What makes it worse is the winner of this worthless rematch has to face a mandatory challenger who Stevenson should’ve just fought in the first place.
Here’s hoping that Fonfara has enough in the tank to engage Stevenson thus making for a spirited scrap out of this untimely do-over. It should be added Fonfara even after being dominated for majority of the rounds did drop Stevenson in their first meeting. Ultimately Adonis’s speed and power generated by the left hand will be once again too much for Fonfara.
Unbeaten Eleider Alvarez meets well past his prime Jean Pascal in the co-feature with the winner landing a shot at the lineal light heavyweight title for whatever that’s worth. In 2015, Alvarez earned a tough majority decision over Isaac Chilemba. It seemed Eleider’s development had stalled in 2016 facing nondescript opponents. 2017 started with a bang when Alvarez knockout Lucian Bute back in February.
Now Alvarez attempts to make it back to back victories over well known fighters in Canada. His opponent is Jean Pascal a solid boxer who’s challenged himself against the best the 175-pound division had to offer but is long in the tooth to say the least. Prior to a tune-up bout last December, the wear and tear on Pascal reared its ugly head three fights in a row.
If Alvarez fights at a slow pace it would keep Pascal in his comfort zone where he’s still relatively dangerous. It’s best Alvarez remains active to win the early rounds by pilling up points and invest in body punching to finish off Pascal once and for all. If he lets Pascal get confident Jean may be able to find his rhythm and timing to pot shot from the outside. Pascal’s heart could make this bout both entertaining and sad depending upon on your angle.
Although Pascal should retire I totally understand from a business point of view making this a reality. If Alvarez handles his business he will have beaten big named stars in the country in Bute and Pascal which in turn adds importance to a Stevenson matchup. If Pascal pulls the upset, even at this stage a fight against Stevenson would be important to Montreal and Quebec City.
This card is a good example of a bell-ringer meaning I don’t really care about it until the bell rings because I’m a boxing fan at heart.
My official prediction is Stevenson by late stoppage and Alvarez by unanimous decision.
Written by Chris Carlson Host of the Rope A Dope Radio Podcast available at blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Subscribe on iTunes, Player.FM, Tunein, & Stitcher. Visit The Rope A Dope Podcast YouTube Channel & Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio