The WBC light heavyweight titleist—currently the second-longest reigning champion in boxing—gets another opportunity to add to his legacy this Saturday night when he faces former two-division title holder Badou Jack on Showtime.
Adonis Stevenson has that kind of bellowing laugh you still could hear around a New York City street corner during rush hour. It cuts through the din and white noise, strikes you at the base of the spine and works its way to your head. You have to find it.
The WBC and lineal world light heavyweight champion says he’s really not that hard to find, despite what some boxing people say. He laughs at it all.
He laughs at the boxing media that cover the sport. He laughs at Sergey Kovalev’s assertion that he’s afraid to fight him. He laughs at the notion he’s one of the most disrespected champions in the sport today.
The beauty of Stevenson (29-1, 24 KOS) is that he’s entirely comfortable within his own skin. What gets lost is anyone that gets in the ring with Stevenson doesn’t exactly feel the same way.
Badou Jack (22-1-2, 13 KOs) will try and shake Stevenson’s comfort level and confidence, when the former light heavyweight and super middleweight world champion tries to wrest Stevenson’s 175-pound WBC title away on this Saturday night on a Showtime-televised card (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) from the Air Canada Centre, in Toronto, Canada.
Stevenson hasn’t lost a fight in over eight years. He owns one of the biggest knockout percentages in boxing (24 KOS for 80%) and the best attitude in the sport.
Nothing seems to bother the southpaw from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who’s turned 40 since his last fight.
“I love what people say about me, I really do, because I laugh at all of it,” said Stevenson in his thick, mellow Haitian accent. “It’s great motivation. The people in boxing can talk all they want. I like hearing it. When you’re good, you get your critics.
“Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard had their critics. I can beat Badou Jack and beat him bad, and people will still talk s---. It’s why I laugh. Back in the day, Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard went through the same things.
“Well, I’m very good and people are going to talk. I can’t change that. All I can do is win—and that’s what I do, I win. I win, and I laugh, and I enjoy beating people up. Everyone I beat suddenly becomes bums. All great champions go through it, so I guess I’m in that group. I’m not a world champion for nothing.”
“ I’m very good and people are going to talk. I can’t change that. All I can do is win—and that’s what I do, I win. I win, and I laugh, and I enjoy beating people up. ” WBC light heavyweight World Champ Adonis Stevenson
The last time Stevenson fought, he extinguished Andrzej Fonfara rather easily, in two rounds, back in June 2017. “Superman” needed 208 seconds to do it, after knocking down Fonfara in the first. This was a rematch from the first time Stevenson and Fonfara met, in May 2014.
“See, I get better with age,” said Stevenson, then he belted out another uproarious laugh. “A funny thing happened, I stopped Fonfara, who just stopped Chad Dawson and beat [Nathan] Cleverly, and he became ‘a bum’ overnight, because he lost to me.
“That’s how I see it. Look at my resume. Look at what I’ve done. I’m the one everyone has to come to at 175, and when they get their way, they say I’m no good. It’s funny.”
What Stevenson may be is underappreciated. He’s held the WBC light heavy title for five years, since he stopped Dawson for the title in one round on June 8, 2013, making him currently boxing's second-longest reigning champion behind Gennady Golovkin.
Superman has made eight title defenses, which includes victories over Sakio Bika, Tavoris Cloud and Fonfara twice.
Now Jack will stand in front of him Saturday night.
“Jack is a very good fighter, who I respect.” Stevenson said. “People forget that I started boxing late, and it’s why I’m still good at 40. People don’t understand that. Also, I don’t get beat or hit hard, and that’s allowed me to continue winning.
“I have power and as soon as I touch you, you won’t be the same fighter. When I touch you, you think what you’re going to do. I bring different things to the ring. Badou Jack is a good boxer. He’s a two-time super middleweight champion, and he’s a light heavyweight champion.
“He has a lot of motivation and desire to take my belt. I know this. He’s a champion, and it will be an exciting fight. But after I beat him, I’m sure he’ll become a bum, too.”
Then Stevenson laughed again.
Stevenson, who’s trained by Sugar Hill, says he’s in the best shape and is carrying the best confidence of his career. Stevenson vowed he will fight more than he did in 2017.
“I will be more active this year,” said Stevenson, who’s invested his money wisely in real estate, in the market, in his new clothing line, featuring custom-make jackets and leather coats, and his new cleaning business. “I would love to unify the light heavyweight title. I know Kovalev is fighting [Eleider] Alvarez in August. I have to worry about Jack, who has a lot of endurance and he is a danger in the ring.
“I am 40, but I don’t feel any different. My second home is the gym. I still have the power and nothing will change that. I have my businesses and I have my children, and my family in Haiti. This is a good time for me.
“I have four kids and make sure that I’m there for them, the oldest is 7. They keep me busy, and it’s why I don’t travel more. Hey, when you’re successful, and good looking like me, people will criticize. Let it keep coming. I like hearing it.
“It must mean that I’m doing well.”
For a closer look at Stevenson vs Jack, check out our fight page.
