I didn't see him lose a round in 2013. He's slick, fast, powerful, tricky, has great timing, great movement, ring IQ and a diverse attack. His chin is the only question mark. If his chin isn't that bad and the Boone KO was either an isolated incident due to weight draining or just one of those freak KOs, then this guy in my opinion isn't losing anytime soon and I am including a potential Ward showdown in that consideration. And do note that I think Ward is currently the best fighter overall in the world P4P. Manny Steward was really, really high on him before he died. I hadn't even paid attention to him before 2013 and I usually keep up with all of the prospects. For me he came out of nowhere, I am very impressed with what I've seen. Now, let's hope we get the fights we want, never know in this day and age.
Steward was high on Vladimir Klitschko before he died also, said that Vlad was the best heavyweight out there and the most naturally talented................. As far as Stevenson................he has Ward shaking..............Stevenson called out Ward, said he would fight Ward at 175 or even come down to 168 to fight him, yet Ward refused to even answer.............
He's impressed me and outperformed what I thought his ceiling would be. Manny certainly hit the nail on the head and was right to back Stevenson. Even if he has a shaky chin, the only fighter in the division right now that I think could really take advantage of it is Kovalev, who I'd favor slightly. The caveat there is that I think Stevenson hits hard enough to KO him, as well....Shumenov's a wild card from a styles standpoint, but that would still be an upset in my book.
Kovalev would walk through him, and that's why Adonis is avoiding him. I mean, Bellew had him shook up at one point in their fight.
his boxing ability is shockingly impressive, i thought he was just another guy who can punch. he thoroughly has outboxed pretty good opponents.
Stevenson sure scared Ward when he called him out live on HBO...............Stevenson will fight Ward at 168, yet Ward is too afraid to even answer him. I guess there is a reason Ward will not fight anywhere except his home town with his personal referee, judges, boxing commission, etc.
I don't recall Bellew having him shaken up? What point was it, I want to review? Do you think he's avoiding Kovalev or is HBO just setting it up for later in the year with more build up? It is a bit early, since both just burst onto the scene in hardcore fans eyes in 2013, especially in the path of them on a collision course. I don't see how we won't get the fight, unless one loses prior to it, but I wouldn't bet on anyone over those two at LHW.
It sounds like HBO are building it for later in the year - Stevenson's mentioned a 3 fight HBO deal for 2014 including a Kovalev fight (probably at the end of the year). I wouldn't say Bellew 'shook Stevenson up' but what's probably being refered to is the point where Stevenson hit the canvas - it was more of a trip, but a punch was thrown so it could have been called as a KD. Bellew subsequently took the offense for a few seconds and did land a coupla times, but to little effect. Stevenson had Bellew in the corner (round 4 I think - can't be bothered checking now) - and was caught somewhat off balance when Bellew started firing back. It looked like the range wasn't good for him and he was trying to respond while moving backwards - ending up square on with his legs wide as I recall. There were one or two other instances where Bellew took the offense briefly and was able to land on Stevenson, but in the main he did as I expected and tried to keep at range being ever wary of the counter. It was never a winning strategy, but then I'm not sure there was a winning strategy for Bellew, who just isn't that good. Stevenson is an improving fighter, but his best assets are still his speed and power - it can't really be said that he outboxed Dawson - we'll never know how that would have gone...he certainly surprised him tho. Stevenson did outbox Cloud - but then Cloud just isn't a very good boxer - in spite of his physical advantages he also had the snot boxed out of him by Campillo and BHop. Nonetheless Stevenson is a very good fighter and one half of a duo that has revitalised the LHW division in the space of 12 short months - myself I slightly favour Kovalev though I could easily see the fight go either way.
