In what was his toughest defense of the WBC light heavyweight title, Adonis Stevenson narrowly escaped defeat at the hands of the challenger, Badou Jack. In Stevenson’s own backyard, Jack put him through one of his hardest challenges to date in a twelve round fight that will be remembered for years ahead.
Round one was a friendly encounter, each fighter sizing the other. Stevenson looked strong in rounds two and three and he threw more punches.
Jack took over in round four as he ripped through the Superman’s defense. Stevenson became visibly tired as the younger Jack kept on a relentless pummeling, fighting on the inside, as well as controlling the jab.
In the 10th round, Jack took a body shot that had him crumbled and kept him inactive for much of the round. He threw everything in the 12th round, knocking Stevenson all over the ring. The fight went to the scorecard, which had two judges ruling 114 each. One judge had it in favour of Jack.
According to most pundits, the fight was Jack’s to win. If he’d have boxed hard in the early rounds, he’d have won on points, possibly force a knockout on the aging champ.
It remains to be seen if there’ll be a rematch. James Degale has said he’s willing to fight Jack again, following their fight which also ended in a draw.
