ADONIS “SUPERMAN” STEVENSON RETAINS LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE IN THRILLING BOUT AGAINST ANDRZEJ FONFARA

MONTREAL (May 25, 2014) – Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (24-1, 20 KOs) successfully defended his WBC light heavyweight title for the third time Saturday night in a thrilling 12-round battle with world-ranked challenger Andrzej Fonfara (25-3, 15 KOs) on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Stevenson won via unanimous decision, with the three judges scoring the bout 115-110, 115-110 and 116-109 in his favor.

“Superman” started strong and knocked Fonfara down in the first and fifth rounds and looked to be en route to an easy win.  But Fonfara showed his mettle and battled back to floor the champion in the ninth.  From there, Stevenson and Fonfara went toe-to-toe, trading powerful shots and asking each other for more up to the final bell.

In the end, Stevenson secured the victory on the strength of his early round dominance and his resilience in latter part of the fight.  Stevenson landed a notable 59% of his power shots, according to SHO Stats.

After the fight, Stevenson told SHOWTIME Sports^® ringside reporter Jim Gray,  “(It was a) good fight.  I hurt my left hand in the second round.  He did very well.  I threw the punch but I caught the elbow and I hurt my hand.”

Stevenson was satisfied with his victory despite getting knocked down.  “Everyone gets knocked down.  But I came back strong.  I showed the world because I’m a true champion.

“I told everybody (Fonfara) is strong.  He’s been training since December. He is ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the world. He was ready for this fight.  I never overlooked him because he’s a tough fighter.”

When asked by Gray about the prospect of fighting Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev, Stevenson said, “I accept any challenge.  Bernard can be next.  And I have no problem with Kovalev.  If I fight him I fight him.”

Fonfara, despite the loss, made an emphatic statement.  After the fight, he said, “I survived because I have the heart to fight.  Every time he hit me I felt the punch.  Tonight Stevenson is better.  I’m still young.  I’m only 26 years old.  I’m training hard and one day I’ll be a world champion.”

In the co-feature, Montreal’s David Lemieux (32-2, 30 KOs) gave his hometown fans exactly what they wanted with a ferocious third-round knockout victory over Fernando Guerrero (26-3, 19 KOs).   

Lemieux charged out at the opening bell and didn’t stop attacking Guerrero until the stoppage, knocking him down in the first, second and third rounds before scoring the knockout.

“I knew Fernando Guerrero is a very strong fighter.  Very tough,” said Lemieux.  “He’s been down many times and always gets back up.  Once I started to land my shots I could see it in his eyes that the game started to change.

“The results in the ring are from my dedication and my training.  I want to tip my hat to Fernando Guerrero. He is a great fighter. I studied him for many months prior to the fight.  So I am very happy with the outcome.”

“I’m determined to be a world champion.  I would love to fight anyone in the world at 160.”

In the opening bout of the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING tripleheader, rising star Jermell Charlo (24-0, 11 KOs), of Houston, scored a unanimous decision victory over Japan’s Charlie Ohta (24-2-1, 16 KOs) in a 12-round junior middleweight match.  The judges scored the bout 115-111, 118-109 and 118-109.

Charlo controlled the bout with combinations and dominated Ohta throughout the fight, overcoming a flash knockdown in the 3^rd round, the first of his career.

After the fight, Charlo said that he was not concerned with the knockdown.  “To me, I slipped.  I didn’t feel the solid shot.  He hit me with the right hand.  He just caught me off balance.  But it is what it is.

“This was a rough one.  I did what I had to do tonight.”

SHOWTIME EXTREME^® Results: 

In the feature bout on SHOWTIME EXTREME, Julian “J-Rock” Williams (16-0-1, 10 KOs), of Philadelphia, earned a knockout victory over Michael Medina (26-5-2, 19 KOs), of Modesto, Calif., in the eighth round of a 10-round junior middleweight matchup.

Williams landed 64% of his power shots in a commanding victory to further establish himself as a top prospect at 154 pounds.

“I think I’d call him a contender now,” said SHOWTIME EXTREME analyst Steve Farhood.  “This was a very impressive and complete performance.  He won the fight on the inside.  He won the fight on the outside.  Just when you thought maybe he didn’t have the power to finish, he finished.”

“It’s interesting to see the Charlo brothers and Williams and all these young American 154-pounders, and to think that one day they will all be facing each other.”

In the opening fight on SHO EXTREME, world-ranked light heavyweight Eleider Alvarez (15-0, 8 KOs), of Montreal by way of Colombia, defeated Alexander Johnson (15-2, 6 KOs), of Washington, D.C., by unanimous decision in a 10-round bout.  All three judges scored the fight 97-92.