WBC Light Heavyweight titlist Adonis “Superman” Stevens (28-1, 23 KOs) has reportedly signed on the dotted line for a 2014 rematch against Andrzej Fonfara (29-4, 17 KOs). Stevenson won the first fight cleanly on the cards, but not without some late drama thanks to a rally from his Polish opponent in the last third of the fight. It will have been just shy of a year of inactivity when Stevenson steps in the ring on June 3rd.
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For those who have been complaining about Stevenson’s recent level of competition, I don’t think this is going to help. Yes, Fonfara dropped Stevenson in the ninth and made a fight over it the last four rounds, but he himself had been dropped twice earlier. There is no valid argument for Fonfara to have won that fight. A rematch seems entirely unnecessary. This is especially true given that Stevenson’s camp paid Eleider Alvarez, a much more credible opponent and his WBC mandatory challenger, step aside money so they could make this fight instead.
To make matters worse, two fights ago Fonfara himself was KO’d by Joe Smith in the very first round. Joe Smith went on to end the great career of Bernard Hopkins and now is an extremely credible foe, but instead camp Stevenson went with the man that he KO’d in one instead. It is hard to get behind this fight and the ongoing perception, fair or not, of Adonis Stevenson ducking the top of the light heavyweight division gets bolstered here.
