Adonis Stevenson vs. Dmitry Sukhotsky
Tony Calcara, Staff Writer
At 33, Dmitry Sukhotsky (22-2, 16 KOs) has mainly been a fighter kept inside his home country of Russia. This will be his third fight outside the motherland. Sukhotsky can punch and has a pretty good beard; both losses were via 12-round unanimous decisions.
The hard punching Adonis Stevenson (24-1, 20 KOs) will be facing another orthodox opponent. At 37, he is coming off a rare decision victory over Andrzej Fonfara.
In that fight, Stevenson ate a left hook followed by a straight right hand that sent him to the deck. He did get up and respond well, however, the knockdown left many wondering if this was a sign that there are chinks in the champions armor.
I like Stevenson to win and retain his title. Expect Sukhotsky to battle Stevenson hard. I simply see the champion having too much for the relatively untested Sukhotsky.
Prediction: Stevenson
Lou Catalano, Senior Writer
Adonis Stevenson went from being the 2013 fighter of the year to the 2014 shmuck of the year.
How does one do that? By pissing off pretty much everyone. He bailed on what should have been an epic showdown with Sergey Kovalev, and then priced himself out of a fight with Bernard Hopkins.
So instead of a mega fight for big bucks, he’s fighting on a Friday night on Showtime, against a guy nobody has ever heard of. We’ll see if Stevenson actually trained for the fight. He looked shaky last time out against Andrzej Fonfara, but I don’t see him having any issues here.
Stevenson should win easily. Still, at 37 years old, the Light Heavyweight champion of the world should be engaging in huge bouts, not toiling away on a Friday night. Maybe he should get an advisor to help him get the big showdowns. Oh wait…
Prediction: Stevenson
Gabe Polanco, Staff Writer
I have a certain dislike for duck. I hate it for Christmas, can’t stand it at Chinese restaurants; but most importantly I hate seeing it on my TV.
Sadly, Adonis “It’s up to Al Haymon” Stevenson will be headlining a Showtime fight against Dmitry Sukhotsky on Friday night.
Yeah, name doesn’t ring a bell for me either.
Whether you like or really hate the guy, Stevenson has too much skills to lose to anybody not named Kovalev or Hopkins. I see Stevenson ending my misery in less than five rounds by knockout.
Prediction: Stevenson
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
Adonis Stevenson needs a big win against Dmitry Sukhotsky for multiple reasons. Stevenson–like Danny Garcia–has felt the Interwebs’ relentless wrath over letting Al Haymon cherry pick his opponents.
One way to shut those internet trolls up is by blasting whoever is in front of you. Sukhotsky is not the Russian guy everyone wants to see Stevenson face, but Superman can really get people talking in a positive way if he scores a sensational knockout on Friday night.
People will be watching for any signs of weakness or fading from Stevenson–like when he was knocked down in his previous fight–so he must be prepared to go 12 rounds and not gas out in the later half of the fight (if it goes that far).
If Stevenson is successful, then who knows, maybe after Sergey Kovalev dispenses of Jean Pascal, Stevenson and Kovalev can tango to unify the division.
Prediction: Stevenson
