Hard Punching Champs Stevenson, Kovalev KO Challengers

It was the night of the iron fist in Quebec City, Canada last night as light heavyweight world champions Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev ended the challenges of Tony Bellew and Ismayl Sillakh in devastating fashion at Colisee Quebec.

Englishman Bellew, 20-2-1 (12), started strong by going after Haitian born Longueuil man and WBC ruler Stevenson, 23-1 (20), but once the Liverpool resident felt the power of the champion by the second round, he became defensive and cagey.

Stevenson stalked Bellew relentlessly, pitching in quick left hands that the challenger mostly managed to evade but took well the shots that landed.

Bellew rallied at times and scored with right hands but in general, the faster Stevenson made him miss and was cutting down the distance between himself and the lanky Liverpudlian.

By the fifth, Stevenson was putting Bellew under heavy weather and each time the Canadian was successful, the visitor appeared to be cracking under the pressure and punishment.

The sixth saw a powerful straight left send Bellew to the floor and while he beat the count, it was just a temporary stay of execution as “Superman” closed in and finished off the British and Commonwealth champion with a barrage of bracing lefts.

Prior to the main event, WBO kingpin Kovalev, 23-0-1 (21), got rid of his challenger, Ismayl Sillakh, 21-2 (17), even quicker.

The Russian now living in Florida immediately went after the much taller Ukrainian Sillakh, taking care to duck and slip the challenger’s attempts to make Kovalev pay for his forward motion.

Sillakh was outworking Kovalev in the early going but was also constantly on the move and any punches that landed didn’t have much weight to them.

Kovalev was throwing fewer shots but they were much more accurate, particularly the right hand to the side of the head that dumped Sillakh had to the canvas.

The California transplant made it to his feet but was a sitting duck as he was quickly pole-axed by a Kovalev combination, KO’d at 0:52 of the second round.

Kovalev and Stevenson will likely meet sometime soon for a unification clash and that fight should be a thriller for as long as it lasts with the winner being the man that can take the shots of the other.