Stevenson Crushes Sukhotsky To Retain WBC Light Heavy Title

It was lights out for light heavyweight contender Dmitry Sukhotsky on Friday night as the Russian was gunned down by WBC champion Adonis Stevenson at Colisee Quebec in Quebec City, Canada.

Stevenson, 25-1 (21), who appeared to be a weight class larger than the challenger, patiently studied his wary adversary in the early going before striking out with a short left hand that dropped Sukhotsky, 22-3 (16), on the seat of his pants in the second round.

The challenger regrouped and cautiously circled the dangerous Stevenson, scoring with the occasional single shot but causing the champion no concern.

By the fifth frame, Stevenson hit the target flush and Sukhotsky was down again. The brave visitor beat the eight count but was canvassed twice more, going down hard on his third trip and was counted out at 2:42 of the round.

Stevenson gets a good workout, staying busy as he looks for a huge unification clash with the winner of the March showdown between IBF/WBA/WBO king Sergey Kovalev and former WBC champ Jean Pascal.

A Kovalev vs. Stevenson bout would pit two of the biggest punchers in the sport against each other while a Stevenson vs. Pascal pairing could produce the biggest domestic box-office numbers Canadian Boxing has ever seen.

The undercard at Colisee Quebec featured a gritty rematch between welterweights Jo Jo Dan, 34-2 (18), and Kevin Bizier, 23-2 (16), who fought a very competitive contest.

Just as in their first fight, Dan banged out a close split decision and is now the mandatory challenger for IBF champion Kell Brook.

Also victorious on the bill were former super middle world title challenger Andre Direll and light heavyweight prospect Artur Beterbiev, who won a handful of regional belts.