One week before his scheduled title defense against Sakio Bika, light heavyweight champ, Adonis “Superman” Stevenson, said that he is looking to knock Bika out.
“When I get in the ring, I’m looking for the knockout,” Stevenson (25-1, 21 KO) said in a media conference call.
Stevenson isn’t worried if the fight lasts twelve rounds because of his ability to box as well punch.
“I can box. I’m beautiful. I got good skill. I’m a Superman,” Stevenson said “ . . . And I think any boxer going in the ring to fight always looks for a knockout. Sometimes, it’s not like that. But, me, I’m looking for the knockout. And Emanuel said knockouts sell.”
The fight is scheduled for April 4, in Quebec City, Canada and will be the debut of Premier Boxing Champions in Quebec and also its first event on CBS. Although he’s Canada’s first champion to defend his title on PBC, Stevenson claims to be unfazed by the pressure.
“I’m not going to put pressure on myself. ‘Superman’ doesn’t feel pressure,” Stevenson proclaimed. “I don’t have to put pressure on something like that. I don’t feel like that. I’m the man. I’m the guy to get beat.”
Stevenson used to train at the legendary Kronk Gym in Detroit under the tutelage of the late Emanuel Steward. For this training camp, “Superman” Stevenson has been working with trainer Javan “Sugar” Hill and at Stevenson’s new gym in Montreal.
“The training camp is going fantastic,” Hill said. “We are here in his hometown of Montreal training at his gym. His gym is just opening. So, this would be the first training camp held at this gym and for such a fight of this magnitude where Adonis is defending his world championship for the fifth time.”
Stevenson was particularly happy to train in his hometown for this fight. While other top fighters like Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev train away from their home, free of distractions, Stevenson was happy to be near his family.
“This is a good opportunity for me to train in my hometown,” Stevenson said. “This is the first time since 2011. I can see my kid, too. So, I love that. And we train very hard, me and my trainer . . . This is a good opportunity for me, and I love that.”
Kovalev’s name has been synonymous with Stevenson’s in boxing circles because of the fact that a fight between the two would be the most significant fight for the division in years. Yes, Bernard Hopkins made history as the oldest man to win a championship and it was within the light heavyweight limit, but a fight between Stevenson and Kovalev would be for all four major sanctioning bodies (IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO).
It would mean supremacy over what is usually a bland division settled between two experienced, powerful, punchers. Also, it would be the first time in history a light heavyweight champ would own all four-alphabet belts. Even the great Roy Jones Jr., who held virtually every other belt in the division until 2004, didn’t own the WBO strap while he was the undisputed light heavy champ.
“I don’t think about Kovalev now,” Stevenson said when asked about Kovalev. “I think about Bika. It doesn’t matter what I said now because I have a fight coming up with Bika.”
After Kovalev’s shoot out with Jean Pascal in March, Stevenson said he was unimpressed with Kovalev, who stopped Stevenson’s countrymen in eight rounds.
“I’m not impressed by it because this is the first big fight Pascal had since Bernard, and he fights one time a year before Bernard Hopkins,” Stevenson explained. “So, that’s why I’m not impressed about that because Pascal is not an active boxer like he used to be back in the day.”
The WBC recently named Kovalev, the mandatory challenger for Stevenson’s title if Stevenson is victorious April 4th.
After Kovalev’s win in March, Stevenson reportedly told Hopkins that he would square off against Kovalev next.
This isn’t the first time Stevenson claimed he would fight “The Krusher”. After Stevenson had beaten Andrzej Fonfara in May of last year, he said he’d unify with Kovalev. The fight did not materialize, and it was addressed during the conference call.
“You can’t guarantee,” Stevenson said, “It’s not working like that. It’s not football. It’s not hockey. And one punch can change anything. So now I got Bika in my face, and I’m very focused with Bika because I know this guy gives problems to all the champions. He was champion. And I know this fighter is tough.”
Bika is a former super middleweight champion who was born in Cameroon and competed in the 2000 Olympics. Since entering the pro, ranks Bika (32-6-3, 21 KO) has fought the likes of Joe Calzaghe, Andre Ward and most recently Anthony Dirrell.
Although he was beaten by all the aforementioned fighters, Bika showed great resilience and has never been stopped.
Stevenson insists he’s ready to knock Bika out but even if he does, his career may still be hindered at the end of the day for not fighting Kovalev. This is a sport where the best rarely fight the best, and usually the two aren’t both big men with eraser power. The match-up is too intriguing to ignore, and if you’re a fan of exciting fights and match-ups, you may find yourself rooting for a Stevenson victory if only to see him fight Kovalev.
