Adonis Stevenson

More than anything else, what defines the legacy of Adonis Stevenson as a person is his rise from being a jailed ex-criminal to one of the leading boxers of our time. It was in 2012 that Stevenson admitted at a press conference that he spent time in jail for managing prostitutes, assault and also making threats.

Adonis Stevenson was born Steven Adonis on September 22, 1977 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His name is an inversion of both his family name and his given name.

When he was seven years old, Adonis moved with his family to Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

By the time he was 14, Adonis fell on the wrong side of life. Not only was he living on the streets, he also became a member of a violent gang. As a result of his association with the gang, he got involved in criminal activities.

In 1998, while Adonis was in his early twenties, he was sentenced to a four year prison term following a criminal trial which took place in Quebec. He was charged with managing prostitutes, assault and also making threats. Adonis Stevenson served 18 months of his 4 year sentence before his release.

While Adonis was in prison, he got involved in yet another criminal activity. This time, he assaulted an inmate who went into coma.

The gritty life on the streets gave Stevenson a life lesson in violence. But Stevenson was determined to put those lessons to a good use so he turned to boxing. In 2004, he became the Quebec Middleweight champion and went on to become his country’s best amateur fighter in 2005-2006.

He won the Canada national title consecutively in 2005 and 2006.

In 2006, he participated in the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. He won a silver medal losing to Jarrod Fletcher of Australia. He was the only Canadian boxer to win the medal at the games.

At the age of 29, he turned a professional boxer in September 2006. At his debut match, he fought another debutant Mike Funk. Stevenson won the match.

On August 1, 2006, Stevenson fought with Anthony Bonsante at the Windsor Station in Montreal, Quebec. He defeated the latter with a first round knockout. In September 2009, he won against Jermain Mackey.

One of the most important fights of Adonis Stevenson’s career happened on October 12, 2012, and the opponent was Don George. It was deemed significant because the winner would get a shot at being the IBF champion. Stevenson won the match as he knocked his opponent down twice in the fifth round and once again in the sixth round. But he won in the 12th round when he knocked George out again twice.

Stevenson’s second encounter with Darnell Boone took place on March 22, 2013. The excitement surrounding the fight was quite high as Stevenson had suffered his only defeat from Boone. This time though, Stevenson got the better of Boone.

Stevenson defended his title of light heavyweight champion on November 30, 2013 against Tony Bellow. In the match, Stevenson became the first ever boxer in history to defeat Bellew with a knock-out.