Tony Bellew’s world title fight against Adonis Stevenson on Saturday night ended in disappointment, with the Liverpool boxer stopped in the 6th round in Canada.
After being floored by a hard left hand to the jaw, Bellew took a barrage of punches after rising, and the referee had to stop the fight.
The bout took place in Quebec City, with Wavertree man Bellew challenging for Canadian Stevenson’s WBC light-heavyweight title. This was his second fight for world honours, the first a points loss against Nathan Cleverly in 2011.
The build-up to the fight was ill tempered, and the two fighters clashed during Friday’s weigh-in, with the pair being dragged apart after Stevenson thrust his forehead into Bellew’s face.
Bellew entered wearing the crest of his beloved Everton Football Club, to the theme from Z cars, the club’s anthem. Stevenson entered with a red cape over his shoulders, in reference to his ‘Superman’ nickname.
After a quiet first few rounds, Stevenson settled and landed a powerful left hand, stalking Bellew across the ring. Stevenson hit the floor in the 4th, but the referee rightly ruled it a slip.
In the sixth, Stevenson made his dominance and power count. Bellew was floored with a devastating left hand, before ‘Bomber’ managed to stand, but was hit by two powerful lefts that had him out on his feet, and the fight was over.
It is Stevenson’s fourth victory of the year, with wins over Darnell Boone, Chad Dawson and Tavoris Cloud, and now Bellew.
After the fight, Stevenson said: “I’ve fought four times this year and I’ve knocked everybody out. Now I need a vacation.”
Bellew celebrated his 31st birthday on the same day as his first fight outside the UK but there is little else joy for the fighter to take from what is a missed opportunity.
Bellew tweeted: “I’d like to apologise to everyone for not doing what I said I would do. I gave it everything and the better man won and that’s it. Gutted.”