Popular, hard-hitting WBC and The Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight World Champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (24-1, 20 KOs), of Montreal, will defend against top-10 contender Dmitry “The Hunter” Sukhotskiy (22-2, 16 KOs) of Russia, in the main event of a SHOWTIME BOXING: Special Edition® quadrupleheader Friday, Dec. 19, live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, it was formally announced Wednesday at a jam-packed press conference at NRJ Bell Media building in Montreal.
The final SHOWTIME boxing telecast of the year, presented by Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) in association with Mise-O-Jeu and Videotron, will include three other fights: former world title challenger and super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell (23-1, 16 KOs), of Flint, Mich., will box an opponent to be announced in the co-feature, Kevin Bizier (23-1, 16 KOs), of Quebec, will rematch Canadian-based Romanian Jo Jo Dan (33-2, 18 KOs), in an IBF welterweight elimination fight and undefeated contender and two-time Russian Olympian Artur Beterbiev (6-0, 6 KOs) will face fellow unbeaten Jeff Page Jr. (15-0, 10 KOs) of Andover, Kan., in a 10-round light heavyweight match.
Tickets, ranging from $25 to $250 will go on sale next tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 6, at 10 a.m. ET, in the branches of the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec (418) 691-7211 or 1 (800) 900-7469, online at www.billeteck.com, at GYM (514) 383-0666 or Boxing Club Champion (514) 376-0980.
Here’s what Stevenson, Bizier, Dan, Beterbiev and Page had to say on Wednesday:
ADONIS STEVENSON, WBC and The Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight World Champion
“My hand has healed from the injury when I fought Fonfara. I’m healthy and I’m ready to go.
“Going 12 rounds was a good experience for me. I train for 12 rounds in the gym. Sometimes it’s good to go the distance and get the experience.
“Everybody brings their A-game because I’m the champ.
“I know I’m the king of the light heavyweight division and I know that everyone wants to take my belt. I’m going to train very hard.
“Sukhotskiy is a tough guy and he’s hoping to surprise me. I’ll prepare, my hands will be perfect and it will be a short night on SHOWTIME.”
JO JO DAN, Once-Beaten Welterweight Contender
“I’m hoping to fight with Kell Brook, but I’m concentrating 100 percent on the fight with Kevin Bizier. I’ve been waiting for this fight since I started boxing.
“I know he’s learned some things and has more experience since our first fight. But I also know him better now than when we first fought, so I think it’s going to be an exciting fight.
“If the knockout comes, it’s comes, but I always prepare for 12 rounds. If the chance is there, I won’t miss it. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t preparing for 12 rounds.
“I train 100 percent and I’m sure he’ll be in the best shape of his life. We’re looking to make the fight of the year in Quebec.”
KEVIN BIZIER, Once-Beaten Welterweight Contender
“If I want to win the world championship then I need to prepare for the best and the toughest fight of my life against [Jo Jo] Dan.
“It puts a little more pressure knowing that I could fight for a title if I win in December. But I’m focused on Dan and no one else. I’m just focusing on boxing. I’m not worried about stopping him.
“I learned to be more relaxed after our first fight. In the first fight I was going for the KO. I’m going to try to be more relaxed and use my jab this time around.”
ARTUR BETERBIEV, Former Amateur Standout And Undefeated Light Heavyweight
“I’m not worried about getting another knockout. It all depends on the strategy of the fight. I’m going to fight until the last round.
“With [Tavoris] Cloud I was preparing for 12 rounds and I could never have predicted that I would only box for four minutes. I was just doing my job and that’s what happened.
“I’m going to be more motivated for this fight because he’s undefeated. Every fight I go in the ring thinking that I’ve already lost to my opponent before. That way I won’t take my opponent lightly.
“The amateur career helped and I hope it will help me for the rest of my life. But at the same time I need to progress. I have a lot to learn in professional boxing and I’m looking forward to it.”
JEFF PAGE JR., Undefeated Light heavyweight
“No, I don’t think he’s overrated. He had a great amateur background and he went to the Olympics twice. He has beaten a lot of good fighters and he just beat Tavoris Cloud, so I think he’s a tough opponent.
“I have great hand speed and great footwork, but I know I can’t run from him like everyone else has. I’m ready to exchange – I have great power myself.
“I think him and his team are underestimating me, but I’m going to use that to my advantage. I’m going to come in and show him right away that I’m there to win, that I’m not an opponent.
“Being an underdog is absolutely a motivator for me. Everybody back home is going to be watching. If I win this fight big things are going to start happening for me and my team. Everyone will know who I am.
“I think my experience helps. He’s had a lot of amateur fights, but amateur and pro fights are a lot different. I’ve trained with a lot guys – I’ve been to Vegas, I’ve been to Chicago – and I’m getting ready to go to Big Bear. I have a lot of experience and I plan to use it.
“I train for knockouts but I’m ready to 10 rounds.”
SHO Boxing to Close Out 2014 With Four-Fight Event on Friday, Dec. 19
SHOWTIME Sports will close out its 2014 boxing calendar with the return of WBC and The Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight World Champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson as he defends his title against top-10 ranked Russian challenger Dmitry “The Hunter” Sukhotskiy in the main event of a SHOWTIME BOXING: Special Edition on Friday, Dec. 19, LIVE on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Stevenson will once again headline in his adopted home province of Quebec for his ninth consecutive fight and his fourth world title defense. The showdown will originate from Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City and is presented by Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) in association with Mise-O-Jeu and Videotron.
In the co-feature of the stacked quadrupleheader, former world title challenger and super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell (23-1, 16 KOs) will return to SHOWTIME for the first time since appearing in the Super Six World Boxing Classic in 2010. Dirrell will face an opponent to be announced in the super middleweight division.
Once-beaten Kevin Bizier (23-1, 16 KOs) will face the only man to defeat him, fellow welterweight contender Jo Jo Dan (33-2, 18 KOs), in a rematch of their 2013 split-decision showdown. The winner of Bizier-Dan II, a 12-round welterweight bout, will determine the mandatory challenger to IBF Welterweight World Champion Kell Brook.
In the opening bout of the telecast, undefeated light heavyweight contender and two-time Russian Olympian Artur Beterbiev (6-0, 6 KOs) will face fellow unbeaten Jeff Page Jr. (15-0, 10 KOs) in a 10-round 175-pound bout.
The 37-year-old Stevenson (24-1, 20 KOs) is coming off a hard-fought unanimous decision victory against Andrzej Fonfara in his SHOWTIME debut this past May 24 in which the champion was knocked down for just the second time in his career. Stevenson started strong, scoring two early knockdowns of his own and was cruising to an easy win until Fonfara battled back and floored the champ in the ninth round. The two went toe-to-toe from then until the final bell, with Stevenson prevailing with a convincing victory.
Stevenson, one of the most exciting and destructive fighters in boxing, had a breakout year in 2013. He won the WBC crown with a first-round knockout of Chad Dawson and then followed up that performance with two successful title defenses, against Tavoris Cloud and Tony Bellew, to close out one of the most impressive campaigns of the year.
Now, the Haitian-born slugger will face the 33-year-old Sukhotskiy (22-2, 16 KOs), a former world title challenger currently ranked No. 7 by the WBC and WBO, and No. 8 by the WBA. Sukhotskiy challenged for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Championship against then-champ Juergen Braehmer in 2009 and lost in the champ’s hometown in Germany.
Sukhotskiy, who has never been stopped, is currently riding a four-fight winning streak that features three knockouts. He’s just one fight removed from a career-best win, a fifth-round TKO of former world title challenger Eduard Gutknecht, and owns a 2011 second-round TKO over current IBF light heavyweight No. 1 contender Nadjib Mohammedi.
Ranked in the top 15 in all four sanctioning bodies (11th in the IBF), Sukhotskiy has fought in his native Russia for all but three of his professional bouts and has seven knockouts in his last nine fights.
Dirrell, of Flint, Mich., was one of boxing’s fastest-rising contenders entering the innovative Super Six tournament, which matched the top super middleweights in a round-robin tournament to determine the best in the division. Undefeated when he entered the tournament, Dirrell traveled to England in 2009 to challenge then-WBC champ Carl Froch in his hometown, losing a close, disputed 12-round split-decision.
In his next bout in the tournament, Dirrell faced then-unbeaten Arthur Abraham and was winning on all three judges’ scorecards when Abraham was disqualified in the 11th round for punching Dirrell while he was defenseless on the canvas after slipping on the wet surface. The former Olympic Bronze Medalist suffered neurological issues as a result of the punch, withdrew from the tournament and stepped away from boxing for 21 months.
The 31-year-old Dirrell, the older brother of WBC Super Middleweight World Champion Anthony Dirrell, is undefeated since his return to the ring, winning three of his four bouts by knockout. The switch-hitting southpaw has been called one of the most athletically gifted fighters of today. At this point in his career, he is looking to reassert himself as one of the top fighters in the sport.
Quebec’s Bizier, 30, a pro since 2008, was undefeated and the favored fighter heading into his first showdown with fellow contender Dan. The two battled for 12 action-packed rounds with Dan taking a split decision – 116-111, 114-1113 for Dan and 117-110 for Bizier. Dan controlled the early rounds; Bizier the later sessions of a thrilling fight.
Still a top contender at 147 pounds, Bizier has recorded consecutive knockouts in 2014 including his most recent performance, a first-round TKO of Laszlo Fazekas in Montreal this past September. Bizier is ranked No. 6 by the IBF and will get his first shot at a world title if he avenges the loss to Dan.
The 33-year-old Dan was born in Romania and has campaigned for most of his career in Canada. The only blemishes on the southpaw’s record are a pair of close, controversial decision losses to then-undefeated contender Selcuk Aydin – the first in 2010 and the second in 2011 – both in Aydin’s native Turkey.
Dan, whose full name is Ionut Dan Ion, has registered four consecutive wins since the 2011 loss to Aydin and is coming off a fifth-round TKO over Lukasz Janik on the Stevenson-Fonfara undercard in May.. A consensus top-10 fighter, Dan is currently ranked No. 2 in the IBF, No. 6 in the WBC and No. 8 in the WBA.
Beterbiev is fresh off a dominating second-round TKO of former IBF light heavyweight champ Tavoris Cloud on Sept. 27 in Montreal in which he floored the former champion four times in less than 4 minutes. An amateur standout who turned pro in June of 2013 and has campaigned exclusively in Canada, the highly regarded Beterbiev has knocked out all of his professional opponents in four rounds or less.
The 29-year-old Beterbiev, who holds two amateur victories over current WBO Light Heavyweight Champ Sergey Kovalev, is already ranked in the top-10 by the WBO (No. 10) after just six professional fights and 26 rounds of boxing.
The 24-year-old Page, of Andover, Kansas, is a former college linebacker. He turned professional in March 2013 and fought 10 times in nine months, facing limited opposition. Page has registered two consecutive knockouts and is coming off a fifth-round KO of Maxwell Taylor in October.
Tickets, ranging from $25.00 to $250.00, will go on sale next Thursday, Nov. 6, at 10:00 a.m. ET, in the branches of the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec (418) 691-7211 or 1 (800) 900-7469, online at www.billeteck.com, at GYM (514) 383-0666 or Boxing Club Champion (514) 376-0980.
