Adonis Stevenson vs Tony Bellew Preview November 30
WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson will be defending his title in his adopted hometown of Quebec City, Canada on Saturday, November 30 when he takes on Tony Bellew of Liverpool, England. The 12-round bout can be seen on HBO in America. However, Canadian viewers will have to purchase it on pay-per-view.
The hard-hitting 36-year-old Stevenson, who was born in Haiti, enters the ring with an impressive record of 21-1 along with 19 Kos. He won the title with a first-round one-punch knockout over Chad Dawson and has defended it once by stopping Tavoris Cloud. The 30-year-old Bellew is a former British champion who’s looking to add a world title to his collection. However, he did once hold the WBC “silver” light heavyweight title.
Bellew also has an impressive record with just one loss on it as he’s 20-1-1 and has a dozen Kos to his name. His only defeat came at the hands of fellow Briton Nathan Cleverly when he dropped a majority decision to him back in 2011. He’s won four bouts since then including victories over a couple of pretty good fighters in Edison Miranda and Isaac Chilemba. This will be Bellew’s first fight outside of Britain and he’ll basically be taking on the champion in his own back yard.
Stevenson, who is a southpaw, is known for his tremendous power, but his chin is a bit of a question mark since his only loss was a second-round KO to Darnell Boone back in 2010. Offensively, Stevenson is big and strong and possesses good hand speed and boxing ability. He’s aggressive and entertaining to watch even though he’s sometimes a little wild in the ring. Most of the power is in his left hand and Bellew will need to figure out how to negate it.
Since he’s a little wild, Stevenson isn’t really a very accurate puncher overall and some of his jabs are wasted. Bellew needs to pick him off with counter shots when the champion misses and then get out of range. When it comes to power punching though, Stevenson doesn’t really miss too often and landing at a rate of 50 per cent or higher is common for him.
Bellew has a decent chin though and he’s certainly going to need it in this fight. He’s also quite aggressive and doesn’t mind mixing it up in the trenches. He isn’t too hard to find and hit though and this will be a problem against the champion. He’s also got fast hands and good boxing skills, but he’s going to have to keep the fight in the center of the ring and make sure he doesn’t get trapped on the ropes. Getting into a slugfest isn’t in his best interest here.
The Briton has a two-inch reach advantage and at just over 6-foot-2 also has four inches on Stevenson in height. These could be a key to him landing from a safe distance, meaning he’s going to have to use his legs as well.
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Prediction
The styles of these two boxers should make for an entertaining match. They’re both aggressive and like to dictate the action. Bellew needs to stay away from the champion’s power shots though or he’s going to have to have a granite chin to take them. Bellew may want to go to the body to try and wear Stevenson down. However, Stevenson will find Bellew isn’t too hard to hit and eventually he’s going to stagger him and hurt him enough to earn a stoppage, likely any time from the fifth round on.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds of a Stevenson win at-800 and a Bellew victory at +550. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done of late capping the fights.
Adonis Stevenson betting • Tony Bellew betting