By Canadian Press

Adonis Stevenson falls to canvas in loss against Oleksandr Gvozdyk

Dec 1, 2018 | 7:25 PM

QUEBEC — Canadian boxer Adonis Stevenson has lost his World Boxing Council light heavyweight title.

Ukraine’s Oleksandr Gvozdyk (16-0, 13 KO) knocked out Stevenson (29-2-1, 24 KO) at 2:49 of the 11th round on Saturday night at the Videotron Centre.

Stevenson was put on a stretcher after the fight and left the arena in an ambulance. There was no immediate word on the nature of the injury.

Trailing on points in the bout, Gvozdyk seemed to be fresher than Stevenson as the scheduled 12-round match went longer. Stevenson was ahead on two of the judges’ cards and tied on the third one.

It was Stevenson’s 10th title defence since winning the belt against Chad Dawson in 2013.

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It marked the 41-year-old Stevenson’s first loss since 2010 and was his first defeat ever in Canada.

Gvozdyk was fighting in Canada for the first time.

Stevenson fell early, in the third round, after getting hit by Gvozdyk. But referee Michael Griffin said it was a slip. Gvozdyk, however, was the more aggressive of the two and it showed the rest of the round.

In the sixth round, Stevenson threw more punches to the body, something that he rarely does. He hit Gvozdyk in the abdomen and shook him, and Stevenson finished the round strongly.

Stevenson controlled the centre of the ring for part of the match but in the 10th round, Gvozdyk finished with a series of blows that seemed to motivate him for the eleventh round.

Gvozdyk continued with his series of flurries that got Stevenson in the ropes in the middle of the 11th round, before sending the Canadian to the canvas with three solid right punches.

In an earlier fight, Montreal’s Oscar Rivas won a unanimous decision over Brazils Fabio Maldonado to retain the NABF heavyweight title.

Luc Lang, The Canadian Press