Andrzej Fonfara

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Andrzej Fonfara vs. Adonis Stevenson is in discussions for April 12.

This fight would be in Montreal and televised by HBO.

Fonfara has been improving, he's better than Bellew and has a better chance of beating Stevenson.

Wow, what an absolute cop-out by Stevenson and Groupe Yvon Michel (his promoter). Talk about taking the easy way out of things.

It's obvious that Stevenson and his team have no interest whatsoever in facing their best challenge; Sergey Kovalev (who is, as Max Kellerman stated, unquestionably is the biggest threat in the division and the consensus best possible opponent at light heavyweight, moreover, he has a world title) and are actively dodging the fight.

This is a crystal-clear duck and a blatant case of a fighter's team simply avoiding a perceived risk.

I question if Stevenson will ever fight Kovalev. He may continue to dodge the fight, forever.

Stevenson-Bellew and Kovalev-Sillakh both drew very impressive TV ratings for HBO, as I recall, they were the 3rd highest watched fights of the year. So, unquestionably there is more money to be made fighting Kovalev than Fonfara, who comparatively speaking is an unknown.

Stevenson has used the ridiculous-to-begin-with argument that Kovalev has not faced good enough opponents to warrant the fight, but Kovalev has fought and beaten much better than Fonfara. So, Stevenson is completely and inherently contradicting himself if this is true.

In fairness, boxing is a business, and from a business standpoint, the goal is to make money while incurring the least amount of risk possible. That's fine and on some level to be expected. But don't sit here and try and say Stevenson is fighting the best, he's not. His team is trying to protect their investment and they're scared of losing to Kovalev, so they are avoiding that fight as much as possible.

Larry Merchant, a boxing personality that I have a very high respect for, recently stated in an interview that it is up to the media and boxing fan's to voice their opinions in order to get Kovalev/Stevenson to happen. He is bang on with that statement. The boxing media should have put a lot more pressure on GYM and Main Events to make the fight happen.

As for the fight... Fonfara is a live underdog and certainly has a puncher's chance, but I think he most likely loses this one by decision or late stoppage... Hopefully he can prove me wrong.
 
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Ambrose

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Ambrose

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Obviously we here would like Andrzej to win but realistically we know Fonfara can't get a win by points in this fight. The judges are paid to get Stevenson into his next fight with Hopkins (who also will have judges working for him in his next fight). But Fonfara can lose this fight and still spoil Stevenson's plans. If Fonfara either goes the distance, and/or at least knocks Stevenson down in any round, Stevenson's value will have diminished no matter how his team and promoters will try to spin it. Everyone that knows anything about boxing will say: "Imagine had that been Kovalev! Good night Stevenson!"

I like Fonfara's right hand and it would fit perfectly into Stevenson's big target southpaw face, especially with a little left lean. But, uh, Fonfara's long neck worries me. Long necks wobble. Can anyone tell the future?
 

Rap Is Crap

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Hope Fonfara wins. I know it's kind of a long shot as Stevenson is the huge favorite but Stevenson may be overlooking him for Hopkins. When this fight was first signed I was hoping for Stevenson to win so Sergey Kovalev could ko him but he chickened out and signed with Al Gaymon. It's funny because Sergey called him a "piece of s***" after his recent fight. :lol:
 

whiteathlete33

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I sure hope Fonfara can pull this off but it will be tough. He seems to have problems with stocky, short negroes like Stevenson.
 

The Hock

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Stevenson appears to be the stronger and faster guy, so I don't know how Fonfara is going to deal with that. Just looking at them gives the impression of an impending blow-out, but the lanky Fonfara might be stronger than we think.

If I was a Chinaman I'd have to put my money on Stevenson.

Overconfidence might be Stevenson's downfall though.
 

Westside

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Lemieux looked sensational! A wreaking machine. Guerrero was demolished with a high light reel KO. I said 2 years ago, that David could and maybe should explore fighting at 153 lbs. Wow, what match ups would await him there. Very exciting fighter.
 

Charles Martel

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Stevenson keeps landing low blows, punching Fonfara in the groin. But the shady home referee isn't saying anything.
 

Westside

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That was a great fight. Stevens is a strong and rugged fighter. I had him winning by 5 points. But Fonfara almost had him at the very end. He just could not put together 2 or 3 hard shots to put Stevens away. Regardless, Kovalev would wipe the floor with Stevens, who is mostly hype.
 

Charles Martel

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I was impressed by Fonfara tonight, except he wasn't throwing the right when he had the chance.

And he had Stevenson down and hurt with 2 minutes left in the 9th round, but didn't finish him off.
 
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Just finished watching the fight. Stevenson deserves the decision win but Fonfara was in the fight and made things very competitive. Fonfara deserves credit for showing a lot of heart in this fight- to be fair so does Stevenson-as both were dropped hard but managed to fight back effectively.

Without question, Kovalev is the best at light heavyweight. Both Fonfara and Stevenson are chinny and take way too many punches, I see Kovalev easily KOing both, probably in the first half of the fight.

Fortunately for Fonfara this is a good loss. His stock and notoriety as a boxer has went up alot, and he will probably learn from this experience to improve.

It should be clear to all why Stevensons team has ducked Kovalev since Day 1. Stevenson is chinny and easy to hit. Kovalev would annihilate him...

Ps) Awesome to see David Lemieux get a big KO win tonight. Ive been a Lemieux fan for years and hes one of the best pure punchers in the sport.
 
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Westside

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Just finished watching the fight. Stevenson deserves the decision win but Fonfara was in the fight and made things very competitive. Fonfara deserves credit for showing a lot of heart in this fight- to be fair so does Stevenson-as both were dropped hard but managed to fight back effectively.

Without question, Kovalev is the best at light heavyweight. Both Fonfara and Stevenson are chinny and take way too many punches, I see Kovalev easily KOing both, probably in the first half of the fight.

It should be clear to all why Stevensons team has ducked Kovalev since Day 1. Stevenson is chinny and easy to hit. Kovalev would annihilate him...

Ps) Awesome to see David Lemieux get a big KO win tonight. Ive been a Lemieux fan for years and hes one of the best pure punchers in the sport.
I agree BS2, I could see Bopkins nickel and dimming the limited Stevens all night, pot shooting and grabbing and holding the clumsy Stevens for a UD. One thing is certain both will steer clear of Kovalev.
 
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Fonfara fought with a lot of courage and made a big fan out of me! I'd seen him fight before and he always gives a great fight.

Hopefully Fonfara can use this experience to improve. He could go places, perhaps even win a title if he's matched correctly. Hopefully his management team doesnt take any dangerous fights for a while. Its important after a loss that his team gives him a couple tuneups. His team should avoid Kovalev at all costs... Fonfara isnt ready for that right now...
 

Rap Is Crap

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It was a great fight! Fonfara showed a lot of heart in the beginning getting up from 2 knockdowns to get a knockdown of his own later on. He had Stevenson in trouble a couple of times. I know for a fact that if it was Kovalev in there instead Stevenson would have been out of there by either the 7th or 8th round. I guess it was a smart move for him to get a "superfight" with the boring old clinch punch and run to a decision Hopkins instead of Kovalev.
 

whiteathlete33

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It's a shame Fonfara couldn't pull off the upset. It's no wonder Stevenson wants no part of Kovalev. He would get knocked out for 100 percent. Fonfara is a good fighter but not yet elite. He's improved from several years ago and has potential to be champion.
 

werewolf

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Stevenson keeps landing low blows, punching Fonfara in the groin. But the shady home referee isn't saying anything.


The Haitian was hitting Fonfara low and the ref didn't even bother to say keep em up let alone warn him or deduct a point.
 

white is right

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Lemieux looked sensational! A wreaking machine. Guerrero was demolished with a high light reel KO. I said 2 years ago, that David could and maybe should explore fighting at 153 lbs. Wow, what match ups would await him there. Very exciting fighter.
Lemieux weighed in at 176 during the day of the fight he might be struggling to make 160. Like Julio Junior he has filled out as his body as matured. Back when he was exposed by the Mexican veteran he was 21 or so and had much slimmer frame. If he can still make weight he might be able do what Junior did when he beat Andy Lee and other elite middleweight boxers. He would make an exciting fight with Curtis Stevens or GGG. He also could win a belt against Peter Quillan who has a skinny frame and probably can't take a punch as well as a stocky middleweight. Lemieux has to show me that he can box when his blitz doesn't work for me to think that he would be the favorite in this fight though.
 
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