The latest update provided on Adonis Stevenson’s condition paints a bleak picture for the Canadian boxer.
Michel Yvon, Stevenson’s promoter, told reporters Thursday that the 41-year-old remains unconscious and that his condition has yet to improve since doctors sedated him on a ventilator following a knockout loss to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
Michel said that Stevenson still “needs mechanical assistance to breathe,” and that “doctors do not venture an opinion on what lies ahead” for the former WBC light heavyweight champion.
The last update offered on Stevenson’s condition came on Dec. 5 when the doctor at Hopital de l’Enfant-Jesus, the Quebec City hospital where Stevenson is being treated, said he was stable but in critical condition. The update also said the boxer has been in the intensive care unit following surgery for a traumatic brain injury.
On Dec. 1, Gvozdyk knocked out Stevenson in the 11th round of their WBC light heavyweight championship bout at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, with a flurry of punches that, at the time, just appeared to wear Stevenson out as he was trapped in the corner.
Unfortunately, his condition seriously deteriorated as he was helped into the dressing room after the decision and was then rushed to the hospital via ambulance.
Fighting into his early 40s, Stevenson had been viewed upon as something of a modern athletic marvel, coming into the Gvozdyk fight with a 29-1-1 record after turning professional at the advanced age of 29.
Retired-boxing-great Bernard Hopkins, like Stevenson, fought into his 40s – and even fought his last bout at 51 years old. As someone who continued to prizefight at such an advanced age, he, too, was admired and understood the risks involved in continuing to get into the ring.
“If an old lady or old man falls, that same break on their ankle is going to heal different than when they were 21 compared to when they were 65. It’s the same in boxing,” Hopkins told Sportsnet earlier this month. “Recovery and injury is different because of age.”
Knowing this, the way Hopkins managed to extend his career was, as he puts it, because he held. Hopkins adjusted the way he fought by constantly grabbing and holding opponents in order to open up counter-punching opportunities for himself.
Stevenson is a much different fighter than Hopkins was, though, and came to fame because of the freakish power that earned him the nickname ‘Superman.’ Against Gvozdyk he attempted to fight in the same way he had always done, but facing someone 10 years his junior with just as much power as him has appeared to lead to the life-threatening situation he finds himself in.
For Hopkins, while he does express deep sympathy and wishes nothing but the best for Stevenson in this trying time, he says this was a hazard he knew he was getting himself into when he fought into his 40s.
“My thing is, we sign up for what we do,” Hopkins said. “Adonis Stevenson, I’m pretty sure with the way his swag was, he wouldn’t want anyone to feel sorry for his decisions. We sign a bout agreement. We sign a bout agreement that really clearly might be the last document that you might ever sign. That’s the risk that we sign up for.”
[relatedlinks]