Referee Michael Griffin raises the arm of Oleksandr Gvozdyk, of Ukraine, left, after winning the light heavyweight WBC championship boxing fight against Adonis Stevenson, of Canada, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press via AP)
QUEBEC CITY — Oleksandr Gvozdyk stopped Adonis Stevenson at 2:49 of the 11th round Saturday night to take the World Boxing Council light heavyweight title from the Canadian.
The 41-year-old Stevenson was put on a stretcher after the fight and left Videotron Centre in an ambulance. There was no immediate word on the nature of the injury.
The 31-year-old Gvozdyk, from the Ukraine, improved to 16-0. Stevenson dropped to 29-2-1 with his first loss since 2010 and first in Canada.
Stevenson was making his 10th title defense since winning the belt against Chad Dawson in 2013. Stevenson was ahead on two of the judges’ card and tied on the third when he was stopped.
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 center 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 11th round.
Gvozdyk continued with his series of flurries that got Stevenson in the ropes in the middle of the 11th, before sending the Canadian to the canvas with three solid right punches.
On the undercard, Montreal’s Oscar Rivas unanimously outpointed Brazil’s Fabio Maldonado to retain the NABF heavyweight title.