By Luke Furman
Last weekend, WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson fought to a twelve round majority draw with Badou Jack in Toronto.
In the aftermath, he quested the selection of judges for the bout.
Although the Jack-Stevenson duel was held in Toronto, two of the judges came from the United States and one from Italy, while the referee was British.
Back in front of the Montreal media earlier this week, Stevenson and promoter Yvon Michel were confident that if the fight had taken place in Montreal or in front of Canadian judges, the result would have been more decisive in favor of the 40-year-old champion.
Two judges had it a draw, while the third had Jack winning 115-113.
Stevenson believes Mayweather's influence created the officiating scenario.
"It should have been a bit more balanced," said Stevenson. "Floyd, he's a little quick. He played a trick on us and he knew what he was doing."
Michel explained that he had expressed his concerns to the Ontario Athletic Commission, but that his request to include Canadian judges had been rejected.
"If the fight had taken place in Quebec, Michel Hamelin (the head of combat sports) would not have accepted that," said Michel.
Stevenson also revealed that he had been affected by a cold during his preparation and on Saturday, the night of the fight. He explained that he ran out of breath late in the fight, which went to the limit of twelve rounds.
"I took honey with hot water," laughed Stevenson, and then explained that he had to be too worried to take any of necessary drugs to try to limit the impact of the virus.
Stevenson also mentioned that he does not intend to wait for a full year before going back into the ring. However, the identity of his next opponent is still unknown. The mandatory challenger is Ukrainian Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
"If it's Jack or if it's him, I have no problem," said Stevenson. "It's not me who makes the decision. My manager Al Haymon will work that out with the WBC."
2023-10-21 03:09:37
