Quebec Scene: Adonis Stevenson on FNF; Usmanee vs. Howard
By Hans Olson
Adonis “Superman” Stevenson will return to action on Friday, April 20, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, in a card that will be televised live on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.
“The main event will involve Adonis Stevenson in a 12 round bout at Super Middleweight,” said promoter Yvon Michel through GYM’s Facebook page (translated from French)
“The co-feature will be a 10 rounder where Antonin Decarie will defend his WBC International Welterweight Championship. Opponents and other fighters on the card will be announced shortly.”
Stevenson, who is rated #2 by the IBF, was ready and willing to fight Librado Andrade in a fight said sanctioning body had ordered earlier in the week.
Andrade however, wanted no part of “Superman.”
“The IBF ordered an eliminator between Stevenson and me. I said no I’m not interested,” said Andrade to Boxingscene’s Jake Donovan.
“Stevenson can have Bute. In the meantime I’m going to have a stay busy fight to get back [on track] and then I will go from there.”
Maybe Andrade doesn’t want this to happen to him:
Decarie, who appeared on Friday Night Fights in February of 2011 (defeating Shamone Alvarez), is coming off of a fantastic performance last December in which he defeated Toronto’s Victor Lupo in Quebec City.
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Montreal’s Arash Usmanee (17-0) will hit the road on March 17 when he faces Chris Howard (14-0-1) in Atlanta, GA for the vacant WBC Continental America’s title.
Usmanee is coming off a hard earned points victory last month against Innocent Anyanwu. Usmanee was dropped in the fight, but was able to recover and show a steel resolve through the final rounds to shade the win.
An unpopular decision in the arena itself—many boos were heard, strangely, when the decision was given to the hometown fighter—Usmanee can use his time on the road to bounce back from what wasn’t his best showing…and he’ll certainly look for a win of the dominant variety to re-ignite the buzz he had developed in the province up until his most recent showing.
Usmanee vs. Howard will be on featured on Wealth TV.
Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson can be reached at [email protected] Follow @hansolson