Adonis Stevenson won tonight against Don George, and by any measure, he did so in dominant fashion. Stevenson put George away early in the 12th round after scoring his fifth knockdown of the fight, leading on the BLH scorecard at the time of stoppage, 109-97.

George was never really in it. Except that he was, somehow. Through every one-sided, punishing round, through knockdowns and stiff shots to the body and head, the Chicagoan refused to lose, refused to give up, and even at one point told his corner -- his family, mind you -- that if they stopped the fight, he'd never speak to them again.

It was an amazing display of grit and bravery from George, who was dropped twice in the fifth round, once in the sixth, and then again two more times in the minute or so that the 12th lasted.

I don't want to overshadow what I thought was a good, well-rounded performance from Stevenson (19-1, 16 KO), either. He boxed well, controlled the fight, and did some really damaging body work, in particular. But it's hard to describe this fight and not focus on the superhuman effort of George (23-3-1, 20 KO). It was the story of the fight. This thing should have ended in five, six, maybe seven, but he just would not go away.

After the fight, an emotional George broke down a bit in a truly authentic moment, and in another one moments later, Stevenson went to George, expressed his respect for him, raised his opponent's hand, and walked him around the ring to the roar of the crowd.

It was a hell of a fight -- one-sided for the most part, but very memorable. Don George let nobody down tonight. And Adonis Stevenson is now in line for a shot at the IBF super middleweight title.

Undercard Results

David Lemieux improved to 27-2 (26 KO) with a scary first round knockout of Alvaro Gaona (11-2, 7 KO). Gaona had some minor success for the first couple minutes, as Lemieux was squared up, sloppy on defense, and throwing nothing but bombs. But then a short, stiff right hand put Gaona on his backside, and when he came back up, Lemieux went for the finish, and got it on a thunderous left hook.

Gaona was out as soon as it landed, as his legs went out from under him and he fell limply to the canvas, where his head thudded off the mat. He was out bad for a little bit, but came around and left under his own power. It was a sickening KO.

Light heavyweight prospect Eleider Alvarez improved to 10-0 (6 KO) with a second round TKO of Daniel Regi (15-7, 7 KO).