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Adonis "Superman" Stevenson is the favorite tonight at home in the Bell Centre of Montreal, where he'll face Jesus Gonzales in an evenly-matched IBF super middleweight title eliminator.
| Book | Stevenson | Gonzales |
|---|---|---|
| Bovada | -500 | +350 |
| 5Dimes | -500 | +400 |
Stevenson (16-1, 13 KO) has been fantastic since suffering an upset loss to chin-checker Darnell Boone in April 2010, winning three straight fights, all by stoppage. He came back in April 2011 after a year off, and overcame a mildly tentative start to knock out Derek Edwards in three. After that, he put Dion Savage away in one, and beat down Aaron Pryor Jr over nine, one-sided rounds in December.
Gonzales (27-1, 14 KO) is a former highly-touted amateur who chose to skip unpaid glory and turn pro at age 18, a surprise at the time. Now 27 and with a very unstable series of promoters behind him, he's getting his first major shot in the pro ranks following an exciting win against Francisco Sierra in July 2011, his last fight. So far, Gonzales' greatest claim to fame has come to him mostly by accident: He's the last guy to ever beat Andre Ward, which happened when they were children. It has become his claim to fame because Ward has shot to the top of the boxing world while Gonzales has stagnated, which can easily be argued is really not his fault at all.
Gonzales' only pro loss came almost seven years ago, when he was stopped in eight by Jose Luis Zertuche in Phoenix. That was in September 2005.
This could be the weekend's best fight when all is said and done, if both live are at their best.