Adonis Stevenson Retains Title After Fighting Badou Jack to Majority Draw

Light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson survived his toughest challenge in several years, holding on to his WBC world title courtesy of a majority draw against Badou Jack on Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

ESPN's Dan Rafael provided the cards:

Jack (22-1-3, 13 KOs), stymied yet again by another frustrating draw, stuck to a simple strategy: avoid Stevenson's left hand, and wait for him to get tired. For six rounds, he did exactly that, hardly throwing while letting the champ have the run of the ring. He came alive in the second half of the fight, but Stevenson (29-1-1, 24 KOs) might have saved his title with a mini-rally in the 11th round and a chin that held up well for a 40-year-old prizefighter.

Douglass Fischer gained new respect for Stevenson, who has faced criticism for taking on underwhelming opponents since winning the WBC belt from Chad Dawson in 2013:

Boxing writer Graham Houston thought the scorecards were fair:

Jack, fighting for only the second time as a light heavyweight, won his rounds in a far more impressive fashion, pushing Superman to his limit. However, he will likely regret not doing more earlier. After the bout, The Ripper called for a rematch in Las Vegas, per the Showtime broadcast.

Jack stayed out of Stevenson's range in a quiet first few rounds, wary of his opponent's prodigious power. He looked calm but was far too inactive. The Money Team member even got some ringside advice from Floyd Mayweather Jr., per Ring's Mike Coppinger:

Jack took that advice to heart, as the bout moved at a glacial pace. Stevenson landed a couple of stinging lefts in the second round, but neither boxer was doing much to set up more offense, as these Sho Stats show:

Jack brought the fight in closer in the middle rounds, but he lacked creativity on the inside. Stevenson, six years Jack's senior, ended up being the busier fighter for several long stretches.

Jack's strategy, tipped by Mayweather earlier, became abundantly clear by the end of the sixth round, per CBS Sports' Brian Campbell:

As if someone flipped a switch in Jack's head, the Swedish fighter opened up in the seventh round, landing a clean overhand right and several strong jabs. Stevenson, who has survived as a champion into his fourth decade of living by carefully picking his spots and opponents, finally started to look his age.

By the end of the eighth, blood was dripping from Stevenson's nose and mouth. In the ninth round, Jack was able to fire at the kind of distance where Stevenson would normally stagger a fighter with a big left hand, but he was unable to fire back.

Boxing writer Andreas Hale felt Jack took a clear risk with his strategy:

Indeed, Stevenson came back with a thunderous punch to the ribs at the end of the 10th and then fired another salvo in the first half of the 11th before tiring out again.

Bad Left Hook's Connery Busch felt Stevenson might have saved his belt with that rally:

This set up a pivotal 12th round, where Jack looked like he bested both Stevenson and, in a pure accident, the referee, who started bleeding from the nose after eating a left hook from the challenger. It was a strong showing, but not enough to get the title.

A rematch is the best-case scenario for Jack in this division. He knows he will be better off by stepping on the gas a bit earlier, which might even prevent Stevenson from staging a late micro-comeback like he did in this bout. Stevenson can only get older and slower from here on out, and the other top fighters in the division (Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward) might be a bit too much for Jack to handle.

Stevenson's instincts are still strong. He didn't get to really hammer home any left hands in this bout, but he looks like he still might be able to club a less-adept fighter than Jack. Either way, he likely only has a couple of fights left in him, and Jack would be quite a risk if he wants to go out on top.