Preview: PBC on Spike ‘Stevenson vs. Karpency’

Light Heavyweights
Adonis Stevenson (26-1, 21 KOs) vs. Tommy Karpency (25-4-1, 14 KOs)

Premier Boxing Champions returns to Spike TV on Friday night to provide an opening act of sorts for Floyd Mayweather’s farewell, as Adonis Stevenson defends his light heavyweight crown against Tommy Karpency. Like Mayweather, who meets Andre Berto on pay-per-view Saturday, Stevenson is facing an opponent who isn’t likely to excite the masses. Stevenson can ease at least some of that disappointment by putting Karpency away in spectacular fashion.

Friday’s fight takes place at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto – just the third time Stevenson has fought outside his adopted home of Quebec -- and airs on Spike beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The PBC event also features a co-main event pitting highly-touted welterweight prospect Errol Spence against Chris Van Heerden.

The Matchup: Stevenson’s reluctance to accept title unification bouts against Sergey Kovalev or Bernard Hopkins has taken some of the shine off his championship reign. While Stevenson hasn’t necessarily faced elite competition during his five belt defenses, most of his opponents made at least some sense until now.

Karpency enters the matchup on a four-fight winning streak, but three of those triumphs have come against journeyman foes and the fourth was a laborious split-decision victory over a past-his-prime Chad Dawson, the same man Stevenson dispatched in 76 seconds to capture light heavyweight gold. The Pennsylvania native has struggled mightily anytime he steps up in competition, as evidenced by losses to Andrzej Fonfara (who Stevenson also defeated), Nathan Cleverly and Karo Murat.

With that in mind, anything less than a lopsided triumph is going to be a viewed as a disappointment for Stevenson, who has won 13 straight fights since a second-round technical knockout loss to Darnell Boone in April 2010.

Stevenson is undeniably talented. The 37-year-old southpaw has the type of power to give any opponent pause, and he is more accurate than most when it comes to landing his most significant punches. His tendency to be selective can lead to fits of inactivity, which means an opponent capable of pressuring and landing in volume has a chance to steal rounds.

That is easier said than done, however, because Stevenson is usually adept at controlling the range thanks to good footwork and lateral movement. If an adversary becomes too impatient, Stevenson will respond by punishing him with a well-placed counter, as he is adept at baiting foes into thinking it is OK to press the action before he unloads. If he isn’t setting up counters, “Superman” is content to cover distance with explosive movement, land combinations and then retreat back out of range.

Karpency could be in for a long night if he is unable to make Stevenson uncomfortable. The American has a four-inch reach disadvantage, and while the southpaw vs. southpaw matchup might cause Stevenson some difficulty at first, Karpency has not demonstrated that he will be able to take advantage of his stance.

Too often Karpency leaves himself open to be hit by standing square on against his opponents, and he doesn’t utilize his jab consistently enough to keep opponents at bay. As a result, he often finds himself being pushed straight backward by an offensive-minded foe. Expect Stevenson to be able to pick his spots to attack, with Karpency struggling to find any kind of comfortable striking range.

The Pick: Karpency has appeared durable enough throughout his career and he won’t shy away from the fight, but this has all the looks of a mismatch. Stevenson can start quickly and could very well put Karpency away early, but even if he doesn’t, look for him to cruise to a stoppage in the later frames.