Adonis Stevenson has gotten off the canvas to record a points victory over Andrzej Fonfara in Montreal on Saturday night.
The WBC light-heavyweight champion entered the contest with 10 successive knockouts, but he was forced to dig deep against his Polish opponent.
Stevenson began the bout explosively, dropping Fonfara with a straight left in the opening round, before a shot to the body in the fifth had the challenger on the floor for a second time.
The 36-year-old was in control of the fight, but Fonfara surprised Stevenson with a hard right at the start of the ninth that floored the titlist, but despite experiencing more trouble later in the round, he comfortably made it to the bell.
Stevenson responded positively in the following two stanzas, and although he had to hold off Fonfara during the final three minutes, he managed to earn a unanimous verdict with scores of 115-110, 115-110 and 116-109 in his favour.
Darren Plant
