Unfortunately for him, a flurry of big rights in the late round weren’t enough to even the score, and the judges sided with Stevenson 115-111, 116-110 and 115-110.
Stevenson commented after the event: “I worked hard to be able to go for 12 rounds. I dropped him twice. He’s never been knocked out and I knew he’d come prepared to fight.
“I said I would be happy with a knockout or going the distance to get the win. So I’m very happy with how I fought today and with the result.”
Bika said: “Adonis deserved to win this fight. I can’t take anything away from him. He fought very well.”
Editor’s note: Artur Beterbiev crushed former world champion Gabriel Campillo in four rounds on the undercard to move on to a possible clash with Stevenson, or even formidable Russian Sergey Kovalev.
Beterbiev is looking better all the time despite having just eight pro fights under his belt, and having beaten Kovalev twice in the amateurs, would be an interesting challenger for either champion.