WBC heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson is happy and healthy, two years after having coming close to death after suffering a brain injury in a grueling TKO defeat at the hands of Oleksandr Gvozdyk on December 1, 2018.
When Stevenson returned to the dressing room, he began to feel dizzy and was taken to a local hospital – where doctors discovered that he suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. He was immediately taken to surgery that night.
The morning after the fight, Stevenson was in critical condition in intensive care. The following Monday, his condition was changed to stable and he was placed in an induced coma.
The boxer remained in the induced coma for three weeks before waking up.
Doctors feared that Stevenson would never be the same again – and there were obvious concerns regarding whether or not his memory would be intact.
During recent interviews, Stevenson appears to be have no issues when it comes to his mental state of physical mobility.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Thank God, he’s on my side,” said Stevenson to RDS.
“There are people who tell me, you still talk, you talk fast again. You remember me?”
But, the 43-year-old retired boxer is still not fully recovered and he admits there are some after-effects from the damage
“There are always consequences. When you have a concussion, in the brain, there are always consequences. The important thing is to work so that they disappear. Very important to work on my memory,” Stevenson said.
The World Boxing Council made Stevenson their “Champion of Hope.”
“This belt means a lot to me. It is being able to help people who have suffered concussions. I have this belt so I can help people who have problems. God brought me back to help. Boxing saved me. She saved me from the streets. How could I regret something that made me feel good? It was an accident that happened [in the fight with Gvozdyk],” Stevenson said.
“The preparation [for the fight with Gvozdyk], I was not at 100%. I had certain ailments and they caught up to me in the end. I can’t spit on boxing, it saved my life. These are accidents that happen. The best I can do is prevent it so that these accidents don’t happen [to others]. And that’s why I’m the Champion of Hope, I’m here for that.”
