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MONTREAL - Adonis Stevenson has dodged more verbal blows than punches this year and is glad to be getting back in the ring to do some real boxing.The 37-year-old from Montreal will defend his World Boxing Council light heavyweight title Dec. 19 at the Pepsi Colisee in Quebec City against little-known Russian Dmitry Sukhotsky, an opponent who has been panned as yet another easy mark.Stevenson, a power-punching lefthander, had hoped to be in against ring legend Bernard Hopkins, and there was pressure to face heavy hitter Sergey Kovalev, but neither of those bouts came to be.That sparked accusations that Stevenson (24-1) has been ducking the best in the division to milk his title for paydays against second-tier opponents.Stevenson bristled at that suggestion at a news conference on Wednesday.My manager, Al Haymon, negotiates. Im a boxer, he said. If it doesnt happen, Its not my fault and its not Al Haymons fault. Its just negotiations.Its not like Im ducking the best boxers. Its not about that. For sure I wanted to fight Hopkins. When I first won the title I called out Hopkins. Sure Im disappointed, but the negotiations didnt happen with him. Its not that Im afraid of him or anyone.Promoter Yvon Michel said 33-year-old Sukhotsky (22-2) was the best opponent available for the bout, the main event on a card to be aired on the U.S. specialty channel Showtime.Stevenson dropped a planned showdown with Kovalev by leaving the HBO network to join Showtime, hoping for a shot at Hopkins. But the 49-year-old Hopkins left the Canadian out to dry by jumping to HBO to face Kovalev. The unification bout for the IBF, WBA and WBO titles takes place Saturday in Atlantic City.Michel said Stevenson should face a top opponent in the spring in mandatory challenger Jean Pascal. Stevenson and Pascal are both Montreal boxers of Haitian descent, but there is no love lost between them.Pascal, the former WBC champ who lost the title to Hopkins, has been calling Stevenson out for weeks on social media, suggesting the champion is afraid to face any truly dangerous opponents.If hes number one, Ill fight him, said Stevenson. I dont have a problem.Hes just using my name to build up his name. He says Im scared, Im this, Im that. Thats just him talking. Its not going to work.Trainer Sugar Hill said Stevenson has to focus on the fight hes got rather than the ones that might have been.Sukhotsky is not well known, but he has a strong record and has faced some decent opponents. He lost a bid for the WBO title by decision in 2009 to Juergen Braemer in Germany and dropped a decision in 2012 to Cornelius White in Las Vegas.He has never been knocked out or even knocked down. Stevenson had to pick himself up off the canvas in an unexpectedly difficult win by decision in his last outing in May against Andrzej Fonfara.Stevenson joked that while he doesnt know Sukhotsky, he wont Google him. That referred to the bout in which Stevenson won the title in 2013 against Chad Dawson, whose pre-fight trash talk including saying Who is this guy? I had to Google him. Stevenson knocked Dawson out cold in only 76 seconds.I dont know him, but Ive seen some tapes, said Hill. Those are the guys who are most dangerous, the people you dont think about.Its a dangerous fight. Anyone in these big weight classes is a danger because they have the weight to go with the punches. So were not looking past this fight. But truthfully, Adonis doesnt care who hes fighting.Hill is excited to start training next week because they will be moving into a new Kronk Gym in Detroit. The legendary gym that produced Thomas Hearns and other greats has been in a few locations since the original venue was closed by the city.The last location shut its doors when its founder, training great Emanuel Steward, died of an intestinal ailment in 2012, so they trained wherever they could find space.I have to finish putting the ring up, said Hill, Stewards nephew. I have to put Emanuels name on it and things like that.Adonis was at the last Kronk because Emanuel worked with him the last two fights before he passed. This is a more permanent gym, but it will be added delight for Adonis because hes going to be the first one, and the first champion, in that gym. He gets to break the new gym in.The co-feature has former super-middleweight contender Andre Dirrell against an as-yet undetermined opponent. The American Dirrell, (23-1), is on a comeback from a bout with Arthur Abraham in 2010 that left him with a brain injury.Michel said public demand moved Showtime to include Artur Beterbiev (6-0), an impressive Russian light heavyweight fighting out of Montreal. He will face American Jeff Page Jr. (15-0).Beterbiev has needed only 13 rounds to dispatch six opponents, including former world champion Tavoris Cloud, who went down in the second at the Bell Centre in September.But the best bout of the night should be a welterweight rematch between Romanian-born Ionut (Jojo) Dan (33-2) of Montreal and Kevin Bizier (22-1) of Quebec City. The winner gets the No. 1 ranking in the IBF and becomes mandatory challenger to champion Kell Brook of England.The southpaw Dan went into Biziers hometown in November and won a split decision in an action-packed bout. Now he has to do it again, with more at stake.I think I had better experience than him and maybe I wanted it more, Dan said of their last encounter. I know hes got more experience from the last fight and he knows me better, but I know him better too.For sure, itll be an exciting fight. Cheap Wholesale Adidas Nmd .Corey Brewer had 19 points eight rebounds, five assists and five steals for the Timberwolves, who snapped a six-game losing streak and won for just the third time since Ricky Rubio went out with an injured ankle on Nov. Wholesale Adidas Nmd . Patty Mills had 20 points, Tim Duncan had 11 points and 13 rebounds in limited action, and San Antonio rolled to a 110-82 victory over Milwaukee that kept the Bucks winless in the new year. http://www.discountadidasnmd.com/. Case in point: LeBron James vs. Ben McLemore. James was driving to the rim in the first quarter and McLemore decided to try to take the charge, which was quite admirable and predictably futile. Adidas Nmd Clearance Sale . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points. Adidas Nmd Shoes On Sale . Alina Fodorova of Ukraine took third place. Broersen based her gold-medal performance on great high jumping, and finished with 4,830 points, while Theisen-Eaton, from Humboldt, Sask., set a national record of 4,768.GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman underwent a 2 1/2-hour operation Thursday to repair a broken bone above his left eye but has no other serious injuries after being hit in the face by a line drive in a spring training game. Team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek said Chapman could begin throwing off a mound in six to eight weeks, a timetable that could get him back in games in late May. The left-hander with a fastball that has reached 105 mph could start exercising and throwing on flat ground in a couple of weeks, Kremchek said. The doctor called Chapman "a very lucky guy." The surgery was performed by cranial facial plastic surgeon Dr. Ed Joganic. Kremchek said earlier that a metal plate would be inserted in the bone above Chapmans left eyebrows and would remain there permanently. Chapman has a very mild concussion but no other brain injury and no injury to his eye, Kremchek said. "Hes feeling better and he has some pain management. Were optimistic that he is going to be on the mend," Reds manager Bryan Price said after meeting with players Thursday morning at the teams spring training facility. "Obviously, well stay in touch. We will make sure we follow the process as we continue to get familiar with the injury itself. We will let him know how much support he has and that we care about him. Hopefully, we will see him here very soon." Cincinnati catcher Brayan Pena, a fellow Cuban and Chapmans close friend, was one of several Reds players who visited the injured pitcher Wednesday night and spoke to him on the phone Thursday morning. "He was talking to me and we joked a lot," Pena said. "He just wanted to make sure for me to tell everybody that he appreciate so much the fans prayers, especially our teammates, our coaching staff, everybody around, how much support and how much love he received and got from all of us." Pena said Chapman was very happy when they spoke Thursday, "talking and joking. He was talking a lot about some Cuban jokes and thats good because that means his memory is still working pretty good." The frightening incident, widely available on video via the Internet, occurred in the sixth inning of Wednesday nights game at Kansas Citys spring training facility in Surprise, where the Royals Salvador Perez lined Chapmans 99 mph fastball into the pitchers face. Chapman was knocked backward to the ground, then rolled on his face, kicking in pain. Pena rushed to the mound. "Honestly, when I saw it I wanted to cry," Pena said. "That was my first feeling because it was very scary. It was very scary because I saw the line drive going straight for his face, and then I saw him bleeding and kicking and moving around tthe way he was.dddddddddddd" Pena said Chapman "wasnt even talking. He was just like moaning and making sounds and then when I got there I panicked because I didnt know what else to do. Then the medical staff guys got there, and those guys were great." Chapman was taken off the field on a stretcher as the crowd fell into an eerie silence and the game was called. The pitcher was taken to a nearby hospital, then transferred to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. Kremchek said he expected Chapman to remain hospitalized for a couple of days and perhaps get released on Saturday. The ball hit Chapman in one of the most protected areas of the skull, the doctor said. "If you get hit in the side of the head, that could be disastrous," Kremchek said. "Where Aroldis got hit, you dont want to say he got hit in a good spot because hes undergoing surgery, but it could have been a lot worse, a lot more injuries, a lot more permanent. Hes very lucky." The 26-year-old Chapman has a blazing fastball that regularly hits 100 mph. The two-time All-Star defected from Cuba in 2009 and made the Reds in his first season of 2010. He had 38 saves each of the past two seasons, with 122 strikeouts in 71 2-3 innings in 2012 and 112 strikeouts in 63 2-3 innings in 2013. Price, a former pitcher, said pitchers are in a dangerous situation, "regardless of how hard you throw." "Its hard to defend yourself from 53, 54 feet," the manager said. "And everyone finishes their pitches differently. Everyone is not in a perfect fielding position and even if you are there is no guarantee that you can protect yourself when a balls hit that hard." Major League Baseball approved a protective cap for pitchers this winter following several terrifying scenes similar to this one in the last few years. The hats were available for testing during spring training on a voluntary basis but most pitchers have rejected them. Besides, the hats would offer no protection to the face, where Chapman was hit. Chapman particularly wanted to thank the Royals organization for its support and offer assurance to Perez that it is just something that happens in baseball and was not his fault. Pena said he also felt some responsibility. "I kind of blame myself a little bit because I could have called slider or I should have called changeup," Pena said. "Thats your thought process. Everything goes through your mind and youre looking for answers. ... You kind of put yourself in that guilt feeling." But Chapman, Pena said, told him "You know, its not your fault. I should have thrown slower. Im the one feeling very bad about it and hes the one thats cheering me up. Hes the one in the hospital." Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '