Born: November 1, 1978
Place of Birth: Plaine-du-Nord, Haiti
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
Bermane Stiverne is a Haitian-Canadian professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2014 to 2015. He also challenged twice for world titles in 2017 and 2021.
Stiverne started boxing at the age of 19. As an amateur, he won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division at the 2005 National Championships and bronze in the 2003 and 2004 Championships. He beat Robert Helenius (points) and David Price (knockout) in international competition. His total amateur record was 49 wins and 10 losses. Stiverne commented about his absence from the Olympics: "In a qualifying tournament in Mexico, I met a Mexican fighter in the semi-finals, and I was robbed. I knocked him down three times, but still, they gave him the decision and the place in the Olympics." That fighter was Mexican-American George Garcia.
Stiverne turned professional under promoter Don King and knocked out his first twelve opponents with his favored left hook.
In 2007, he lost by TKO to Demetrice King. In January 2011, he fought and KOd Kertson Manswell in the 2 round. He won the vacant WBC International, vacant WBC USNBC, and vacant WBA Federation heavyweight titles. He fought Ray Austin on June 25, 2011, for the vacant WBC Silver heavyweight title. Stiverne won the fight by a 10-round TKO, becoming the mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight championship, then held by Vitali Klitschko.
On December 19, 2013, the WBC ordered their #1 ranked heavyweight, Bermane Stiverne, and their #2 ranked heavyweight, Chris Arreola, to fight for the world heavyweight championship vacated by Vitali Klitschko in October. The fight was an immediate rematch of their April 27, 2013 bout, which Stiverne won unanimously. The title fight was scheduled for May 10, 2014, and was held at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. Despite beating Arreola in their previous meeting, Stiverne entered the bout as a +140 underdog, with several media outlets predicting an Arreola win. Stiverne won the rematch by a sixth-round technical knockout. Arreola was caught with a right hand early on in the round and could not defend against the increasing volume of Stiverne, which prompted the referee to wave the fight off. Stiverne became the first Haitian-born boxer to win a world heavyweight championship. He was congratulated by notable Haitians on this accomplishment, including the President of Haiti, Michel Martelly.
Stiverne made his first WBC heavyweight title defense against the 2008 Olympic Games bronze medalist Deontay Wilder. The fight was scheduled for January 17, 2015, at the Barclays Center in New York City, New York. Stiverne lost the battle by unanimous decision, with scores of 120-107, 119-108 and 118-109. Stiverne landed just 110 punches throughout the twelve rounds, while Wilder landed 227 punches. Stiverne was hospitalized with dehydration following his title loss but was released a few days later.
In 2016, the WBC ordered mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin to fight Stiverne for the interim WBC heavyweight title. On November 11, the WBC were informed that Stiverne had tested positive for the banned substance methylhexaneamine. Stiverne claimed he ingested a supplement without knowing that it contained the banned substance. The WBC considered that it was Stiverne's first offense when ruling and fined him $75,000. Just 20 hours before the fight was to take place, the WBC withdrew its sanction of the battle, stating Povetkin had failed a drug test for ostarine. Stiverne declined to fight Povetkin.
On November 4, 2017, Stiverne again fought Wilder for the WBC world heavyweight title. Before the fight, he had mainly remained inactive, with only two bouts in nearly three years. At the time of the battle, he was the only man to go twelve rounds with Wilder. The rematch proved disappointing as he was knocked unconscious in the first round. Stats showed that he only threw four punches during the entire fight, none of which connected.
In 2019, Stiverne faced undefeated British heavyweight contender Joe Joyce (7-0, 7 KOs) on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr. vs. James DeGale on February 23. Joyce was ranked #5 by the WBA at heavyweight. Joyce opened up by throwing power shots and pressing the opponent. The out-of-shape, 40-year-old Stiverne had some successful counterattacks but stayed passive most of the time. The referee stopped the fight in the 6th round, and Stiverne lost by TKO.
On January 29, 2021, Stiverne faced WBA regular heavyweight champion and #1 WBA ranked heavyweight Trevor Bryan. Bryan managed to drop Stiverne twice, with the referee stopping the fight shortly after the second knockdown in the middle of round eleven.
Stiverne was born in Plaine-du-Nord, Haiti. He is the youngest of 14 children, having eight sisters and five brothers. In July 2011, he volunteered at the Welcome Hall Mission in Montreal to offer training and inspiration to local homeless youth. Stiverne is known to be a fan of the Miami Heat.