Light heavyweight world champion Adonis Stevenson will defend his title against fellow explosive puncher Thomas Williams on July 29 at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, promoter Yvon Michel announced on Tuesday.
The fight, which matches two southpaws, will headline a Premier Boxing Champions card on Spike (9 p.m. ET/PT).
The 38-year-old Stevenson (27-1, 22 KOs), a Haiti native based in Montreal, will be making his seventh title defense since winning the title by first-round knockout of Chad Dawson in 2013.
“I am very happy to get back in the ring for my next fight against Thomas Williams Jr.,” Stevenson said. “I will demonstrate that, like fine wine, I am even better with age. Even though I haven’t boxed for 10 months, I’ve never left the gym and I’m willing to defend my crown.”
Stevenson has not fought since scoring a third-round knockout of club fighter Tommy Karpency in a huge mismatch in September in Toronto.
Williams (20-1, 14 KOs) knocked out Edwin Rodriguez in the second round on April 30 in a fight that was not an official eliminator, but going into the bout it was common knowledge that the winner was going to get a shot at Stevenson.
Williams, 28, of Fort Washington, Maryland, was the underdog against Rodriguez but his power prevailed.
“There were many who had lost trust in me two years ago after my [fifth-round knockout] loss to [former world titleholder] Gabriel Campillo,” Williams said. “I don’t make excuses but there were circumstances that led to this result. I’m coming off the best performance of my career, and I’m ready to make a change July 29 in terms of the title belt. Stevenson has never faced a puncher like me in the past.”
The co-feature will pit Eleider Alvarez (19-0, 10 KOs) against Maximiliano Gomez (22-5, 9 KOs), 33, of Argentina, in a 12-round light heavyweight fight. Though from Colombia, the 32-year-old Alvarez fights out of Montreal. He is also Stevenson’s mandatory challenger, so Michel has them fighting on the same card to build interest in their all-Montreal title fight, which likely would take place in the fall if they both win their July 29 bouts.
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