Adonis Stevenson vs Thomas Williams Jr set for Spike on July 29

Adonis Stevenson will defend the WBC light heavyweight title against Thomas Williams Jr as anticipated, headlining a PBC on Spike card on Friday, July 29, at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City.

Stevenson (27-1, 22 KO) said a couple of weeks ago that the fight between the two was coming, but at the time the proposed date was July 16. With a busy schedule on that date, including Deontay Wilder vs Chris Arreola and possibly Julio Cesar Chavez Jr vs J’Leon Love, moving the fight back a couple of weeks made sense.

The 38-year-old Stevenson last fought in September 2015, beating Tommy Karpency in another predictable defense of his belt, something which has been the norm since he upset Chad Dawson to win the title in 2013. He’s defended six times.

Williams (20-1, 14 KO) is a 28-year-old banger with an exciting style, much like Stevenson, and the two are both southpaws. Williams was stopped by Gabriel Campillo in 2014, but has responded well, winning three straight. His last two fights against Umberto Savigne and Edwin Rodriguez were both two-round thrillers, so a short fight may be expected here, no matter whose hand is raised at the end.

Another light heavyweight contender, Eleider Alvarez (19-0, 10 KO), will also be in action on the card. The 32-year-old Alvarez, a Colombian based in Montreal, will face Maximiliano Jorge Gomez (22-5, 9 KO), a 33-year-old Argentine club fighter who is 0-2 outside of his home country. BoxRec ranks him No. 186 in the world, so to say that Alvarez, considered a top 10 fighter, is not facing a suitable opponent would be an understatement. But Alvarez is simply killing time at the moment — he’s Stevenson’s mandatory challenger, and if the two win, it's expected they’ll fight later this year. Keeping them on the same schedule makes sense.