PBC on Spike results: Adonis Stevenson knocks out Thomas Williams Jr

Adonis Stevenson had to bring his best tonight, as he faced a determined and fearless Thomas Williams Jr in Quebec City. But Stevenson rose to the occasion, meeting fire with fire, and knocked Williams out late in the fourth round to retain his WBC light heavyweight title.

Stevenson (28-1, 23 KO) dropped Williams (20-2, 14 KO) late in the first round with a left hand that was close to the back of Williams’ head, but a legitimate and clean knockdown. Williams put some pressure on in the second, and shook Stevenson a little bit, finding his own rhythm. In the third, Williams started strong again, but Stevenson came back to hurt the challenger, once again late in the round.

The fourth round started with an accidental low blow from Stevenson, and when the action resumed, it was clear that both men had decided to end this fight as quickly as possible, as they dug in their heels and stayed in close quarters, throwing hard shots.

It was Stevenson getting the better of things, hurting Williams again late in the round, then delivering two thudding body shots that set up the knockout blow. Williams went down hard, face-first, and tried to get up, but couldn’t beat the referee’s 10 count.

In the co-feature, Eleider Alvarez (20-0, 10 KO) stayed unbeaten with a dull but wide decision win over replacement opponent Robert Berridge (27-5-1, 21 KO), winning on scores of 99-90, 98-92, and 98-92. BLH had it 98-92 for Alvarez, who is the WBC’s mandatory challenger and expected to face Stevenson this fall.