Immediately after scoring his impressive 5th round stoppage win over former champ Lucian Bute, unbeaten light-heavyweight contender Eleider Alvarez called for his earned shot at reigning WBC 175 pound champ Adonis Stevenson. Alvarez, 22-0(11) said he hoped to fight Stevenson, 28-1(23) next and yesterday the WBC ordered Stevenson to defend against his mandatory challenger.
It might not be Stevenson’s next fight – he will most likely fight a TBA in Uniondale, New York on April 29; with Sean Monaghan possibly in line to get the shot according to RingTV.com – but under the WBC ruling, Stevenson and Alvarez must begin negotiating and come up with a deal within 30 days or the fight will go to purse bids. An interesting fight as well as a potentially tough one for the 39 year-old champ, Stevenson-Alvarez is a bout that could conceivably go either way.
32 year-old Alvarez of Colombia and based in Canada, is hungry, whereas some critics say Stevenson’s best days are behind him and he is not overly interested in taking the risky fights. Looking at the southpaw champ’s last few fights, we see Stevenson’s opposition has been less than spectacular – with names like Sakio Bika (past his best and a career super-middleweight) Tommy Karpency (gutsy but well over-matched) and, last time out in a slugfest, Thomas Williams Jr. being taken care of. Alvarez just might present Stevenson with his toughest fight in months.
Alvarez’ best win is the one over Bute, who has seen better days and was at his best down a weight class, and Alvarez has never fought anyone with the sheer power of Stevenson, but there is nothing to suggest the man known as “Storm” has a bad chin. Stevenson has enjoyed a long title reign but it could come to an end when (or if) he fights Alvarez. The fight would be a big attraction in Canada but fight fans everywhere would want to tune in.
Stevenson is often involved in good action fights (his battle with Williams Jr. was a dandy) and Alvarez has a fan-friendly style and approach. Let’s hope this one gets done for the summer.