PBC on Spike Quick Picks

Adonis Stevenson vs. Thomas Williams Jr.: On Friday night Spike will air a PBC card headlined by the lineal light heavyweight champion of the world, Adonis Stevenson (27-1, 22 KO).  Stevenson will be taking on the dangerous but vulnerable Thomas Williams Jr. (20-1, 14 KO) in a bout scheduled to go 12 rounds with Stevenson's WBC light heavyweight title on the line.  While Stevenson may still hold his lineal light heavyweight champion status that doesn't mean he is still regarded as the best in the division.  That status would seem to belong to Sergey Kovalev who it now seems like Stevenson may never fight.  "Superman" as Stevenson is referred to is a southpaw with plenty of power.  The jab of Stevenson is a stiff one and he usually leaves his jab hand low, shooting the punch from his hip.  Behind the jab Stevenson likes to bring a straight left hand.  While "Superman" will throw a right hook it isn't a weapon he uses often or very successfully.  His best punch is without a doubt the left hand that can end a fight in an instant.  Stevenson has always shown good patience for a power puncher and he doesn't mind relying on his jab for long periods of time.  Defensively though Stevenson isn't great and he can certainly be touched up.  The lineal champion will be entering this fight after a 10-month layoff following his knockout win over Tommy Karpency.  As for Williams he fought just three months ago and turned in an exciting knockout win over Edwin Rodriguez.  Williams is also a southpaw and he likes to start off very quickly.  Williams also has plenty of power but he also tends to throw his punches wildly.  The one punch he doesn't throw wildly is his straight left hand but that punch isn't seen often.  Instead Williams relies on a strong right hook and a crooked left hand to win him fights.  If the defense of Stevenson isn't great than the defense of Williams is flat out bad.  Williams has been knocked out once and dropped multiple times in his career, usually in the first few rounds.  If Williams can survive the early rounds and show Stevenson that he can hurt him he has a chance to score the upset.  However, Stevenson is the bigger puncher with more experience and he also happens to be the sharper puncher.  Williams will make things exciting as he always does but that excitement won't last long as Stevenson will win this fight with a fourth round knockout.

Eleider Alvarez vs. Robert Berridge: The co-feature for Friday's PBC on Spike card will showcase an undefeated fighter taking on a fighter brought in simply as an opponent.  That undefeated fighter is Colombia's Eleider Alvarez (19-0, 10 KO).  He will be taking on Robert Berridge (27-4-1, 21 KO) who already has two fights scheduled after this one, meaning he will fight three times in four months, something typical of an opponent who isn't expected to win.  This fight is scheduled to go 10 rounds from the light heavyweight division.  Alvarez is an orthodox fighter with pretty quick hands and he likes to throw combinations.  He has a good jab but he doesn't use it nearly enough and he also throws a strong left hook and a nice looking crooked right hand.  One thing Alvarez does well on the inside is throw to the body and he is also more than capable of sneaking in an uppercut on the inside.  As for Berridge, he is 3-3 in his last six fights including one fight that ended with him being knocked out.  Throughout his career he has faced solid competition but he has never faced an elite fighter and most of his losses have come against slightly better than average pugilists.  Berridge, who fights out of the southpaw stance is very short for the division at only 5-feet 8-inches tall.  Because of that height difference there could be a clash of heads on the inside.  Don't expect Berridge to jab or move much, he likes to come straight forward and he always looks to land his big overhand left.  One thing Berridge does have is power, however he doesn't set that power up with his jab and it won't be easy for him to catch Alvarez clean in this fight.  Alvarez, being the taller, slicker, and quicker fighter shouldn't have a very difficult time in this one as he cruises to a unanimous decision victory.