By Luke Furman
Although he's been the mandatory challenger since last November's final eliminator victory over Isaac Chilemba, undefeated contender Eleider Alvarez (19-0, 10KOs) may have two fights that separate him from a potential meeting with WBC light heavyweight king Adonis Stevenson.
Alvarez is scheduled to face former world champion Chad Dawson on July 29 at Videotron Centre in Quebec. Stevenson defends his world title in the main event against Thomas Williams Jr.
The doubleheader was viewed as a building block for a future fight between Stevenson and Alvarez in the fall. But promoter Yvon Michel of GYM, who handles both Stevenson and Alvarez, is looking at another direction.
If Alvarez is victorious later this month, he may go up against another former world champion in Jean Pascal (30-4-1, 17KOs) on a date in September, according to Michel.
Pascal has been out of the ring since getting stopped in his rematch with IBF/WBO/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev back in January.
Michel wants to build Alvarez up in a manner where the TV networks are offering up enough money to make Stevenson-Alvarez work for both sides.
"We want Eleider to gain credibility," said Michel to RDS. "He is considered to be among the three or four best light heavyweights in the world, but he has not had the opportunity to perform in a manner that encourages the US television networks to offer him a championship bout."
"If Eleider gets past these two stages, Dawson in July and Pascal in September, the table is set for a méga-bout against Adonis. This is the first time a three fight plan has been put together for Eleider since the beginning of his career and he is extremely motivated."
The last time Stevenson made a mandatory defense of his title was against Tony Bellew in 2013.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.
