Eleider Alvarez (18-0, 10 KOs), a former Colombian Olympian who now lives in Montreal, and Isaac Chilemba (24-2-2, 10 KOs), of Malawi, will face each other this November in a WBC light heavyweight final eliminator bout to be staged in Quebec.
Yvon Michel and Kathy Duva, respectively, promoters of Alvarez and Chilemba, yesterday finalized a deal to secure this much anticipated fight, in which the winner will become mandatory challenger for WBC World light heavyweight champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson, the Haitian native who also lives in Montreal.
“Alvarez and Chilemba are both at the elite level of the light heavyweight division,” said Michel, President of GYM, “insuring a spectacularly intense fight that will determine the rest of their respective careers.”
“Isaac and Main Events are very much looking forward to the fight and very happy to have come to an agreement with our friends at GYM,” added Duva, CEO of Main Events.
In his last outing this past August 15 at Bell Centre in Montreal, WBC Silver champion Alvarez spoiled the undefeated record of tough Paraguayan challenger Isidro Ranoni Prieto, retaining his belt via a unanimous decision victory on a great Premier Boxing Championscard that airedlive on NBC Sports.
Chilemba, the current North American Boxing Federation (NABA) champion, also fought his last bout at Belle Centre, the famed home of the Montreal Canadians. Fighting on the March 14th undercard headlined by a world championship light heavyweight bout between defending champion Sergey Kovalev and challenger Jean Pascal, Chilemba defeated Russian foe Vasily Lepikhin on HBO by unanimous decision to capture the NABF title.
The exact date and venue of the Alvarez-Chilemba showdown is expected to be announced within a couple of days. The plan is have Alvarez’ stablemate, undefeated light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev, fighting on the same card in an International Boxing Federation (IBF) elimination fight.
