Talented junior middleweight Julian “J-Rock” Williams (15-0-1, 9 KOs), of Philadelphia, and world-ranked light heavyweight Eleider Alvarez (14-0, 8 KOs), of Montreal by way of Colombia, will put their unbeaten records on the line against Michael Medina (26-4-2, 19 KOs), of Modesto, Calif., and Alexander Johnson (15-1, 6 KOs), of Washington, D.C., respectively, live on Showtime Extreme at 7pm Eastern Saturday, May 24, from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
Both fights will air prior to a SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING tripleheader from the Bell Centre live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT) that is headlined by the network debut of hard-hitting Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (23-1, 20 KOs), of Montreal, the 2013 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year who defends his WBC light heavyweight championship against third-ranked contender Andrzej “The Polish Prince” Fonfara (25-2, 15 KOs), of Chicago.
In two 10-round fights on SHOWTIME, power-punching, world-ranked Montreal middleweight David Lemieux (31-2, 29 KOs) meets Fernando Guerrero (26-2, 19 KOs) of Salisbury, Md., and Houston’s unbeaten rising star Jermell Charlo (23-0, 11 KOs) takes on Japan’s Charlie Ota (24-1-1, 16 KOs) in a junior middleweight match.
Williams, 24, turned pro in May 2010. He’s won three in a row since his bout last Sept. 13 with Hugo Centeno ended in a fourth-round no-contest after an accidental head butt (at the time of the stoppage, Williams was leading 30-27 on the three judges’ scorecards).
In his last start this past March 17, Williams overpowered veteran Freddy Hernandez, winning by third-round knockout. Williams scored a knockdown with a right hand in the first round — the first punch of the fight, then scored another knockdown with a left hand in the third. Hernandez was counted out at 0:35.
Medina, a former NABF 154-pound champion and onetime sparring partner of boxing superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather, is 8-3 in his last 11 outings. He will be making his first start since suffering a broken right ankle in a first-round knockout loss to Willie Nelson on March 1, 2013. Medina went down twice. Each time he thought he’d twisted an ankle. Only later, after x-rays were taken, did he learn that he had fractured the ankle.
Alvarez, a top-flight amateur, represented Colombia in the 2008 Olympic Games. Since turning pro in August 2009, he has campaigned exclusively in Montreal. He’s currently world-ranked in the WBO, WBA and WBC at 175 pounds. Two outings ago, the boxer-puncher registered a career-best 10-round unanimous decision over former super middleweight contender Edison Miranda on Sept. 28, 2013. In his lone start this year, Alvarez took a 10-round decision over Andrew Gardner on Jan. 18.
Johnson, who owns a noteworthy victory over previously undefeated Philadelphia prospect Farah Ennis, will be making his 2014 debut. A natural right-hander who fights southpaw, Johnson is a solid boxer with good skills and movement. He’s won three in a row since suffering his only defeat on a six-round decision to Luis Garcia on Dec. 30, 2011, on ShoBox: The New Generation. He won his most recent outing on a six-round decision over De Leon Tinsley on Dec. 14, 2013.
