Stevenson stops Cloud to retain WBC title

Stevenson stops Cloud to retain WBC title
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Summary Cloud, the former IBF champion, also was cut on the left eyelid in the opening round.

MONTREAL (AP) - Adonis Stevenson retained the WBC light heavyweight title Saturday night at the Bell Centre when Tavoris Cloud failed to answer the bell for the eighth round after sustaining a cut over his right eye.

Stevenson (22-1) successfully defended the title he won in June with a first-round knockout of Chad Dawson.

Cloud (24-2), the former IBF champion, also was cut on the left eyelid in the opening round.

Stevenson, from Quebec, is the only Canadian currently with a world title. He stung Cloud with a stiff left in the opening round that left the cut and swelling on his eyelid.

Cloud rebounded in the second, but the right-hander rarely used his right hand. That drew taunting from Stevenson, who twice stood before his opponent with his arms stretched out, daring him to throw a punch.

Stevenson's next fight is to be a mandatory defense against England's Tony Bellew, likely early next year.

On the undercard, former champion Jean Pascal stopped George Blades with three knockdowns in the fifth round in a light heavyweight fight. Pascal (28-2-1) used the fight as a tuneup bout for his scheduled match in January with fellow Montreal fighter Lucian Bute. Blades is 23-5-2.

"This does me an enormous amount of good," Pascal said after his first knockout since 2009. "I'm a guy with power, but it had been a long time since I knocked anyone out. Now, I'll go into camp with more confidence."

In a matchup of Colombian light heavyweights, Eleider Alvarez unanimously outpointed Edison Miranda in a 10-round bout to improve to 13-0. Alvarez had winning scores of 99-90, 97-92 and 95-94. 

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