Canada's Adonis Stevenson made his seventh successful title defense by knocking out Thomas Williams at 2:54 of the fourth round to retain his WBC light heavyweight belt on Friday night.

Stevenson improved to 28-1, with 23 knockouts as he almost ended the southpaw slugfest in opening round at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City.

With about 30 seconds left in the first round, Stevenson slammed a hard left into the side of Williams' head, sending the American to the canvas. But Williams was able to get up and beat referee Michael Griffin's count.

"He wanted to put on some pressure, so I put some on as well," said Stevenson. "Two men who know how to fight. We gave a good show, and that's what people want to see."

Stevenson was fighting for the first time since scoring a third-round knockout 10 months ago of journeyman fighter Tommy Karpency in Toronto.

The 38-year-old Stevenson went on the attack in the fourth, landing a barrage of body shots which took their toll on Williams. With the challenger slowed and unable to put up a proper defense, Stevenson landed a vicious left to the head that put Williams down for good.

It was Stevenson's seventh title defense of the crown he took from US fighter Chad Dawson by knockout in June 2013.

Stevenson is on a 15-fight win streak since suffering his lone loss to Darnell Boone in 2010, a defeat he avenged by knocking out the American in 2013. In all, Stevenson has 13 knockouts in his past 15 bouts.

Stevenson, who hasn't fought outside Canada since 2011, holds the lone belt in the division not owned by Russian fighter Sergey Kovalev.

Williams' record dropped to 20-2 with 14 knockouts.

Source: AFP