By Allen Fox: Former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KO’s) will finally be returning to the ring after a year off from boxing when he takes on IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KO’s) on August 11th in still to be determined venue in Quebec, Canada. On the undercard will be super middleweight contender Adonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KO’s) facing an opponent to be named later in the opening bout.

Pascal last fought in May of last year, losing his World Boxing Council title to 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins in a poorly fought bout by Pascal. Since then, Pascal has done zero. He wants to face Chad Dawson again now that he’s the new WBC light heavyweight champion since beating Hopkins. However, Dawson is going in a different direction in a September fight against Andre Ward.

Cloud could be a tough customer for Pascal, because the types of opponents Pascal has problems with are guys that put pressure on him. If he can fight at a slow pace, he’s okay but not if you pressure him.

Cloud, 30, defeated Gabriel Campillo by an unpopular 12 round split decision last February. Cloud had problems early on in the fight but he came on to outwork Campillo in the second half of the fight to get the victory. Still, Cloud looked unimpressive in that fight and he’s going to have to work on his defense in a big way if he wants to get past Pascal.

Stevenson, 34, picked up the WBC Silver super middleweight title with a 2nd round TKO win over Noe Gonzalez Alcoba in his last fight in April. Stevenson seems to have good power and hand speed when he’s throwing single shots. But when he throws combinations, his power isn’t nearly as impressive and his form breaks down completely. Stevenson looks sloppy when he’s throwing combos, which is likely why he got destroyed by the hard hitting Darnell Boone in a 2nd round TKO in April of 2010. Stevenson seems to do well as long as he’s not getting hit, but if you can connect with shots, Stevenson is very vulnerable.