As the seconds ticked away on the greatest night of his career, Shakur Stevenson sprinted across the ring with his hands raised.
In the ESPN main event Saturday in front of 10,102 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, he essentially played with Oscar Valdez for 12 rounds in what turned out to be a complete mismatch. Stevenson is absolutely incredible.
To keep Valdez at range and set up his own big left punch to the body, he employed a superb southpaw jab – one of the finest weapons in boxing. Stevenson won his second championship at 130 pounds with to unanimous decision victories of 117-110, 118-109, and 118-109.
Stevenson, 24, described himself as a “superstar” in the sport. “Arrange them in a straight line. Whoever comes along, I’m ready.”
Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) had a career-best performance in his previous fight, stopping Jamel Herring in the 10th round in his first fight against a world champion. Stevenson, who was born in Newark, New Jersey, had been chastised for his cautious approach, but he displayed a more combative side against Herring.
Following a whirlwind of controversy, Valdez, 31, entered the biggest bout of his career. Despite testing positive for the prohibited chemical phentermine, the two-time Olympian from Mexico was permitted to continue with his championship defiance against Robson Conceicao in September.
Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs) battled in the first half of the fight, but came back to win by a razor-thin margin. Valdez was making his first championship defence after capturing the crown from Miguel Berchelt in one of the finest knockouts of 2021 last February.
Valdez had been ranked No. 1 at 130 pounds by ESPN, but following the negative test, he was removed from the rankings.
“I’m neither a liar or a thief. That has never been the case. It was never required “In September, Valdez informed ESPN’s Mark Kriegel. “‘You’re a cheater,’ remark a lot of people. You’re on anabolic steroids. You returned with a favorable response.’ It’s just that it’s quite painful for me.”
