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Shakur Stevenson misplaced his two 130-pound titles on the scales, however he nonetheless cruised to a unanimous choice victory over Robson Conceicao on Friday earlier than an introduced crowd of 10,107 in Newark, New Jersey.
Two judges scored the bout 117-109, whereas the third decide had it 118-108 for Stevenson, who floored Conceicao with a left hand to the sternum with one second remaining in Spherical 4.
“I killed myself to make weight,” mentioned Stevenson, ESPN’s No. 9 pound-for-pound boxer. “He held me the entire night time, however I did every little thing I might. I feel that he was doing lots of holding every time I bought to the within.”
Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) was stripped of his WBC and WBO junior light-weight belts on Thursday after he weighed 131.6 kilos, greater than 1½ kilos over the division restrict. Conceicao (17-2, 8 KOs) weighed 129.6 kilos and was eligible to win the 2 belts.
These titles at the moment are vacant, and the highest two accessible contenders in every group’s rankings will vie for the belts sooner or later.
Since Conceicao made weight, he would have earned his $200,000 purse even when the battle did not happen. As a substitute, Stevenson paid Conceicao a $150,000 monetary penalty from his $3 million purse, sources inform ESPN, a part of a facet settlement to permit the battle to proceed.
“Respect to him,” Stevenson mentioned, “however all people need that type of paycheck.”
The title bid was Conceicao’s second following a September 2021 choice defeat to Oscar Valdez. Conceicao was at a aggressive drawback in that bout, too; Valdez examined optimistic for a banned substance weeks earlier than the battle.
The choice loss to Valdez was disputed, however the defeat to Stevenson was something however.
In a homecoming bout, Stevenson displayed all of the instruments that made him a two-division champion and a pound-for-pound fighter at age 25. His southpaw jab, one of many sport’s finest, set the tempo and opened Conceicao’s guard for a stinging left hand that inflicted loads of injury.
Conceicao, a 33-year-old Brazilian, dug to the physique with efficient proper fingers early on, however Stevenson’s pictures had been extra exact and compact.
Stevenson’s sharp punches disrupted Conceicao’s rhythm, a predictable assault that featured bundles of looping proper fingers that he arrange with a jab. The Olympic gold medalist loaded up on the ability pictures, and lots of met their mark, however few appeared to land clear nor have any impact on Stevenson.
The challenger discovered extra success in Spherical 3 with some flush left fingers delivered from awkward angles, however the assault by no means sustained lengthy sufficient to construct any momentum.
Stevenson broke by means of within the closing moments of Spherical 4 with the knockdown, which appeared to shift the trajectory of the battle for good.
Shakur related with a strong left cross with 20 seconds left in Spherical 6 that shocked Conceicao, earlier than he walked him right down to ship a harmful hook within the waning seconds.
Conceicao bounced again in Spherical 8 on the power of a sequence of flush proper fingers — the primary spherical he gained on one scorecard — however Stevenson’s stress was starting to take its toll.
Normally, Stevenson elects to field from the surface, however he was aggressive on this night time, notably down the stretch. He was deducted one level in Spherical 9 for tossing Conceicao to the mat; Stevenson complained his opponent was leaning on his neck.
He started to land with extra regularity over the ultimate three rounds as Conceicao absorbed the punishment, however he was by no means in critical hazard of being stopped.
“He actual awkward and he actual robust, so he know the way to survive,” Stevenson mentioned. “I used to be making an attempt to battle. I wished to face there and beat him up. And he was grabbing and holding.”
The victory was Stevenson’s second of 2022 after an April choice rout of Valdez that additionally featured a knockdown. That win added a second title to Stevenson’s assortment after an October 2021 TKO of Jamel Herring grabbed him his first 130-pound title.
Now, these titles are historical past after Stevenson’s mishap on Thursday, an occasion the fighter conceded he was embarrassed by.
“I am robust, even by means of my onerous occasions I nonetheless discover a solution to push by means of,” mentioned Stevenson, ESPN’s No. 1 junior light-weight. Conceicaco was rated No. 8 following a dominant victory over Xavier Martinez in January.
Stevenson added: “I discovered that I am actual robust.”
He’ll have loads of alternative to place all of it prior to now as he begins his marketing campaign at light-weight, a division that options way more expertise than the divisions Stevenson competed in.
“Everyone at 135 [pounds] gotta get it,” he mentioned. “We gotta battle the champ. Me and Devin [Haney], we will lock it in after he fights [George] Kambosos [on Oct. 15]. I am going to battle [Vasiliy] Lomachenko, too.”
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