Shakur Stevenson dominates Oscar Valdez to win second title by way of unanimous determination

LAS VEGAS — Shakur Stevenson jogged across the ring along with his palms held excessive because the seconds ticked away on the most important evening of his profession.

For 12 rounds, he virtually performed with Oscar Valdez in what turned out to be an utter mismatch within the ESPN primary occasion on Saturday evening earlier than 10,102 at MGM Grand Backyard Area. Stevenson is solely that good.

He used a wonderful southpaw jab, probably the greatest weapons in boxing, to maintain Valdez at vary and arrange his personal highly effective left hand to the physique. The unanimous-decision victory by scores of 118-109, 117-110 and 118-109 handed Stevenson a second title at 130 kilos.

“I am a celebrity on this sport,” mentioned Stevenson, 24. “I need to acquire all of the belts at 130 and develop into undisputed. I should be a celebrity, so that is what I gotta do.”

Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) floored Valdez in Spherical 6 with a cuffing proper hook that despatched him stumbling into the ropes, earlier than a second proper hand knocked him to the canvas when he was already off-balance.

The defensive-minded Stevenson pressed ahead and unloaded energy photographs in an try to complete the battle, however Valdez survived, simply as he did when he suffered knockdowns in three earlier bouts.

“I advised myself, ‘I am gonna shut [Valdez’s fans] up,’ and because the battle went on I heard crickets,” Stevenson mentioned.

Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs) merely could not discover his well past Stevenson’s jab. The hand velocity and measurement disparity additionally made issues powerful for Valdez, who normally threw one punch at a time, whereas Stevenson strung collectively combos.

Valdez seemingly looked for one fight-ending haymaker, just like the one he scored final February to knock out Miguel Berchelt and win the WBC junior light-weight title, however that form of shot by no means got here near materializing.

“He was simply the higher fighter this evening,” mentioned Valdez, 31. “He did what he needed to do to win the battle. He is an amazing fighter. His velocity is there, energy is there.”

Valdez lunged ahead behind a excessive guard and caught a lot of Stevenson’s photographs on his gloves, however each time he inched nearer, Stevenson took a step backward and unleashed a number of extra jabs. Stevenson usually combined in a straight left to the physique, a punch that scored again and again.

One other left to the midsection surprised Valdez in Spherical 10, however Stevenson was much more affected person this time, content material to pile up rounds en path to the choice win.

The career-best efficiency adopted Stevenson’s win over Jamel Herring in October, which marked his first battle in opposition to a reigning titleholder. Towards Herring, Stevenson used an aggressive assault that featured loads of strain on his approach to a Tenth-round TKO victory.

The win made Stevenson a two-division champion — like Valdez, he additionally received a title at 126 kilos — and established him as ESPN’s No. 1 boxer at 130 kilos. Valdez beforehand was rated No. 1 however was faraway from the rankings after he examined optimistic for the banned substance phentermine.

Regardless of the adversarial discovering in August, Valdez was allowed to defend his title in opposition to Robson Conceicao in September, a battle he received by way of unanimous determination.

“I am not a cheater. By no means have been. By no means wanted it,” Valdez, 31, advised ESPN’s Mark Kriegel in September. “Lots of people saying, ‘You are a cheater. You are utilizing steroids. You got here again optimistic.’ It is simply, it is heartbreaking for me.”

Now, Valdez should deal with the primary lack of his skilled profession, however he might discover his approach to one other title shot quickly. Stevenson holds two of the division’s fours belts and mentioned he goals to develop into undisputed junior light-weight champion. It is also doable, Stevenson mentioned, that he’ll transfer as much as light-weight for his subsequent battle.

At 135 kilos, he might discover himself matched with Devin Haney sooner or later. Haney is ready to battle George Kambosos for the undisputed light-weight championship on June 4 in Australia. Haney was ringside in Las Vegas after signing a multi-fight take care of Prime Rank, the corporate that promotes each Valdez and Stevenson.

“Devin is certainly an enormous battle for me; Devin is a helluva fighter. We will line it up sooner or later,” mentioned Stevenson, an Olympic silver medalist from Newark, New Jersey.

He added: “You line ’em up, identify ’em, I am prepared for whoever.”