Shakur Stevenson wins a sparring session against Joet Gonzalez for vacant WBO featherweight title!
Ahead of their highly anticipated prizefight, “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson (13-0, 7 KO’s) versus Joet Gonzalez (23-1, 14 KO’s) was forecasted to be a fiercely competitive battle. Once in the ring, however, in their first title attempt, Stevenson made it look ridiculously easy!
Following a complete twelve rounds, Fearless put on a boxing clinic in order to walk away with a very wide three way 119-109 UD and the vacant WBO world featherweight title.
In the build-up to the bout there was much made about all the extracurricular elements involved. Each fighter was undefeated, highly talented and in a positive upswing in their individual careers. Along with this, both Stevenson and Gonzalez were, of course, participating in their first attempt at a title shot.
Although the biggest selling point of the fight was the fact that Stevenson was dating Gonzalez’s sister.
TOO EASY
From the very beginning of round one there was every indication that it was going to be a fretfully long night for Gonzalez. Right at the gate Stevenson’s superior hand and foot speed gave his slower foe fits. No matter what Gonzalez did he simply could not catch up to Stevenson with anything meaningful or consistent.
Conversely, Fearless regularly landed his jab, counter uppercuts and an energy syphoning straight left to the body.
The only round that could remotely be awarded to the underdog was the seventh. Unfortunately for Team Gonzalez, the only reason he found success in that period was because Stevenson willing went to the ropes and the corner for the entire stanza in what seemed as him just taking the round off.
Once past the seventh, Stevenson resumed his masterful tactics and efficiently blocked any avenue of success that Gonzalez was utilizing.
The bout was so one-sided that by the eighth round even Gonzalez’s corner was telling him that the only way he could win was by knockout. He never came even remotely close to landing a punch that would result in a stoppage.
Once the fight was over, the new WBO champion showed a great deal of class by attempting to bury any remaining beef that the two had. Gonzalez exited the ring directly after the reading of the cards. When approached backstage he did not appear to be in any mindset to begin the process of forgiving.
Before concluding his post-interview, Stevenson called out fellow 126lbs WBO champion Josh “The Leeds Warrior” Warrington (30-0, 7 KO’s). He has been targeting Warrington for some time, yet Warrington has remained steadfast in his declaration that Stevenson would need a title before he took the challenge seriously.
Now that Fearless has claimed the vacant WBO world featherweight title, let’s see if this unification bout can be put together!
By: Bakari Simpson
