Shakur Stevenson Cruises to UD Win Over Robson Conceicao
Regrettably for “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson (19-0, 9 KO’s), his final bout within the super featherweight division was far from what he wanted it to be. This is because before his fight with Robson “Nino” Conceicao (17-2, 8 KO’s), Stevenson lost his battle to the scales. So, after failing to make weight, the talented pugilist was stripped of his WBO and WBC world titles. The straps will still be available for Conceicao to win if victorious, but not Fearless.
It was an unfortunate turn of events for Stevenson, who has only been in the division a bit over two years. During that time, the New Jersey native defeated champions Jamel Herring and industry rival Oscar Valdez. Following his snafu at the weigh-ins, Fearless has already announced that he will be moving up in the weight. Conversely, Conceicao is looking forward to attempt to gobble up the belts for himself.
Nino is now looking for his second win since dropping a unanimous decision loss to Oscar Valdez back on September 10, 2021. That win came over Xavier Martinez early in January of this year. Armed with his #2 WBO and WBC rankings, Conceicao entered this match in a prime position go from highly ranked contender to champion all in one deft motion.
ONE-WAY ACTION
Over the first two rounds, Stevenson fell into an early groove and took the lead in action. He was able to do this without much consequence because Nino had not found his rhythm or range. In the third however, Conceicao began asserting himself and had success in doing so. This may not have been a good thing though. As Conceicao engaged more, he gobbled up more incoming fire, particularly to the body. This cranking up in offense resulted in Stevenson scoring a buzzer beating knockdown by way of a left hook to the body in the fourth.
Fearless continued to burn up the Brazilian’s gut like a ulcer and a plate full of unlawfully spicy food. Hammering his torso in such fashion resulted in heavy head shots in the sixth. Sadly for him, Conceicao had no answers on offense or defense. Conceicao began finding a bit of traction with his offense in the eighth. Not enough to win, but enough to slow the onslaught he was absorbing. In the ninth, Stevenson was deducted a point for throwing Nino down. Yet, it appeared to be more theatrics than true physics.
In the end, Stevenson fought his way to a predictable unanimous decision win to the tune of 117-109, 118-108, 117-109. Now, we shall see how Stevenson can shake up the already thick-with-talent lightweight division. In the post-fight interview Stevenson called out Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko!
By: Bakari Simpson
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