Stevenson And Mason Stay Undefeated As Navarrete Gets A Draw
After twelve rather dreary rounds, “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) snagged the vacant WBC lightweight title over Edwin De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs). Fearless claimed the title by way of a unanimous decision.
It was a case of seen one round, then you saw them all. For twelve rounds, Stevenson fought at range, threw almost exclusively the jab, and hopped out of the strike zone whenever De Los Santos advanced. While there is nothing wrong with displaying slick defense, Fearless put almost zero energy into trying to press the offense.
Instead, he countered, took pot-shots, and looked, resulting in a very uneventful fight. Fearless’ meaningful offense was so sparse it alluded to maybe a possible injury. Even still, De Los Santos, ranked #6 (WBC) and #12 (WBO), was largely frustrated and punched the air for large swaths of the match.
This resulted in the final scorecards of 115-113, and two 116-112 for Stevenson. In his post-fight interview, Stevenson acknowledged the subpar performance and chose not to call out any other fighters.
EMANUEL NAVARRETE AND ROBSON CONCEICAO BATTLE TO DRAW
For the second defense of his WBO super featherweight title, Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarette (38-1-1, 31 KOs) fought challenger Robson ”Nino” Conceicao (17-2-1, 8 KOs) to a majority draw in a fun war.
Conceicao did well for himself with volume, a variety of attacks, and solid boxing over the first several rounds, yet Vaquero was thawing a bit more each period. A left uppercut partnered with a thudding right hook to the head put Conceicao down on one knee in the fourth. From there to the final bell, the match was a loop of the two going toe to toe, Navarette buzzing Nino, who’d answer the call refusing to wilt.
Conceicao got off the canvas again in the seventh when hit by a right hook to the body. Nino responded with ferocity and heart as before. In a nutshell, the duel boiled down to whether you liked Navarette’s heavier hands or Conceicao’s volume and footwork. Ultimately the judges couldn’t pick a winner either, having submitted a final tally of 114-112 for Navarrete and 113-113 twice. In his post-fight interview, Navarrete was enthusiastic about supplying Conceicao with a rematch.
ABDULLAH MASON CRUSHES JOSE CARDENAS IN TWO!
In his fifth fight of the year, lightweight boxer Abdullah Mason (11-0, 9 KOs) claimed his latest scalp in dynamic fashion. This time, Mason chewed up opponent Jose Cardenas (7-2, 5 KO’s) like some dugout sunflower seeds and spit him out in two short rounds.
Right from the gate the Cleveland native assumed the role of counterpuncher and found a consistent home for his straight left to the pit of Cardena’s belly. The Texan fighter continued to come forward but clearly was outgunned and much slower. Before Cardenas could escape the first round the southpaw dropped him with a swift, nifty right-left hook combo.
Shortly after the start of the second period, Mason slammed a barbarous straight left into Cardenas’ jaw that sat him down on his back. Having gone down like a flipped-over turtle, referee Tony Weeks didn’t bother with a ten count before calling a halt to the action. Given the brevity of the match and the frequency of his fight schedule, it would not be a grand surprise to see Mason before the year ends.
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