Undefeated WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) held onto his title with a twelve-round unanimous decision over a surprisingly tough Artem Harutyunyan (13-2, 7 KOs) in the main event on Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
(Courtesy: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
A Subdued Atmosphere at the Prudential Center
Shakur’s fans remained deathly quiet throughout the fight, rarely cheering and looking upset at what they were watching.
The victory wasn’t the impressive performance that Stevenson needed for the final fight of his contract with Top Rank. He had wanted to get a knockout over Harutyunyan to open the doors and be offered a great deal as a free agent.
The judges’ scores were 119-109, 118-110, and 116-112. Boxing 247 scored it 8-4 for Shakur.
A Fight Lacking Fireworks
Shakur mainly fought flat-footed and was on the attack the entire second half of the fight. However, he couldn’t get enough power on his shots to hurt Harutyunyan or slow him down.
The punches that Shakur that seemed to bother Harutyunyan the most were the ones to the body. He didn’t like those and was often on the run after being hit with a hard one from Shakur.
Harutyunyan fought well in the first three rounds and appeared to dominate Shakur during that portion of the fight. After the third round, however, Harutyunyan began to tire out, sweating profusely and looking red in the face.
He didn’t help himself by moving a lot, but he looked comfortable from the body shots with which Shakur was hitting him. Harutyunyan came back and fought well in the twelfth round, but he was too far behind to make up the score and needed a knockout.
Robson Conceicao upsets O’Shaquie Foster
The talented Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceição (19-2-1, 9 KOs) defeated WBC super featherweight O’Shaquie Foster (22-3-1, 12 KOs) by a twelve-round split decision. Conceicao was the busier fighter throughout the fight, so it’s not a shock that he won.
At least they didn’t rob Conceicao again, as he deserved wins against Oscar Valdez and Emanuel Navarrete. The scores were 116-112, 115-113 for Conceição, and 116-112 for Foster.
Keyshawn Davis defeats Miguel Madueno
Undefeated lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis (11-0, 7 KOs) beat Miguel Madueno (31-3, 28 KOs) by an ugly ten-round unanimous decision. Madueno took the fight to Keyshawn in the early rounds, hitting him with hard shots in close.
Struggling with Madueno’s power and pressure, Keyshawn focused on holding, wrestling, and roughhouse tactics from the fifth round. Keyshawn grabbed in a bear hug whenever he got close enough to land, making the fight unwatchable. Watching the performance from Keyshawn, 25, it was hard to believe he won a silver medal in the 2020 Olympics.
The scores were 99-91, 99-91, and 99-91.
Abdullah Mason destroys Luis Lebron
The one bright shining light on tonight’s dreary ESPN card was lightweight contender Abdullah Mason (14-0, 12 KOs), who stole the show with a third-round knockout over Luis Lebron (20-6-1, 13 KOs).
Mason knocked Lebron down twice in round two and finished him with a body shot in the third. The time of the stoppage was at 1:18.
With how Abdullah Mason performed, I would favor him over Shakur Stevenson and Keyshawn Davis. He’s a much better fighter than those two and the only one with a real chance of becoming a bonafide star.
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