Shakur Stevenson Beats Oscar Valdez Via Unanimous Decision To Unify Junior Lightweight Titles; Boxing Pros React

Shakur Stevenson proved he is among the greatest pound-for-pound boxers in the world in a big win against Oscar Valdez in a big unification bout on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Stevenson put his WBO junior lightweight championship on the line against the WBC champion, seen as the riskiest bout in the 24-year-old southpaw's career. However, he beat the rugged and aggressive Valdez by strategic jabs and straights via a convincing unanimous decision, as reported by CBS Sports.

Valdez had a few good moments, bulldozing his way forward and landing body punches on the quicker, more talented Stevenson. However, those instances were few and far between, and Stevenson's body shots generally delivered the more critical job.

Stevenson Dominates the Fight

The best highlight of the duel came during Round 8 when Stevenson stunned Valdez with a right hook. Then another right hook flew him into the ropes seconds later. It was judged a knockdown with the ropes keeping him up, giving Stevenson a 10-8 round and some additional padding.

Valdez simply did not pose a credible threat to Stevenson during the whole 12-round contest, leaving the ring with a swollen face after taking sharp, precise punches every round. The final scores were 117-110, 118-109, and 118-109, all for Stevenson, as expected. When asked what's next in the ring, Stevenson recognized that his future could be at lightweight, but his current priority is to win two more junior lightweight titles. He declared that he is "ready for whoever, Anybody, Any of the champions." "I'm going to go collect all the belts at 130 and become undisputed. I deserve to be a superstar," he said in an interview after the match that made his record 18-0, with 9 KOs. "This victory means everything," said the boxer from Newark, New Jersey. When asked about the next step in his dazzling career, per DAZN News, the champion dropped to one knee and proposed to his girlfriend, recording artist Lyric and said: "I love you, and will you marry me?"

Stevenson (18-0, 9 KO) defeated Valdez (30-1, 23 KO) by scores of 117-110, 118-109, and 118-109, adding the WBC title to the WBO title he earned from Jamel Herring in October.

Pro Boxers Recognize Stevenson's Greatness

Several analysts had predicted the result in many ways, though Stevenson's superiority not necessarily being the most entertaining spectacle. He did, however, dominate, which cannot be denied.

According to CompuBox, Stevenson landed 189 of 580 punches (32.6 percent), with Valdez receiving 53 percent of his power punches (158 of 298). Valdez was credited with 110 of 508 (21.7 %) landed blows overall, and 104 of 361 (28.8%) power punches on the other side of the ring.

Stevenson won the jab battle 31-6 and out-landed Valdez to the body by a 61-44 score.

Meanwhile, fellow professional boxers expressed their congratulations and admiration for Shakur's brilliance as a fighter on social media, per SB Nation's Bad Left Hook.

Sunny Edwards tweeted, "Coooooked him! Showed absolute levels that go across the divisions tonight @ShakurStevenson"

Ghanaian-British professional boxer Isaac Zion Dogboe acknowledged the heart of Valdez though Shakur's talent was just too much for him.

Demond Nicholson's tweet sums it all up: "Shakur been a star. Shows tonight how bright he really is."

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Boxing