Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) successfully defended his WBC world title tonight against Artem Harutyunyan (12-2, 7 KOs) but it was another performance that won’t do much to quiet his naysayers. Stevenson started the fight slowly as he took Harutyuyan’s measure, and then carefully selected his punches at a very conservative pace over 12 rounds to take a unanimous decision win.
Stevenson had entered this fight assuring fans a statement victory in his hometown of Newark, but really it was much like many of his other fights that failed to really entertain even if he did come out on top with scores of 119-109, 118-110, 116-112.
So in the end Stevenson notches another win, but he struggles to be a true attraction in the sport as he finishes out his contract with Top Rank and heads towards free agency. We’ll have to wait and see what the free market has in store for him there.
Robson Conceicao SD-12 O’Shaquie Foster
O’Shaquie Foster (22-4, 12 KOs) lost his world title tonight in a surprise result where Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) took a split decision win. Honestly speaking the fight wasn’t the most thrilling fight to watch and largely consisted of Conceicao attempting to apply inefficient pressure and miss a lot of punches, while Foster picked his spots to counter and played a lot of defense.
The rhythm of the fight never really changed throughout the duration and at the end of the fight the three official judges turned in scores of 116-112, 112-115, and 115-113 in Conceicao’s favor. BLH scored the fight 117-111 in favor of Foster.
There will certainly be talks of a robbery decision here, but Foster didn’t do himself many favors by allowing Conceicao to consistently apply the pressure and throw lots of punches while he laid back for long stretches of the fight. For now, however, Conceicao is the new titleholder.
Keyshawn Davis UD-12 Miguel Madueno
Keyshawn Davis (11-0, 7 KOs) continues to ascension tonight with a clear unanimous decision against Miguel Madueno (31-3, 28 KOs). Davis would win on three official scores 99-91 in a fight where he was clearly a cut above Madueno.
Davis would pick Madueno apart over the duration and hit him with literally every punch in the book but couldn’t find the power to put Madueno down or out. With Madueno clearly in a fight that he could win by skill, the fight would devolve into a lot of wrestling and tussling throughout but Davis would still be plenty good enough to win the fight on the cards.
Abdullah Mason TKO-3 (1:18) Luis Lebron
Abdullah Mason (14-0, 12 KOs) completely blitzed Luis Lebron (20-6-1, 13 KOs) tonight in ESPN’s televised opener, putting on a performance that will have many keeping an eye out for him as he showcased flashy offense, quick hands, and enough power to do damage early.
Mason got off to a quick start by using his hand speed to beat Lebron to the punch, and quickly started putting combinations together that busted up Lebron’s face by the second round. In that second round Mason would drop Lebron twice, who was visibly overwhelmed, and in the third more of the same kind of action forced Lebron’s corner to throw in the towel at the 1:18 mark. Mason is officially now on the scene.