It is great to be back at a Top Rank event once again. This time in Newark, New Jersey to see the hometown kid Shakur Stevenson make his first defense of his WBC Lightweight title. Interested in seeing how he looks after his critically panned performance against Edwin De Los Santos.
The card started with young Heavyweight prospect Ali Feliz taking on Robson Perez in a 4-round bout. Ali spent every round using his boxing to shut out Perez. Nice jab, good combination punching, and some nice body shots were all used to secure the victory. Feliz seemed content using his boxing skills and not trying to get Robson out of there with his power. Good showing by Felix nonetheless.
Next up was Kelvin Davis (brother of Keyshawn) taking on Kevin Johnson. There was a lot of back and forth between Johnson and the Davis bros at the weigh in, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing how it would transfer to the real fight. The actual fight started off slow, not much action to start. Things finally picked up in the fourth round as the fighters became more aggressive and started upping their activity. Kevin had some nice body shots and Kelvin had some good counters. Johnson was able to rally in the latter half of the fight, as he was landing more on Kelvin and making him uncomfortable. After 8 rounds, Kelvin was declared the winner by majority decision (78-74 2x, 76-76).
Next fight was local fighter Keith Colon, making his pro debut at Featherweight against Hunter Turbyfill. Colon came out guns blazing in his debut, tagging Hunter with body shots and hard right hands. Colon put Turbyfill down in the second and continued to punish him with shots to the body and head until the ref waved it off. The crowd loudly cheered for the hometown kid as he made a statement in his pro debut. Looking to see more of Colon in the future.
Next fight was William Foster taking on Eridson Garcia. Garcia looked sharp, establishing his boxing skills and power early against Foster. He hurt Foster early a couple times, though Foster was able to weather the storm. It was quickly evident that Foster did not have much for Garcia, struggling to keep up with Erdison’s pace. Garcia lit up Foster all night, claiming a dominant UD victory.
The main card kicked off with exciting young prospect Abdullah Mason. Mason has earned a ton of praise from the fans and pundits alike, touting him to be a future elite/star fighter. In his first fight on ESPN, he takes on a tough and crafty veteran in Luis Lebron. Abdullah told me personally that he was aiming to make a statement and knock Lebron out. Well in the second round, Lebron was already busted up and bruised like he went through ten rounds. Mason proceeded to knock down Lebron 2x, and continued to pummel him until the corner mercifully stopped the fight. A statement was made. Abdullah Mason has a bright future ahead of him, and fights like the show exactly why.
Following up Abdullah Mason was another hot young prospect in Keyshawn Davis, as he took on rugged veteran Miguel Madueno. Madueno definitely was on the front foot all fight and used his relentless pressure to try and get to Davis. But Keyshawn used his boxing to counter and pick off Madueno every time he came in. Madueno is tough, so he was able to take everything Davis dished out. After the sixth round is when things started getting hectic. Keyshawn hit Madueno after the bell, and Madueno got in his face. From the seventh round on, it turned into what could be described as a wrestle fest. A lot of holding, grabbing, and a couple of takedowns to the canvas. Keyshawn was still able to counterpunch in between the rough housing moments, on his way to a UD victory.
Next up was the co-main and what turned out to be the most controversial fight of the night: O’Shaquie Foster defended his WBC 130 title against veteran Robson Conceicao. The actual fight was nothing to write home about. Foster controlled the fight with his job and was able to outland Conceicao as Robson mostly swung at air. The crowd was bored, restless, and was booing by the fifth round. It was so bad that in the 12th round the fans were counting down after 10 seconds like WWE fans during the Royal Rumble, and they loudly cheered when the buzzer went off at 0. Everybody was happy the fight was over, and patiently waited for the scorecards to be read so that the main event could get started. The scores took a while to be read, and then we finally got the result: Robson Conceicao was declared the winner by split decision! 116-112 and 115-113 were the scores for Conceicao (the lone score for Foster was 116-112). Loud boos reigned down from the crowd, Foster was visibly distraught, and every boxer took to social media and voiced their displeasure. Although the fight was boring to the fans, they still believed Foster was the rightful winner and they made no qualms about voicing their displeasure. One can only hope this wrong is somehow righted in the near future.
And finally it is time for the main event. Shakur Stevenson makes his return to the ring to face Artem Harutyunyan. Fight started off slow as Shakur used the early rounds to figure out Artem. By round four though, he had Artem’s rhythm down pat and methodically picked him apart. Throwing 1-2 punch combos to the head and body. Artem did not stand straight in front of Shakur, but Shakur’s elusiveness made it tough for Artem to land anything of note. He tried to come forward and up the output, but Shakur countered him the times he got close. By the 9th round Shakur was in complete cruise control, opting not to step on the gas and take it to Artem. By then the fans were booing and many started making their way towards the exit. By the 11th round it became very noticeable that fans were not interested in sticking around to see an uneventful UD, and they started leaving in droves. The 12th round came and went, and Shakur was declared the winner by UD.
After the fight, Shakur said he did not feel the need to try and stop Artem. He weighed in on his future, saying he would take things one step at a time. He was a free agent and was going to go home and talk things out with his team to see what his next best move was. He also threw shots at Lomachenko, saying Bob was protecting him. Seems evident that Shakur will not be getting that fight. The world now patiently waits to see what Shakur’s next move is, and if he will try to do something to get himself closer to a fight with Tank. But we will have to wait a while to see how that unfolds. Until next time…
Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan – Fight Report by King P
