From the day he became a professional, this kind of performance by Shakur Stevenson was inevitable. He is the type of person who can dominate boxing for a decade or more. He understands the game at a level that few do. He is incredibly fast, incredibly prepared and unnaturally calm.
Oscar Valdes never had a chance against Stevenson in Saturday’s match for the WBC and WBO welterweight titles before a lively, often noisy 10,102 crowd at the MGM Grand Garden. Stevenson won unanimously with a score of 118-109 twice and 117-110, which was even easier for him than the wide cards showed.
He dropped Valdes in the sixth and managed to neutralize the praised power of Valdes. Valdes entered the match 30-0 with 23 knockouts, but rarely hit Stevenson with anything.
“He’s a great fighter,” Valdes told Stevenson. “His speed is there. The power is there. He was just the better fighter tonight. Overall a great fighter. ”
Stevenson kept a blow to Valdes from the first moments. He was not “running away,” as many in Valdez’s camp mockingly predicted he would. Instead, he boxed beautifully, controlling range, hitting Valdes with almost everything he threw, and composing the kind of masterpiece that few in the sport are capable of creating.
Stevenson connected with an incredible 53 percent of his power strikes and kept Valdes up to 29 percent.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 30: Shakur Stevenson (left) and Oscar Valdes (right) exchange blows during their WBC and WBO lightweight championships at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 30, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. . (Photo by Mikey Williams / Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
His manager, James Prince, previously led Floyd Mayweather and Andre Ward, two fighters who finished undefeated and will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June. Stevenson has a lot of Mayweather and Ward.
It’s not at their level yet, but it’s only 24, and neither Mayweather nor Ward were nearly finished at that age. But Prince has seen many great fighters in his 20s and more in boxing and knows that Stevenson is about to join that list.
“The sky is the limit,” Prince told Stevenson. “Anyone who faces him will have a problem.”
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Stevenson’s biggest problem on Saturday was at the post-match press conference. He started without his seat belts and had to ask one of his team to deliver them to him. Then he called to the crowd on the side to calm down so he could hear the questions.
Then, in a strange scene, there was a commotion to the left of the podium. Stevenson’s mother tried to enter the press conference and the guards did not allow her to enter the room.
Stevenson was answering a question as he turned left, stared intently at the door and listened for a few seconds, then fled the stage and out the door of the ballroom where the press conference was being held. There was a fight in the hallway of the casino in front of the ballroom, and Stevenson was in the middle, trying to get his family out of him.
Prince told Yahoo Sports in a text that Stevenson and his mother are fine. A MGM Grand spokesman said he was trying to gather more information and reserved a comment until he did.
At his greatest moment, the night he became the sole champion, he answered only a few questions before leaving abruptly.
He lost the moment of the sun because of this, although he was brilliant enough in the ring in front of a national audience on ESPN that his words at a press conference will not be missed.
Shakur Stevenson, center, celebrates after beating Oscar Valdes during a WBC-WBO lightweight title bout on Saturday, April 30, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo / John Locher)
Stevenson shone when he reached the press conference because he knew he had played the part of his life in his greatest moment. He largely shut the mouth of the strongly pro-Valdes crowd, which was so violent before and during the early stages of the battle.
“It was an amazing crowd and they saw an amazing performance of a great fighter,” said Top Rank president Todd DuBoff, who said he was not sure what would happen to Stevenson.
In the card below, Olympic silver medalist Caishon Davis was impressive in stopping Esteban Sanchez in sixth. He looked delighted with what Stevenson had done.
“Shakur has come a long way, man,” said Davis, who may be the next big boxing superstar. “Shakur wins almost every round and Oscar has generally never touched him.
It will take a full fighter who has the speed and ability to break the ring to give Stevenson a great fight. He is already one of the best fighters in the world and is just getting better all the time.
“So, so impressive,” promoter Bob Aram told Stevenson. “Amazing, really.”
The same can be said for the scene that forced Stevenson to flee the press conference.
But even that could not detract from what was a brilliant night for the now-united champion of Newark, New Jersey.
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