Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) looked like gold with his sixth-round stoppage victory over a tough Shuichiro Yoshino (16-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night in an official WBC 135-lb title eliminator at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The fight resembled a slaughter, as Yoshino was too slow and was walking into shots.
The referee stepped in and stopped the fight at the 1:35 mark in the sixth round due to the punishment Yoshino was taking from Shakur.
Stevenson-Yoshino undercard results for tonight:
Unbeaten heavyweight contender Jared Anderson (14-0, 14 KOs) looked superb tonight, defeating George Arias (18-1, 7 KOs) by a third-round stoppage in the co-feature bout.
After hitting Arias with everything but the kitchen sink in the third, George’s corner threw the towel in between rounds. The official time of the stoppage was at 3:00 of the third.
Lightweight Keyshawn Davis (8-0, 6 KOs) worked over Anthony Yigit (26-3-1, 10 KOs), stopping him in the ninth round. Davis fired off a blistering flurry of shots in round nine that promoted referee Benjy Estevez Jr stop the contest. The fight was halted at 0:21 of round nine.20
Heavyweight protect Damian Knyba (11-0, 7 KOs) blasted out Curtis Harper (14-9, 9 KOs) by an eighth round knockout. Knyb landed a crunching right hand to the head of Harper.
At that point, Harper turned round, and the referee stepped in to stop the fight. Earlier, Harper had done the same thing when hurt, but the referee allowed it to continue.
Unbeaten middleweight prospect Troy Isley (9-0, 4 KOs) dominated Roy Barringer (9-4, 6 KOs), pounding out an eight-round unanimous decision by the judge’s scores 79-73, 80-72, and 80-72.
Unbeaten featherweight Bruce Carrington (7-0, 4 KOs) had too much firepower for Brandon Chambers (9-1-1, 5 KOs), quickly stopping him in the second round.
Welterweight prospect Kelvin Davis (8-0, 5 KOs) easily outboxed Nelson Morales (3-5), winning a wide six-round unanimous decision. Davis controlled the fight with his excellent jab and beautiful counters.
Kelvin used a sharp jab and nice single counter shots to control the fight. The judges’ scored it 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55.
Welterweight Antoine Cobb (1-0-3, 1 KO) and Jaylan Phillips (1-2-3, 1 KO) battled to a four-round draw. The judges scored it 40-36 for Cobb, 39-37 for Phillips, and 39-39.
How to watch Stevenson vs. Yoshino tonight?
Boxing fans can watch Shakur Stevenson vs. Shichiro Yoshino on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+. The event kicks off at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT for the main portion of the card and at 7:00 p.m. ET for the preliminary portion. Stevenson-Yoshino will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
“He expects [undisputed lightweight champion] Devin [Haney] to win that fight [against Vasily Lomachenko on May 20th] because he thinks Devin is just bigger,” said Mark Kriegel to ESPN about Shakur Stevenson, believing that Haney will vacate his four 135-lb titles after he faces Lomachenko and move up to 140.
“He also says down the line, I’ll fight him, but most likely, Shakur says that Devin moves up. I said, ‘What do you do?’ He said, ‘I have to keep going the mandatory route.’
“He got his belt at 126 as a mandatory. He got his first belt at 130 as a mandatory. He doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon. ‘So what do you do?’ ‘The only thing I can do is keep fighting whoever they give me. The best possible opponent and build my name up, so there’s a financial incentive for guys to fight me. That’s the only way it’s going to change,'” said Kriegel about Shakur.
“It seems to me that when the dust settles, it’s going to be Shakur Stevenson and Tank Davis. Does Tank Davis eventually take that fight?” said Max Kellerman.
“If Tank Davis wants to be considered a Hall of Famer, he’ll take the fight, but I don’t see it in the future,” said Tim Bradley about his belief that Gervonta Davis will choose not to fight Shakur Stevenson.
Stevenson vs. Yoshino, what time does it start tonight?
The Stevenson-Yoshino event starts at 10 pm ET/7 pm PT, live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+.
“I think Shakur beats him if they were to fight, and I think Shakur can out-think him. He’ll control the distance on him just because you hit harder. You still got to land that shot, and that’s where Shakur specializes.
“He eliminates your best attributes. You can throw the left hand, that’s great, Tank, but if you can’t land it, it ain’t going to do any damage,” said Bradley.
“At this point, Shakur is also considerably bigger, so I don’t think that’s a fight that is likely to happen,” said Kriegel about the Shakur vs. Tank Davis fight. “If you look at Gervonta’s career up to this point, it’s not like he’s a kid coming up, and we haven’t seen those types of fights before.
“I think the fight with Ryan [Garcia] is really interesting, but I don’t see that. I think it’s much more likely for Devin and Shakur to cross paths,” said Kriegel.
“I agree, they will cross paths, but I’m telling you guys, this is the way the history of boxing has worked. When the dust settles, the two guys left standing, they eventually got to fight,” said Kellerman. “That’s the problem. Will it happen before its expiration date? Both guys got to keep winning
“Jared Anderson has knocked out all thirteen of the guys he’s fought as a pro at heavyweight. He looks to me at least as the best American prospect since Deontay Wilder.
“His opponent George Arias is 18-0, but he’s shorter, he’s slower, and he’s not a big puncher. How does George Arias win? Is he going to out-hustle the guy and awkward him? Is he going to be the first guy that goes the distance with Jared Anderson?” said Kellerman.
Shakur Stevenson fights for the first time at lightweight tonight in a WBC 135-lb title eliminator in a scheduled twelve-round contest against undefeated Shuichiro Yoshino in a highly anticipated headliner on ESPN.