NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 22: A general view of the Shakur Stevenson vs Robson Conceição weigh in for the WBC and WBO Junior Lightweight Championship at the Prudential Center on September 22, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ – Shakur Stevenson had plenty of frustration to vent as he entered the Prudential Center on Friday night. The two 130-pound title belts, plus The Ring championship, were vacated on the scale the day before after he missed weight by almost two pounds, which ruined his first fight since he became champion in 2019.
He also had to hand over part of his purse to opponent Robson Conceicao to ensure the ESPN-televised fight would still take place.
Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) took it all from Conceicao (17-2, 8 KOs) on Friday night, hammering the 2016 Olympic gold medalist to a dominant unanimous decision victory. All three judges scored the fight in favor of Stevenson, the 2016 bantamweight Olympic silver medalist, with scores of 117-109 on two scorecards and 118-108 on the third.
Only Conceicao was eligible to win the titles since making weight, but the belts will now be vacated due to Stevenson’s victory. The loss was Conceicao’s second in a world title fight, having lost a decision to Oscar Valdez a year ago in a WBC title challenge.
After a quiet round, Stevenson took over in the second round, cutting Conceicao in half with a left hand to the body that opened up right hooks upstairs. Stevenson’s foot movement kept him away from Conceicao’s shots and he changed distance quickly enough to open up counterattacks.
Conceicao began to get desperate in the third round, selling out to land his own shots to avoid being left without the Prudential Center. Conceicao pressured referee David Fields into giving a low blow caution, earning him a brief respite in the round.
Stevenson’s investment in the body was more like a cash withdrawal, as he hurt Conceicao early in the fourth with a left cut to the midsection, then dropped him to a knee late in the round with a similar shot for a drop. .
The punishment got worse as the rounds wore on, as Stevenson’s bodywork widened the gap in hand speed and left Conceicao easy prey for heavy power shots to the head. Conceicao never stopped trying and landed his best shot of the fight in the eighth, a right hand that slipped over Stevenson’s shoulder. Stevenson filled in on Conceicao’s push, which was the extent to which the underdog made Stevenson uncomfortable.
Stevenson never lost a round, but did lose a point in the ninth for throwing Conceicao to the mat while holding on to Stevenson’s neck. Conceicao’s rudeness began to elicit angry smiles from Stevenson, who dropped Conceicao to the canvas again in the tenth round. Stevenson focused most of his heavy artillery upstairs in the later rounds, which is probably the main reason Conceicao was able to last the distance.
Stevenson’s weight problems did not affect his popularity with Newark fans. The local star received an enthusiastic cheer from the crowd of 10,107 fans in attendance, breaking the previous Prudential Center record for attendance at a boxing event that was set by Tomasz Adamek’s fight against Jason Estrada in 2010.
With his business at 130 pounds done, Stevenson now turns his attention to a 135-pound division in which his promoter Top Rank is heavily invested. RING/Undisputed Champion Devin Haney signed a co-promotional deal before defeating George Kambosos Jr. earlier this year to lift the titles. Top Rank also promoted former champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, who is ranked at no. 2 contender for The Ring behind Kambosos.
At 135 pounds, Stevenson has his best shot at making a full transition from rising star to transcendent champion.
