NEWARK, New Jersey – Shakur Stevenson didn’t defend his 130-pound championships on Friday night, but he knocked out Robson Conceicao for most of their 12-round fight to make sure Conceicao couldn’t win them either.
The undefeated Stevenson dominated Conceicao during their fight at the Prudential Center in Stevenson’s hometown of Newark. A day after losing his titles on the scale, Stevenson did everything but knock out the clumsy and resilient Conceicao in an ESPN-televised main event.
Stevenson sent Conceicao to the canvas with a body shot late in the fourth round, but Conceicao often employed rule-breaking tactics and made it to the final bell, disappointing the advertised crowd of 10,107. Judges Lynne Carter (117-109), John Signorile (118-108) and Steve Weisfeld (117-109) called Stevenson the wide winner.
Stevenson’s terrific performance helped him forget, at least temporarily, the loss of his two 130-pound championships on the scale Thursday.
The 25-year-old Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs), who will move up to the 135-pound lightweight limit for his next fight, entered the ring as at least a 20-1 favorite, according to most sportsbooks. . The former two-division champion consequently dominated against an awkward opponent who was simply over his head in virtually every way.
Stevenson was stripped of his WBC and WBO 130-pound championships Thursday because he arrived 1.6 pounds overweight. He conceives he could have won those two belts if he had achieved what would have been a huge upset because he fulfilled his contractual obligation by weighing in at 129.6 pounds.
Brazil’s Conceicao (17-2, 8 KOs), who won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, is 0-2 in world title fights, both last year.
However, this loss was far more definitive than his 12-round unanimous decision loss to Oscar Valdez last September 10 at Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona. Stevenson dominated Valdez in the Mexican native’s next fight to retain his WBO junior lightweight title and take the WBC super featherweight crown from Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs) on April 30 at the MGM Grand. GardenArena in Las Vegas.
Stevenson chased after Conceicao throughout the twelfth round and tried to land the kind of punch that could have ended their fight. The rudimentary Conceicao would not allow it.
A left uppercut from Stevenson rocked Conceicao just under 40 seconds into the 11th round. The southpaw knocked Conceicao’s head back with a straight left that landed just after the middle of the 11th round.
A right hook from Stevenson tripped up Conceicao with just under 50 seconds left in the 11th round.
Conceicao continued to try to manhandle Stevenson throughout the tenth round. They battled continuously, until Stevenson threw Conceicao to the canvas again with just over 30 seconds left in that round.
Fields, who deducted a point from Stevenson for a similar infraction in the ninth round, warned him this time.
Conceicao’s right hand landed just under a minute into the ninth round. Fields docked a point from Stevenson for throwing Conceicao to the canvas with just under 1:40 left in the ninth round.
Many fans in the pro-Stevenson crowd chanted “knock him out” towards the end of the ninth round.
Conceicao caught Stevenson with a right hand a few seconds into the middle of the eighth round, but was unable to capitalize on that punch. Stevenson’s right hook hit Conceicao with just under 30 seconds left in the eighth round.
Stevenson spent most of the seventh round ripping Conceicao to pieces in the head and body. A rapidly fading Conceicao tried to fend off Stevenson, but he was no match for his opponent’s speed and accuracy.
With about 50 seconds left in the sixth round, Stevenson nailed Conceicao with a straight left hand in an exchange. Stevenson caught Conceicao clean with another hard left hand with about 20 seconds left in the sixth round.
Fields warned Stevenson for a low blow with just over 1:20 left in the sixth round. Stevenson’s right hand to Conceicao’s body landed about 45 seconds into the sixth round.
Conceicao hit Stevenson with a rare flush shot, an inside right hand, nearly midway through the fifth round. Stevenson spent the first half of the fifth round landing hard shots to the head and body on Conceicao.
Following a dominant third round, Stevenson hit Conceicao with two left hands just under a minute into the fourth round. Conceicao couldn’t consistently defend against a sharp Stevenson at that point.
Conceicao took a knee just before the fourth round ended. Fields counted it a knockdown because Stevenson landed a left hand to the body as they jostled for inside position.
However, Conceicao got up before Fields’ count reached five, and the bell rang soon after.
Stevenson rocked Conceicao with a straight left hand that forced him to hold and wrestle Stevenson just before the middle of the third round. Conceicao felt Stevenson’s left hand on his body just 30 seconds into the third round.
A left hand from Stevenson connected with about 35 seconds left in the second round, in which Stevenson began timing Conceicao. Stevenson landed a right hook about 1:15 into the second round.
Less than 30 seconds later, Stevenson hit a left shot in an exchange. Stevenson landed a left hand to Conceicao’s body just 40 seconds into the second round.
Stevenson knocked Conceicao off balance with a left hand with just over 1:10 left in the first round.
Conceicao countered Stevenson with a right hand around 1:10 of the first round. Stevenson blocked several right hands before Conceicao connected on that shot.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
