Stevenson takes down Valdez to unify Jr. lightweight division

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Man oh man, Shakur Stevenson is the real deal.

The 24-year-old rising star once again displayed perfect boxing after dominating veteran and undefeated boxer Oscar Valdez to unify the junior lightweight division.

Stevenson’s patient and technical boxing style negated Valdez’s hounding pressure and showed the world that he can compete with the biggest names in boxing.

Two judges scored the bout 118-109 while the other one had it 117-110 in favor of Stevenson who is still the World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion and the new defending World Boxing Council (WBC) Jr. lightweight champion of the world.

The crafty youngster was unfazed with Valdez’s style who held an impressive 30 wins, no losses, and 23 knockouts record before tangling with Stevenson.

From the get-go, Stevenson’s efficient and clean jab game posed a problem for Valdez who initially failed to get inside his favored range.

Stevenson used his reach advantage for most of the fight that kept Valdez from backpedaling despite being in dire need of going in to generate more points.

The momentum then entirely shifted to Stevenson’s favor after scoring the first and the last knockdown of the fight.

After Valdez missed a big left hook swing, the crafty Stevenson perfectly timed a low right uppercut that sent him kneeling to the canvass.

Valdez tried to recover and became more aggressive in the last four rounds but Stevenson’s more efficient striking sealed the deal for him and improved his professional record to 18 wins, nine knockouts, with no defeats.