Shakur Stevenson knocks out Felix Caraballo in boxing’s return
WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson was rather dismissive of Felix Caraballo, noting that he only scouted the 33-year-old Puerto Rican for one round in preparation for their fight Tuesday night at the MGM Grand.
Turns out that was more than enough.
Stevenson (14-0, eight knockouts) picked apart Caraballo (13-2-2, nine KOs) in his super featherweight debut, knocking him down in the first round of their 10-round bout and stopping him for good with a body shot 1:31 into the sixth round of the first boxing card since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic.
Stevenson, from Newark, New Jersey, is among the sport’s brightest young stars. The 22-year-old used the ESPN-televised platform to showcase his skillful arsenal against the more experienced fighter.
“My mindset was focused on getting him out of there,” said Stevenson, who won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. “I hit him with everything I could early. … He took a lot of punishment. I started realizing that the head shot wasn’t going to get him out there, so I started going to the body more.”
Stevenson was supposed to defend his title March 14 at New York’s Madison Square Garden against Miguel Marriaga, but the fight was canceled because of the virus — leaving Stevenson three months to brood as he readied for his return to the ring Tuesday.
He nonchalantly declared last week during the promotion that Caraballo wasn’t on his level.
And he was right.
Stevenson dropped Caraballo with a body shot in the first round and unleashed barrages of jabs, power shots and combinations in the ensuing rounds, all while eluding Caraballo’s increasingly meager punches.
Stevenson landed 118 punches to 18 for Caraballo, per CompuBox, and stopped him for good with a left hook to the rib cage midway through the sixth round.
“A magnificent performance by Shakur Stevenson,” said Stevenson’s promoter, Top Rank’s Bob Arum. “He keeps on getting better, and rest assured, he is a future pound-for-pound superstar.”
Stevenson capped a card that featured four other fights with boxers from Top Rank, which is set to hold biweekly cards throughout the summer at the MGM.
Fans were not allowed to attend, and several protocols were installed, including sanitation of the ring between each fight.
Las Vegas featherweight Jessie Magdaleno (27-1, 18 KOs) will headline another Top Rank card Thursday against Yenifel Vicente (36-4-2, 28 KOs).
Bantamweights Joshua Greer Jr. (22-1-1, 12 KOs) and Mike Plania (23-1, 12 KOs) will headline Tuesday’s card, and super lightweights Jose Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs) and Mikkel LesPierre (22-1-1, 10 KOs) will headline the June 18 card, Top Rank announced Tuesday.
“It was a different atmosphere,” Stevenson said. “Losing the weight was different. Training was different. I couldn’t be around nobody. In there when you’re fighting with no crowd, catching him with mean shots, you don’t hear no oohs or ahs.”
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.
Top Rank undercard
— Heavyweight Jared Anderson (4-0, four KOs) stopped Johnnie Langston (8-3, one KO) 1:55 into the third round to win by technical knockout
— Heavyweight and former Italian Olympian Guido Vianello (7-0, seven KOs) caught Donald Haynesworth (16-4-1, three KOs) with a vicious right hand, securing a technical knockout 2:16 into the first round.
— Middleweight Quatavious Cash (12-2, seven KOs) rolled to a 60-54, 60-55, 59-55 decision over Calvin Metcalf (10-4-1, three KOs) in a fight stopped 25 seconds into the sixth round because Metcalf was badly cut.
— Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (3-1, three KOs) opened the card by knocking out Yeuri Andujar (5-4, three KOs) 54 seconds into the first round of their featherweight fight.
Sam Gordon Review-Journal
