Shakur Stevenson earned a clear unanimous decision victory at the Prudential Center as he defended his WBC lightweight world title against Artem Harutyunyan.
In the fight in his hometown of Newark, the American dominated his opponent to win by scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112 after 12 rounds.
Harutyunyan, who is of Armenian descent and based in Germany, is a 2016 Olympic medalist, but he was entering this fight after a nearly year-long absence. Ultimately, he was unable to threaten Stevenson and was repeatedly hurt by body blows.
Stevenson outplayed his opponent
“He’s just trying to make sure he survives,” Stevenson said after the fight. “He’s a good fighter. He’s tough. He’s strong. I wish he would have tried a little harder, so it would have been more fun.”
“I have to cut the ring a little more. It was going one way and then the other, so I had to go back to the gym and work on cutting the ring.”
Harutyunyan said: “Of course, it was fun. Boxing is not a game. You have to fight. You get hit and you have to fight back. That’s normal.”
In a surprising result on the undercard, Brazilian Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao defeated O’Shaquie Foster to win the WBC super featherweight title.
It was Conceicao’s fourth attempt at a world title and a split decision went his way. Foster won 116-112 on one card, but the other two judges ruled it 116-112 and 115-113 for Conceicao.
O’Shaquie Foster insisted he deserved decision against Robson Conceicao
“It’s for my daughter. I promised it to my daughter and I was able to keep that promise. I’m the world champion,” Conceicao said.
Foster expressed his strong disagreement with the outcome. “I thought it was easy. I thought it was an easy fight. I didn’t get hit except for a headbutt. I don’t know, man,” he said.
“I’ll be back. But I want the rematch. They stole that from me. They stole that fight from me. I just wanted to show the world that I could fight, and if I wanted to, I didn’t have to get hit. I guess that wasn’t good enough for the judges.”
Keyshawn Davis overcame the pressure and brutal tactics of Miguel Madueño to secure a unanimous decision victory and improve his record to 11-0.
Davis, an Olympic silver medalist from Norfolk, Virginia, kept his composure and used well-timed counterpunches, triumphing 99-91 on all three scorecards.
The two men fought after the end of the sixth round and in the seventh, Madueno, 31-3 (28), lifted Davis off his feet.
Davis found his offensive rhythm in the ninth and tenth rounds and viciously dominated Madueno.
“He’s a tough guy, a very physical guy,” Davis said. “We used a lot of rough tactics, just trying to get under each other’s skin.”
Keyshawn Davis faced Miguel Madueno
“We were both tough out there, and neither of our wills was broken.”
Also on the undercard, Cleveland prodigy Abdallah Mason knocked out Luis Lebron in the third round. LeBron had never been stopped before, but Mason made easy work of the Puerto Rican veteran.
Mason knocked LeBron to the ground twice in the second round, first with an overhand left and then with a series of right hooks. The end was near and LeBron’s corner threw in the towel at 1-18 of the third round to avoid further damage.
Mason said: “I guess we gave him a little smoke, but he didn’t want it.”
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