Multi-division world champion Shakur Stevenson seems to be right on track to conquer the Lightweight division following his latest display against the former undefeated Japanese contender, Shuichiro Yoshino. The two faced each other on April 8th in a final eliminator bout by the WBC at Shakur Stevenson’s hometown of Newark, Jersey at the Prudential Center.
Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KO’s) already known as one of the best fighters of his era at the young age of 25, the Newark-born fighter proved his credentials with a breathtaking stoppage win over Shuichiro Yoshino (16-1, 12 KO’s) in his Lightweight debut. Though currently still titleless, Stevenson can add the status of unified champion on his list due to his accomplishments in previous years as a Super Featherweight ― after first becoming a world champion at 126 lbs in 2019.
From the pre-match interactions between the two and the disparity in KO ratios in their records, the misconception that Shuichiro Yoshino was the harder puncher was abruptly broken when Shakur Stevenson stopped the former undefeated fighter in just the sixth round.
From the onset of the match, both fighters attempted to gain the upperhand by pressuring one another, but neither of the two boxers gave ground which culminated in plentiful of exchanges between the contenders in the first couple of rounds. By outworking his opponent, Shakur Stevenson eventually managed to catch Shuichiro Yoshino with a strong left hand that dropped him in the second round.
The rest of the match went completely in Shakur Stevenson’s favor as he efficiently defended or avoided almost each of Yoshino’s blows while countering and initiating his own punches just as effectively. Though Yoshino did have Stevenson on the ropes in the latter half of the third round, his blows were ineffective in the face of Shakur Stevenson’s own defense, and the Japanese fighter struggled to muster up an answer when Stevenson punished him in the pocket during the rest of the round.
Like round two, round four turned out to be just as devastating for Shuichiro Yoshino when the round arrived in its last minute and Shakur Stevenson put on relentless pressure to eventually drop him with a right hook.
The fifth round was another dominating round by Shakur Stevenson who kept digging at Shuichiro Yoshino’s body in an attempt to floor him, but it wasn’t until the sixth round when Stevenson severely beat Yoshino throughout half the round until the referee stopped the match, deeming Yoshino was taking too many heavy punches and clearly taking too much of a beating.
Despite Shuichiro Yoshino protesting, it was a good decision in a match where the Japanese contender was clearly getting hit flush too many times for it not to lead to a gruesome knockout at some point. By stepping in, the referee spared Yoshino from suffering too much brain damage given plenty of Shakur Stevenson’s shots had knocked his head around for almost full six rounds.
Shakur Stevenson was announced the winner by technical knockout in the sixth round, and gathered up impressive momentum for his debut at Lightweight by beating a viable unbeaten contender in Shuichiro Yoshino.
The full fight card featured a full complement of Top Rank’s hottest prospects showcasing their abilities in the ring. Heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson (14-0, 14 KO’s) confidently proclaimed himself the “best Heavyweight in the world” after soundly defeating the then-unbeaten George Arias (18-1, 7 KO’s) to resume his 100% KO ratio in the division and win the WBC United States and WBO International Heavyweight titles.
Lightweight prospect Keyshawn Davis (8-0, 6 KO’s) continued with his own impressive single-digit winning streak by defeating former Super Lightweight world title challenger, Anthony Yigit (26-3-1, 10 KO’s). The match showed an earlier similarity to the later main event between Stevenson and Yoshino with Keyshawn Davis knocking down and severely beating his opponent before the referee had to interfere and stop the fight to prevent Ygit from taking too much punishment.
The post-match interview by Shakur Stevenson also saw the Newark-born fighter officially acknowledge his interest in fighting the current undisputed champion of the division, Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KO’s) ― who is slated to defend his titles against Vasyl Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KO’s).
“Tell him come on! I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.” Stevenson eagerly expressed when asked on the prospect of facing Haney.
“Me and Devin (have) been in the ring with each other for years; I always got the best of Devin… tell him, come on.” Shakur Stevenson said with a glint in his eye, similar to a predator stalking its prey.
