Stevenson Wins in Snoozefest! Navarrete & Conceicao Go To War
On a Thursday on prime time, the stage was supposed to be set for a star-making performance from Newark, native 26-year-old Shakur Stevenson, who looked to become a three-division world champion against Edwin De Los Santos of the Dominican Republic. The entire boxing elite class was in attendance. Andre Ward, Terence Crawford, and Floyd Mayweather were all there to see the New Jerseyan shine. At the end of an incredibly lackluster and unimpressive 12 rounds that saw neither fighter land double-digit punches in any round, Stevenson accomplished the goal. He eked out a 12-round unanimous decision to capture the WBO Lightweight title, a world title in his third weight class, unanimously by scores of 116-112 x2 and 115-113. The fight was so dull, lackluster, and uneventful that it gets no further write-up. Stevenson moved his record to 21-0 (10).
We got an absolute barnburner in the co-main event and made a good case for Fight of the Year. Robson Conceicao and current WBO Super Featherweight champ Emanuel Navarrete fought to a draw. Conceicao got off to a good start and dominated the first three rounds out-boxing the champion from Mexico. However, Navarrete dropped Conceicao in the fourth with a right hand to the side of the Brazilian head and then knocked him down again three rounds later with a right to the body. However, the combination of punching and skills carried him through all of the other rounds seemingly. Through seven rounds the fight was 5-2 but extremely tight on the cards due to a pair of 10-8 rounds. Conceicao bounced back and outworked and outlanded his opponent in rounds 8 and 9. However, he was beginning to seriously fatigue, and the only question left was whether he could survive the final 9 minutes. Rounds 10 and 11 were all-time keepers. The Brazilian would win the rounds early and land more, but Navarette would have a moment or two where it looked like Conceicao was about to go. The former Gold Medalist saved his best for last with a ferocious three-minute rally that earned him a draw by scores of 113-113 and 114-112 in favor of the champ. The draw moves Conceicao's record to 17-2-1 (8) and 0-2-1 in world title fights. Navarrete had his win streak snapped at 33, his record now stands at 38-1-1 (31).
In the undercard portion, that streamed live on ESPN+, Floyd Diaz, was perhaps awarded a gift decision over Max Ornelas. He scored two early knockdowns in the second and third rounds, which were clean knockdowns, but at no point did Ornelas seem hurt. Either way, they were 10-8 rounds for "Cashflow", who seemingly lost every other round but was awarded the decision by Dave Moretti, the brother of Top Rank VP Carl Moretti, who disgustingly gave just two rounds to Ornelas. Morretti is no doubt the worst judge in the sport when he wants to be. The other judges, Glen Feldmann scored it 76-74 for Ornelas, and the third and deciding judge scored it an inappropriate 77-73, that was Tim Cheetham. Also, Brian Norman moved to 25-0 (19) with a lackluster UD victory over Quinton Randall, who dropped to 13-1-1 (3). The prospect of the Year contender Abdullah Mason scored a devastating second ko with a single right hand in the second round of Jose Cardenas of Laredo, Texas. The 19-year-old blue chipper moved his record to 11-0 (9).
