Home Boxing News Shakur Stevenson dominates Felix Caraballo, stops him in six

Shakur Stevenson dominates Felix Caraballo, stops him in six

Shakur Stevenson. Photo credit: Adam Hunger/Associated Press

WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson 14-0 (8) looked like he hadn’t missed a beat as he dominated Felix Caraballo 13-2-2 (9) en route to a sixth-round stoppage at ‘The Bubble’ at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday night.

The fight was a non-title affair contested at super featherweight and scheduled for the 10 rounds.

Stevenson showed little signs of rust in the main event of the first boxing card promoted by Top Rank since the global coronavirus pandemic put a halt to boxing in the US.

The 22-year-old southpaw withstood an early barrage from Caraballo, dropping him late in the first with a body shot before breaking him down with sharper, harder punches before dropping him again with a shot to the midriff in the sixth.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:31.

“I came in to get him out of there,” the 2016 US Olympic silver medallist said. “I hit him with everything I could early on; I wobbled him a bunch of times. He took a lot of punishment.

“I started realizing the head shots weren’t going to get him out of there. So I started going to the body.

“He opened up wide, and I caught him in between his punch. I caught him right in the middle of his shot.”

The fight took place without any crowd due to restrictions on large scale gatherings.

“It was a different atmosphere – losing the weight was different, training in the gym was different. I couldn’t be around nobody,” said Stevenson. “It is a little different.”

Stevenson has recently been compared to Floyd Mayweather Jr, something he is not entirely comfortable with.

“We’re two different fighters. We got two different styles; I got my own style,” he said.

“I’ve stolen stuff from his game, but I’ve also stolen stuff from Pernell Whitaker, Terence Crawford, Andre Ward.

“I’ve stolen stuff from a lot of guys. It’s not just Floyd that I try to put in my game. It’s a huge compliment, but I’m still my own fighter.

“I’m the first Shakur Stevenson.”