Newly minted WBO super featherweight champion Shakur ‘Fearless’ Stevenson 17-0 (9) wants to unify his title with WBC counterpart Oscar Valdez 30-0 (23) after his impressive 10th round knockout win over Jamel ‘Semper Fi’ Herring 23-3 (11) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday night.
The 24-year-old Newark southpaw was all over his fellow lefty from the opening bell, utlilising his speed and movement to confounded the champion while strafing him with hard shots.
According to CompuBox, Stevenson outlanded Herring 164-87 in total punches, including 99 power punches. Stevenson averaged 16 of 53 punches landed per round after averaging 13 of 40 in last five fights. Stevenson has now outlanded his opponents in 43 consecutive rounds.
Herring, 35, was looking to make the fourth defence of the 130-pound belt he won against Masayuki Ito in May 2019. He was never in the fight. In the 10th round Herring was cut, prompting Stevenson to go in for the kill. Referee Mark Nelson waved off the fight at the 1:30 mark.
At the time of the stoppage judges Glenn Feldman and Rocky Young both saw the fight the same at 90-81, while judge Edward Kanner saw it marginally closer at 89-82.
It was a dominant performance from Stevenson, who had previously suffered criticism for his less than exciting points victory over Jeremia Nakathila in Las Vegas in June.
“I smelled blood,” Stevenson said. “I saw he was bleeding and was like, okay, I have to attack the cut. I was trying to touch the cut to make the doctor try and stop it.”
Stevenson called out WBC super featherweight champion Valdez after the fight. Valdez scored a spectacular 10th round knockout of Miguel Berchelt 38-2 (34) in Las Vegas in February to lift the green belt before successfully defending against Robson Conceicao 16-1 (8) in Tuscon, Arizona last month.
“There’s only one fight left at the end of the day,” he said. “It’s the biggest fight at the end of the day. Oscar can’t keep ducking. It’s time for him to fight. There’s nothing else to look forward to. The 130-pound division needs to unify. Let’s get it!
“I want to be a superstar in the sport. I’m here to last. I take my craft very seriously. I’m disciplined.”
Promoter Bob Arum added: “A sensational performance from Shakur Stevenson, who showed why so many think he’s the future pound-for-pound king. Jamel Herring displayed the heart of a champion, but he was in there with an incredible fighter tonight.”
Herring, who was coming off a sixth-round knockout victory over Carl Frampton, was gracious in defeat.
“He’s sharp and slick. His hand-eye coordination is very good. No excuses. He was just the better man tonight,” said Herring, who added that he plans to continue boxing.
Herring’s trainer Brian McIntyre was succinct in his assessment: “[Stevenson was] younger, faster. He was sharp tonight.”
