Shakur Stevenson lost his junior lightweight world titles on the scale Thursday afternoon. He wasn’t about to lose the fight. Stevenson bested Robson Conceição by 12-round unanimous decision (117-109 2x and 118-108) in front of 10,107 fans Friday evening at Prudential Center, the largest crowd ever to attend a boxing event at the arena.
Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) landed a career-high 199 punches, including a body shot knockdown in the fourth round. He stunned Conceição (17-2, 8 KOs) in the sixth, but the Brazilian challenger hung tough. Stevenson had a point deducted by referee David Fields for hip tossing Conceição in the ninth round.
After the inauspicious ninth, Stevenson closed the show in pound-for-pound form, winning the final three rounds on all three judges’ cards. After missing weight by 1.6 pounds the previous day, Stevenson will now begin his lightweight journey. Undisputed champion Devin Haney sits atop the 135-pound heap, with big names like Vasiliy Lomachenko also in play.
“I had a long week. I killed myself to make weight. All I want to do is come in here and perform. I did everything I could to do that,” Stevenson said. “I’m just a dominating individual. With me versus him, the ref, I did everything I could to try and beat {Conceicao} up as much as I could. He held me the whole night, but I did everything I could.
“I think he was doing a lot of holding whenever I was getting on the inside. As soon as I got on the inside, he grabbed me.
“We gotta fight the champ. Me and Devin {Haney}, we could lock in. After he fights Kambosos, let’s get it on!”
From : TopRank