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Shakur Stevenson silenced his doubters by turning in a star-making performance against Jamel Herring.
24-year-old Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) overwhelmed Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) through 10 rounds en route to a brilliant TKO win Saturday, October 23, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The win made Stevenson the new WBO junior lightweight champion.
From the get-go, Shakur Stevenson banked on his speed advantage over the 35-year-old Herring. The veteran tried his best to slow his opponent down but never quite found his rhythm.
Herring, who was dealing with swelling for much of the fight, suffered a cut in the ninth round, prompting the ringside doctor to take a quick look at it in the next frame. The defending champ was allowed to continue, but Stevenson unleashed a barrage of clean shots, forcing referee Mark Nelson to intervene and stop the fight.
Nonetheless, Stevenson already had the fight in the bag even before the finish. The judges' scores at the time of the stoppage were 89-82, 90-81, and 90-81 in favor of the young star.
In a post-fight interview with ESPN, Stevenson gave credit to his opponent and thanked his harshest critic Timothy Bradley for inspiring a tremendous performance out of him. Shakur Stevenson said:
“I feel like Jamel Herring is a great fighter. He’s tough. He’s real tough, he’s got great boxing skills, he’s got great power. I was just the better man tonight. Now that we’re not fighting, I love Jamel Herring, he’s definitely my friend. I don’t got no problem with Jamel. Tell his wife I’m sorry, I don’t want no trouble with you! She’s tough. I want to thank Tim Bradley. Tim Bradley was criticizing me, calling me boring,” he said. “So I wanted a fun fight. I wanted to perform, show my skills; show my boxing skills, my defense, my power. I showed everything tonight.”
What's next for Shakur Stevenson?
It's unsurprising who Shakur Stevenson's next target is. That, of course, is WBC titleholder Oscar Valdez – the man Stevenson has been trying to fight since they were both featherweights. The new WBO titleholder said:
“There’s only one fight left. It’s the biggest fight in the division. Oscar can’t keep ducking, it’s time for him to fight. It’s me versus Oscar Valdez, there’s nothing else to look forward to, we need to unify the 130-lbs division. Let’s get it!”
