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Shakur Stevenson will face Robson Conceicao in the first defense of his unified WBO and WBC world featherweight championships. The bout will take place on October 23 in Newark, United States of America.
Shakur Stevenson unified the WBO and WBC world featherweight championships in his last bout against Oscar Valdez. Stevenson controlled the former WBC champion Valdez for the majority of the bout and won the bout via unanimous decision.
Robson Conceicao is coming off a win against the previously undefeated Xavier Martinez. However, Conceicao is best known for facing off against Oscar Valdez.
The Brazillian boxer did much better than most people had expected him to do in the bout. Valdez walked out with a unanimous decision victory, but most observers believed that Conceicao should have been named the new WBC world featherweight champion.
Shakur Stevenson won his first belt, the WBO super featherweight championship, against Jamel Herring in 2021. Herring was a legitimate champion that had beaten Carl Frampton for the title. Stevenson, however, was too much for the champion and handily defeated him, stopping Herring in the 10th round. Herring had only been stopped once before, and the victory signaled Stevenson as the next big star of boxing.
Shakur Stevenson can not look past Robson Conceicao
Stevenson should be applauded for facing Conceicao in the first defense of his titles. There are much easier names to choose from, and fighters usually take easy first defenses. While Conceicao did not get the official victory, many believe that the Brazilian deserved to be a world champion after his bout against Oscar Valdez.
Watch Valdez defeat Conceicao below:
Conceicao will also get a second shot at becoming a world champion. Usually, a low-profile opponent that ends up on the wrong end of a contentious decision loss will not be heard from again. However, the Brazilian will get an opportunity to once again take part in a big fight and earn what will undoubtedly be a handsome paycheck.
Stevenson has recently said that he will be moving up to 135 pounds. Stevenson previously called out Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis, claiming that he would like to fight one of them next. Although he has chosen to remain at featherweight for this bout, it is likely to be his last at the weight.
