_1637916839.jpg)
(Video by Ryan Burton) – Teofimo Lopez Interview – MGM Grand, Las Vegas – In a super featherweight unification for the WBO, WBC world titles, Shakur Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) dominated Oscar Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs) over twelve rounds to win a dominant unanimous decision.
The scores were 117-110, 118-109, 118-109.
Stevenson was very sharp in the first round. At least twice, Valdez fell over from wild swings. Stevenson was jabbing and peppering Valdez with punches. The second round saw Stevenson landing nearly at will on Valdez. There was a moment when Valdez had some success, but Stevenson quickly took back control.
Valdez did well in the third, as he began to find success with punches to the body and quick rights to the head. Stevenson began to tag up Valdez during the fourth, before Valdez went after Stevenson’s body with a rally. Stevenson quickly came back with shots to the head and body. During the fifth, it was give and take for a moment or two, but for the most part it was Stevenson outworking and outlanding Valdez.
At the start of the sixth, Valdez was dropped when he was off-balance. Stevenson was working over Valdez with a lot of shots. The face of Valdez was being busted up and he was cut under his right eye. Outside of two small surges, Stevenson dominated the seventh. Stevenson controlled and dominated the eight. It was more of the same in the ninth. Valdez was rallying during the tenth by letting his hands go to the head and body. Stevenson may have taken a round off as Valdez was doing most of the punching and hitting the body.
Valdez was going back to the body in the eleventh, but Stevenson was dominating with shots to the head and body. The face of Valdez was a mess. The twelfth was close, as Stevenson was coasting a bit, Stevenson still edged it.