Shakur Stevenson Outclasses Teofimo Lopez to Capture Ring & WBO Titles

Photo - Emily Harney

Newark's Shakur Stevenson performed a master class Saturday night in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden, as he toyed with in dethroning Ring Magazine and WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez of Brooklyn over twelve one-sided rounds.

Stevenson controlled the distance with the jab and often walked Lopez into his lefts. Lopez had trouble getting on the inside but did try to utilize body work to do the job. A left-right to the body and head almost caused Lopez’ glove to touch the canvas in the fourth. Lopez continued to struggle with the rhythm and boxing IQ of Stevenson.

In the sixth, Lopez arguably was knocked down via a combination from Stevenson, But it was waved off by referee Harvey Dock. Lopez bounced back in round eight, his best of the fight, landing a good right hand and possibly winning him the round.

Lopez’ face showed the effects of the Stevenson jab and hook through eleven rounds. Lopez was bleeding, getting his head snapped back and simply could not find answers for whatever Stevenson unleashed. Lopez came out in the twelfth, landing two good right hands but then was schooled by Stevenson for the remainder of the round and the fight.

Stevenson pitched a near shutout: 119-109 according to all three judges, to snag Lopez’ WBO and Ring 140 lb titles, staying perfect at 25-0, 11 KOs. Lopez loses for only the second time falling to 22-2, 13 KOs.

Keyshawn Davis KO's Jaimaine Ortiz in 11

Former WBO lightweight champ Keyshawn Davis wore down Jamaine Ortiz, slowly, but surely over twelve rounds. Early on, fans were booing the lack of action, the tactical approach as it were. Ortiz was getting the worse of it early on. He worked his way back into the fight in alternating rounds, but had trouble sustaining his effort. Davis was stronger, faster and supremely confident in his approach.. In round eleven, Ortiz was dropped with a left to the body. He survived the round. In the twelfth, it was more of the same as Davis landed another left to the body and Ortiz hit the deck again. Referee Thomas Taylor immediately waved it off at 2:47 of the final round. Davis improves to 14-0, 10 KOs, while Ortiz drops to 20-3-1, 10 KOs.

Shu Shu KO's Castro in the 7th

Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Carlos Castro waged the battle of the night up to that point for the vacant WBC featherweight title. Carrington was power-boxing well in the first three rounds, using speed and hard shots to control the action against Castro. In the fourth however, Castro shook Carrington, had him off balance and against the ropes. Carrington was rocked again in the fifth, but Castro lets him off the hook. The fight settled into a back-and-forth patter, with each man having their moments, gaining the temporary upper hand. Finally, in the ninth, Carrington stunned Castro with a right, then a three-punch combination dropped Castro hard. Referee Charlie Fitch reached the count of ten at 1:29 of the round. Carrington is now the full WBC champion after having been the interim champ. He stands at 17-0, 10 KOs, while Castro falls to 30-4, 14 KOs.

Jarrell Miller Returns With a Victory

In sluggish battle of dreadnaughts, Jarrel “Big Baby” Miller took on the recently surging Kingsley Ibeh over ten ponderous rounds. Miller labored early, getting outworked and de-wigged by Ibeh as a series of blows dislodged Miller hairpiece off his head! Miller began to get back into the fight with body work and hard shots on a tiring Ibeh. The judges favored Miller by split decision via scores of: 94-96, 97-93, 97-93, raising his record to 27-1-2, 22 KOs. Ibeh drops to 16-3-1, 14 KOs.

Ammon Williams Defeats Toussaint

Late replacement and natural welterweight, Wendy Toussaint didn’t come to lay down against would-be middleweight title challenger Austin “Ammo” Williams. Things appeared to be all even going into the fourth round when a crisp lead righ uppercut dropped Toussaint to the seat of his pants. From that point on, Toussaint stayed out of harm’s way with movement and Williams had trouble tracking him down. Williams worked his way to a unanimous decision by scores of 98-91, 99-90, 99-90, moving to 20-1, 13 KOs. Toussaint took a chance, but gallantly falls to 17-4, 7 KOs.

Castillo Outworks Almaayouf

Opening the night at MSG on the Teofimo Lopez-Shakur Stevenson undercard, Kevin Castillo upset the apple cart, coming off the deck in the first round to outwork, outland and outmuscle Saud Arabia’s Ziyad ‘Zizo’ Almaayouf over eight rounds. Scores were 78-73, 77-74, 77-74, all for Castillo, who moves to 6-2-1, while Almaayouf falls to 7-1-1, 1 KO.