Shakur Stevenson Stops Jamel Herring in 10, Claims WBO 130 World Title; Should Oscar Valdez be Next?
By Carlos Costa
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 24 Oct 2021
Younger, far more-skilled, Newark native Shakur Stevenson (17-0, 9 KO's) delivered one of the most stellar wins of his career by soundly out-boxing and overpowering in 10 rounds taller former U.S. Marine, defending champ Jamel "Semper Fi" Herring (23-3, 11 KO's) to conquer the WBO Super Featherweight World Title tonight (Oct 23) at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, live on ESPN.
From the onset, the 24-year-old Stevenson brilliantly stood his ground against the bigger man making superb use of his outstanding boxing skills and speed to continuously land effective blows on the strong Herring, 35, winning the initiative, clearly scoring round after round while debilitating the brave Herring who was unable to neither adjust nor counteract with anything meaningful against his younger quick attacker.
Throughout the ten-round of battle, Shakur Stevenson remained firmly in control, delivering 2-3 punch combinations, sometimes four-blow combos, without retrieving nor backing away from the brilliant battle he was dominating.
A man with a warrior spirit like Herring attempted a comeback around the middle of the clash, but his effort was denied by Shakur's precise, better response.
A cut was produced on Herring's eye as result of Shakur Stevenson's sharp hands. Later on, even more furious straight rights and left hooks delivered by Shakur rocked the confused Herring to the border of the abyss, forcing the veteran third man to halt actions.
With the win, the faster, hugely accurate former featherweight champ Stevenson claims a new world title belt, becoming an unbeaten two-division world champion, hungry for more brilliant wins in the 130-pound division, a weight-class enriched with the name of another star 2-division world champion: undefeated 30-year-old WBC champion Oscar Valdez (30-0, 23 KO's) of Sonora, México.
SHOULD STEVENSON VS VALDEZ BE NEXT?
In the minds of many fans, Stevenson vs Valdez would make the best possible, more thrilling rumble at 130 pounds, hopefully early next year. "This fight has been marinated for a while since they (Stevenson and Valdez) were both featherweights)," commented sports analyst Bernardo Osuna during the ESPN broadcast.
Should Stevenson vs Valdez be made next? Or should the two undefeated hugely talented super featherweight titlist, Stevenson and Vadez, go on to defend their respective straps against other men?
In his last two fights, the popular fan-friendly Oscar Valdez had scored exciting wins over Mexican compatriot Miguel "El Alacran" Berchelt (38-2, 34 KO's) in February, and against tough Brazilian challenger Robson Conceicao (16-1, 8 KO's) last September; fans now really hoping Shakur Stevenson vs Valdez will fire up the square ring for all of us in Spring.
Will Top Rank make the natural fight at 130 lbs happen, or should the fight needs to be "marinated" some more?
Lets hope it’s coming next.
The author Carlos Costa is a veteran boxing reporter who has covered world class action from ringsides around the world with a lifetime passion for the sweet science. Carlos can be reached at carlos512@hotmail.com and viber/whatsapp +639184538152.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Carlos Costa.
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